October 31 Crop Harvest Report

NE Soybean Almost Complete, Corn Harvest about Three-quarters finished

Agricultural  Summary: 
For  the  week  ending  October  30,  2011,  mostly  dry  conditions  coupled  with cooler  temperatures  aided  harvest  progress  of  fall  crops, according  to  USDA’s  National  Agricultural  Statistics Service,  Nebraska  Field  Office.    Soybean  harvest  neared completion with  progress  on  pace with  last  year  and well ahead  of  average.    Corn  harvest  jumped  to  near  three-fourths complete with progress  ten days ahead of average.  Sorghum  harvest  at  64  percent,  was  eight  days  ahead  of average.    Sunflower  harvest  has  started  while  sugarbeet harvest was winding down.  Fall  tillage has been ongoing and  anhydrous  ammonia  applications have begun.   Wheat conditions  continue  well  above  last  year.    Soil  moisture levels  continue  to  decline  and  are  now  below  average  for this time of year.  During the last two months, precipitation averaged less than 50 percent of normal across much of the eastern third of Nebraska.

Weather  Summary:   
Temperatures  for  the  week averaged  2  degrees  below  normal.   High  temperatures reached the 80’s and lows dipped into the mid teen’s in the Panhandle.   The  Southwest  and  Panhandle  Districts received  limited  rain  during  the week with  accumulations averaging near a quarter of an inch.  
Topsoil Moisture:  Very Short 6%,  Short 35%,  Adequate 59%,  Surplus 0%  
Subsoil Moisture:  Very Short 4%,  Short 37%,  Adequate 59%, Surplus 0%  

Field  Crops  Report: 
Corn  harvest  was  at  73 percent, one week behind 86 last year but ten days ahead of 51 average.  

Soybean  harvest was  at  98  percent,  equal  to  last  year  but well ahead of 85 average.  

Winter Wheat conditions rated 0 percent very poor, 1 poor, 22  fair,  69  good,  and  8  excellent, well  above  38  percent good to excellent last year and 67 average.  Wheat emerged was 98 percent, ahead of 92 last year and 95 average. 

Sorghum  mature  was  97  percent,  near  99  last  year  but ahead of 94 average.  Sorghum harvested was 64 percent, three  days  behind  74  last  year  but  eight  days  ahead  of  45 average. 

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report: 
Pasture and range conditions rated 1 percent very poor, 6 poor, 25 fair, 62  good,  and  6  excellent,  above  62  percent  good  to excellent last year and 57 average.



Current Weather & Crops County Comments
Survey Date: 10/30/2011

ANTELOPE
Heavy harvesting taking place, with cattle being moved to stalks after harvest completed.

CEDAR
Another good week for harvesting.

DIXON
Conditions continue to be drier than normal. Producers continue to make steady progress on corn. Several area producers completed harvest last week. A fair amount of fall tillage on bottom ground is underway.

DODGE
Harvest is nearly finished. Some fall fertilizer is being applied and cows are in corn stalks.

KNOX
Corn harvest continues. Cattle are being moved from pastures to stalks. A fair amount of crop residues are being harvested.

NEMAHA
Crop harvest is winding down. Most of the harvest should be completed this week. People will be starting to apply anhydrous ammonia if the weather holds. Some fall tillage has also been completed.



Click here to see the national harvest progress numbers... http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-10-31-2011.txt.  



Iowa Corn Harvest Nearly Three Weeks Ahead of Average

Another  predominately  dry  week  allowed  many  farmers  to  complete harvest and concentrate on fall  tillage and fertilizer application.   Tiling repairs and  installation have been aided by  the dry weather.   Many are concerned with the hard, dry soils as cooler weather approaches.
  
There  were  6.8  days  suitable  for  fieldwork  statewide  during  the  past week.  Over three-quarters of the State is rated short to very short when it comes to topsoil moisture.  Subsoil also continues to dry out with just over  one-quarter  of  Iowa  reporting  adequate  subsoil moisture.   Grain movement slowed a bit, with 47 percent of the State seeing moderate to heavy  grain movement  from  farm  to  elevator.   As  the  harvest  season winds  down,  92  percent  of  the  State  reports  adequate  or  surplus  off-farm  storage  capacity  and  84  percent  of  the State  reports  adequate  or surplus on-farm storage capacity.

Eighty-seven percent of  the  corn  crop has been harvested  for grain or seed, 5 days behind 2010 but 19 days  ahead of  the  five-year  average.  

Soybean harvest advanced  to 98 percent complete, slightly behind  last year’s 99 percent but 2 weeks ahead of the average pace.  

Pasture and range condition rated 25 percent very poor, 23 percent poor, 33 percent fair, 17 percent good, and 2 percent excellent.    Hay supplies are  considered  short  across  24  percent  of  Iowa  but  over  half  the  hay supply available is considered in good condition.  Conditions have been favorable  for  livestock  gleaning  fields  and  saving  hay  supplies  for future use but many operators have already been forced to begin feeding hay.



IOWA PRELIMINARY WEATHER SUMMARY
Provided by Harry Hillaker, State Climatologist

The past reporting week began with temperatures averaging well above normal  on  Monday  (24th)  and  Tuesday  (25th).    Shenandoah  reached 79 degrees  on Monday  while  Burlington,  Donnellson  and  Keosauqua climbed  to  81 degrees  on Tuesday.   A  turn  to  sharply  colder weather began on Wednesday with temperatures averaging near to a little below normal  for  the  rest of  the week with daytime highs mostly  in  the 50s.  Temperatures fell as low as 19 degrees at Sibley on Thursday morning and 15 degrees at Sheldon on Saturday morning.   Temperatures for  the week  as  a whole  averaged  1.3 degrees  above  normal.   Showers  and  a few thunderstorms brought light rain to about the eastern one-half of the state on Sunday (23rd) evening.  Light showers also were scattered over far eastern Iowa on Tuesday and Thursday.   Finally, rain was scattered over  the  eastern  half  of  the  state  on  Sunday  (30th) morning.   Weekly rain  totals varied from none over most of  the western one-half of Iowa to  0.77  inch  reported  in  eastern Winneshiek  County.    The  statewide average precipitation was only 0.07  inch  for  the week while normal  is 0.53  inch.   This was  the  tenth week among  the past  twelve  to average drier  than normal.   Finally, soil  temperatures as of Sunday  (30th) were averaging in the upper 40s to near 50 statewide.