November 14 Harvest Progress report...

Nebraska Harvest Progress...
Most unharvested corn in Panhandle

Agricultural  Summary: 
For  the  week  ending  November 13, 2011, near normal  temperatures and mostly dry  conditions allowed  for over  six days  suitable  for  field operations,  according  to  USDA’s  National  Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office.   Statewide, corn harvest progress was 95 percent complete.  Progress is near two-thirds complete  in  the Panhandle while  the  rest of  the state  is  mostly  finished.    Sorghum  harvest  progress  was winding  down  at  92  percent.    Fall  tillage  was  being performed  as was  anhydrous  ammonia  applications.    Soil temperatures ranged from the mid 30’s in the Panhandle to mid  40’s  in  the  east.    Soil  moisture  supplies  continued below  average  for  this  time  of  year.    Wheat  conditions remained well above last year.  

Weather  Summary:   
Temperatures  for  the  week averaged  1  degree  above  normal  for  the  state.   High temperatures reached the low 70’s and lows dipped into the low teens in the Central District.  The western two-thirds of the  state  was  dry.    The  only  significant  precipitation recorded was  in  the Southeast District with  totals reaching one and half inches in some locations.   

Topsoil Moisture:  Very Short - 6%,  Short - 36%,  Adequate - 57%,  Surplus - 1%
Subsoil Moisture:  Very Short - 5%,  Short - 34%,   Adequate - 60%, Surplus - 1%

Field  Crops  Report: 
Corn  harvest  was  at  95  percent,  three  days  behind  97  last  year  but  two weeks ahead of 77 average.   Sorghum  harvested  was  92  percent,  five  days  behind  97 last year but well ahead of 76 average.   Winter Wheat conditions rated 0 percent very poor, 1 poor, 22  fair, 67  good,  and  10  excellent, well  above 45  percent good to excellent last year and 65 average.  



Current Weather & Crops County Comments
Survey Date: 11/13/2011

DIXON
Weather conditions continue to be dry. Corn harvest is nearing the end.

DODGE
More fall tillage is being done and fertilizer being applied. Cattle continue to graze stalks.

DOUGLAS
Cattle are being placed on crop residues and weather conditions have been good for grazing and harvesting.

KNOX
Harvest is basically complete. Soybean yields were average and corn was generally better than expected. Some fall tillage is being completed. Livestock work is the other primary activity.

OTOE
Nice rain received last week was very much needed. Most harvest is finished with a few producers still completing corn.

SARPY
Cattle are being placed on crop residues and weather conditions have been good for grazing and harvesting.

SAUNDERS
A number of growers are conducting fall tillage and applying anhydrous ammonia fertilizer.



Click here for the latest national harvest progress statistics...   http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-11-14-2011.txt.  



Iowa Harvest Summary... So Far

While  snow hit much of  Iowa, northwest  Iowa  saw  little or no precipitation.   Over  half  of  northwest  Iowa  is  now  considered very short of both topsoil and subsoil moisture.  The dry weather in  that area allowed harvest and  field work  to near completion.  With  some  equipment  already  put  away  for  the  winter, precipitation is now desired.
  
There were 5.2 days suitable  for fieldwork statewide during  the past week.  Days suitable varied widely across the state as some areas  received  heavy,  wet  snow  while  others  saw  none.  Northwest  Iowa had 6.9 days  suitable while  south central  Iowa had  only  3.4  days  suitable.   Topsoil moisture  rated  30  percent very short, 31 percent short, 37 adequate, and 2 percent surplus.  Subsoil moisture  rated  32  percent  very  short,  38  percent  short, 29  percent  adequate  and  1  percent  surplus.    Grain  movement continues  to  slow,  with  just  27  percent  of  the  State  seeing moderate  to  heavy grain movement  from  farm  to  elevator.   As harvest  nears  completion,  90  percent  of  the  State  reports adequate or surplus off-farm  storage capacity and 85 percent of the State reports adequate or surplus on-farm storage capacity.

Ninety-eight  percent  of  the  corn  crop  has  been  harvested  for grain or  seed,  just   behind 2010’s 99 percent but over 3 weeks ahead  of  the  normal  pace.      Few  soybean  fields  remain  to  be harvested.

Hay  supplies  are  considered  adequate  to  surplus  across  79 percent  of  Iowa with  only  10 percent  considered  to  be  in  poor condition.  Livestock conditions are generally good.



IOWA PRELIMINARY WEATHER SUMMARY
Provided by Harry Hillaker, State Climatologist

A  strong  storm  system brought moderate  to heavy precipitation from  late Monday  (7th)  into mid-day Wednesday  (9th)  to central and  southeastern  Iowa.      The  precipitation  began  as  rain  but changed  to  snow  Tuesday  night  with  2  to  6  inches  of accumulation along a Bedford-Des Moines-Cedar Falls line with lesser  amounts  to  the  east.      Very  light  rain  showers  were scattered  across  northwestern  Iowa  on  Sunday  (13th) morning.   Overall,  little  to no precipitation fell during  the week across  the northwest one-quarter to one-third of the state.   Nearly all of the southeast  one-half  of  Iowa  received  at  least  an  inch  of precipitation with a  few amounts up  to  three  inches.     The past two  weeks  has  seen  copious  amounts  of  moisture  over  the southeast  and  little  over  northwestern  Iowa.      Thus  drought conditions  persist  over  the  northwest  while  the  moisture situation  has  improved  greatly  over  the  southeast.     Burlington reported  the most precipitation  for  the past  reporting week with 3.20  inches.      The  statewide  average  precipitation  was 1.09 inches or double the weekly normal of 0.54 inch.   This was the  wettest  week  in  eleven  weeks.      Despite  the  mid-week snowfall  temperatures were mostly above normal.     The coolest conditions  were  from  Tuesday  through  Thursday  with  highs mostly  in  the  40s with  the warmest weather  over  the weekend when  highs  ranged  from  the  low  50s  northwest  to mostly  60s southeast.      Weekly  extremes  ranged  from  a  Friday  (11th) morning  low  of  19 degrees  at Mason  City  to  a  Sunday  (13th) afternoon high of 72 degrees at Keokuk.     Temperatures for  the week  as  a  whole  averaged  3.3  degrees  above  normal.      Soil temperatures  as  of  Sunday  were  averaging  in  the  mid  40s statewide.