How much difference can a year and a little rainfall make? Quite a bit if you’re a Limestone County farmer.

Brady Peek of Peek Family Farms spoke enthusiastically about his crops Thursday. At age 24, he is one of the youngest farmers in Limestone County, if not the youngest.

This year he planted about 500 acres of soybeans, 250 acres of corn and “just shy” of 300 acres of cotton. This was the first year he had ever planted cotton.

“I’ve learned a lot this year, and it’s been good,” he said. “The yields on cotton have been fantastic. It may be shy of what some farmers picked last year, but I think I’m above the county average historically and I’m thankful for that.”

Peek believes he’ll get 2-plus bales per acre in cotton. In terms of his soybeans, he’s looking at about 50 bushels per acre. He hasn’t had a chance to tally up his corn harvest for the year, but he was pleased by the quality of the crop.

He credited much-needed rainfall for his successes this year. Peek, like other farmers, struggled mightily through last year’s drought. It made him reassess what he grows and how he grows it.

“Last year, our corn yields were bad and even our soybean yields were decreased,” he said. “I’m very much a proponent of grains, but if there’s another crop that is shown to be consistent across the board, I’m open to diversity.”

Giving cotton a try was part of that because he believes in having a diverse crop portfolio.

“I had to figure out some places I could cut from without sacrificing yield for this year,” he said. “Being young, it really opened my eyes and made me sit down and think about what I’m doing. I had to make sure what I’m doing on my farm is sustainable long-term.”

With a new approach to his crops, all Peek needed for success was a little rain. As it turns out, he got more than a little.

“We nearly had too much rain,” he said. “We were extremely blessed this year.”

Last year wasn’t the first rough patch for Limestone County’s farmers and it likely won’t be the last. Peek equated farming, especially growing corn, to either striking out or hitting a home run.

“It’s hard to plan on a home run every year because realistically, we can’t do that,” he said. “As opposed to last year, though, the results were astronomically opposite.”