October 11 Crop Progress and Harvest Update

Soybean Harvest Sails Along Last Week in NE
Rains bring some relief from fires

Agricultural  Summary: 
For  the  week  ending  October  9,  2011,  soybean  harvest  advanced  quickly  until rainfall  late  in  the  week  slowed  progress,  according  to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office.   Precipitation was welcome  to  suppress  fires sparked by combines, which had spread rapidly due to high winds  and  dry  conditions.    Corn  and  sorghum  harvest continued  to  advance  while  dry  bean  harvest  neared completion.   Seeding of the wheat crop was winding down with  about  three-fourths  of  the  crop  emerged.    Rain received was expected to help establish the wheat stand.

Weather Summary:  
Temperatures  for  the week were well above normal.  The eastern two-thirds of the state saw temperatures averaging 7 to 12 degrees above normal while the  Panhandle  averaged  3  degrees  above  normal  for  the week.   High  temperatures were  in  the 90’s and  lows were mainly in the 40’s.  For much of the State, the rain that fell was  the  first  significant  precipitation  in  five  weeks.  However, most of the rain was in a concentrated band that ran  through  the  central  third  of  the  state.    Some  South Central  locations  recorded 4  to 6  inches.   Eastern counties bordering the Missouri River received little or no rainfall. 
 
Field  Crops  Report: 
Corn  condition  rated  2  percent very poor, 5 poor, 19 fair, 55 good, and 19 excellent, below 80 percent good to excellent last year but equal to average.  Irrigated corn conditions rated 78 percent good to excellent and  dryland  corn  rated  68.   Corn mature was  88  percent, behind 93 last year but ahead of 85 average.  Corn harvest was at 19 percent, behind 27 last year but near 20 average.  

Soybean  condition  rated  1  percent  very  poor,  3  poor,  18 fair, 56 good, and 22 excellent, near last year.  Soybeans dropping  leaves  was  96  percent,  near  97  last  year  and  95  average.   Soybean  harvest  was  at  63  percent,  near  65 last year but well ahead of 49 average.  

Winter Wheat seeded was 92 percent, near 93 last year and 91  average.    Wheat  emerged  was  73  percent,  ahead  of  65 last year and 66 average. 

Sorghum  conditions  rated  0  percent  very  poor,  6  poor,  17 fair, 61 good, and 16 excellent, near 75 percent good to excellent  last  year  but  ahead  of  73  average.    Sorghum mature was  84  percent,  behind  87  last  year  but  ahead  of  74  average.   Sorghum  harvested  was  15  percent,  near  14 last year but ahead of 11 average. 

The  fourth  cutting  of  alfalfa was  at  89  percent,  ahead  of  85 last year and 83 average.

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report: 
Pasture and range conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 8 poor, 26 fair, 59 good, and 5 excellent, below last year’s 73 percent good to excellent but above 55 average.



Current Weather & Crops County Comments
Survey Date: 10/09/2011

BOONE
Rains over the weekend kept most farmers out of the fields. Rain varied from a few tenths to over an inch in Boone County.

CEDAR
Soybeans harvest came to a stop as rain fell over the county late Friday with reports of over an inch of moisture. Some cattle have been moved out of the pastures to glean crop residue.

DIXON
Soybean harvest was the main focus all week with many producers finishing up on the beans by week's end. Rain toward the end of the week is expected to improve field conditions and reduce the danger of fire. Overall a very good week of harvest here in northeast Nebraska.

DODGE
Unseasonably warm weather and windy conditions have deteriorated the pastures and topsoil. However, harvest is progressing quickly.

KNOX
Soybean harvest is in full swing. Rain over the weekend stopped harvest. The rain was very welcome as there were several reports about combine fires due to extremely dry conditions. Soybean yields range from average to excellent. August rains or lack of were the difference. Harvest of corn will start immediately after soybean harvest is finished as the corn is dry enough to store.

SALINE
The inch of rain received, temporarily stopped harvest after a rapid pace the past 10 days. The rain will decrease fire risk. Saline County still has not experienced a killing freeze which is beyond the average date for this area.

SAUNDERS
Very dry conditions.



Click this link to see the latest national harvest progress numbers...  http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-10-11-2011.txt. 



About Half the Soybeans Harvested in Iowa
Corn harvest inches past the quarter mark

Dry  and  windy  weather  accelerated  crop  dry  down  and  provided  the opportunity  to harvest nearly half of  Iowa’s soybean acres.   Unfortunately, reports  of  soybeans  shattering  and  field  fires  increased.    The  lack  of moisture has also delayed development of fall seeded crops.

There were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork statewide during  the past week.  Topsoil  moisture  levels  rated  32 percent  very  short,  41 percent  short, 27 percent  adequate,  and  0 percent  surplus.    Subsoil  moisture  rated 24 percent very  short, 41 percent  short, 34 percent  adequate, and 1 percent surplus.   With nearly  the  full week  suitable  for  fieldwork, over half of  the State  is  now  seeing  moderate  to  heavy  grain  movement  from  farm  to elevator.   At  this  point  in  the  harvest  season,  only  3 percent  of  the  State reports  being  short  off-farm  storage  capacity  and  7 percent  of  the  State reports a shortage of on-farm storage capacity.

Ninety-seven percent  of  the  corn  crop  is  now  mature,  behind  last  year’s 99 percent but ahead of the normal 91 percent.  Twenty-seven percent of the corn  crop  has  been  harvested  for  grain  or  seed,  3  days  behind  2010  but 5 days ahead of the five-year average.  The moisture content of the corn left to  harvest  throughout  the  State  fell  4 percent  from  previous  week  to  an average  of  20 percent,  with  the  corn  currently  being  harvested  running 18 percent moisture content.   Corn  lodging  remains a greater problem  than normal,  with  21 percent  of  Iowa’s  corn  crop  experiencing  moderate  to heavy lodging compared to 10 percent on average.  Ten percent of the corn crop is experiencing moderate to heavy ear droppage compared to 5 percent normally.    Corn  condition  stands  at  5 percent  very  poor,  9 percent  poor, 27 percent  fair,  47 percent  good,  and  12 percent  excellent.   

Ninety-seven percent  of  Iowa’s  soybean  fields  are  dropping  leaves,  equal  to  last year and 1 percentage point ahead of normal.  Almost 50 percent of Iowa’s soybean  crop  was  harvested  last  week,  with  soybean  harvest  jumping  to  70 percent complete, still behind  last year’s 74 percent but 5 days ahead of the average pace.   Only  two districts, East Central and South Central, have yet  to  reach 50 percent harvested  for  soybeans.   Soybean  shattering  levels increased  from  the  previous  week  to  16 percent  moderate  to  heavy.  Soybean condition stands at 4 percent very poor, 8 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 47 percent good and 18 percent excellent.  

Pasture  and  range  condition  rated  17 percent  very  poor,  23 percent  poor, 34 percent fair, 22 percent good, and 4 percent excellent.    Hay supplies are considered  short  in  19 percent  of  Iowa  as  many  producers  are  already feeding hay as pasture growth is nonexistent due to dry conditions.  



IOWA PRELIMINARY WEATHER SUMMARY
Provided by Harry Hillaker, State Climatologist

Iowa  experienced  a very warm  and dry week.   Daytime highs were  in  the 80’s  in  most  areas  throughout  the  week  with  Clarinda,  Shenandoah  and Sioux City  reaching 90 degrees on Tuesday  (4th).   Overnight  temperatures dropped  quite  low  in  some  areas  early  in  the  reporting  week  with  Leon falling to 32 degrees on Monday (3rd) morning but were in the 50’s and 60’s late  in  the week  and  over  the weekend.    Temperatures  for  the week  as  a whole averaged 11.3 degrees above normal.   Meanwhile no rain fell across the eastern two-thirds of Iowa this past week.  Far northwest Iowa saw a few sprinkles  on  Thursday  while  scattered  locations  over  the  west  saw  some occasional  light  rain  on  Friday  and  Saturday.    Lester  in  Lyon  County reported  the most rain for  the week with 0.44  inch.   The statewide average precipitation was  only  0.01  inch while  normal  for  the week  is  0.62  inch.  This was the fifth consecutive drier than normal week and tenth week of the past eleven with less than the usual amount of rain.