August 20 Crop Progress and Condition Report

Cool Weather Brings Relief to NE Crops, Livestock

Agricultural  Summary: 
For  the  week  ending  August  19,  2012,  cooler  temperatures  brought  some  relief  to crops and livestock; however, crop conditions did not improve with  the  little  rain  received,  according  to  USDA’s  National Agricultural  Statistics  Service, Nebraska  Field Office.  Corn harvested  for  grain  has  spread  along  the  southern  tier  of counties,  while  drought  damaged  corn  fields  continue  to  be chopped  for  silage or baled  for hay.   Irrigation  has begun  to wind  down.    Concerns  over  disease  in  dry  bean  fields were reported  in  the West.   Producers were grazing alfalfa  in some areas rather than harvesting a fourth cutting.  Calves are being weaned and marketed earlier than normal this year due to lack of forage.  
 
Weather Summary: 
Light  rain  fell  in  the northeast quarter of  the  state  with  amounts  up  to  three  quarters  of  an  inch.  Remaining  areas  received  little  to  no  precipitation. Temperatures  averaged  from  6  degrees  below  normal  in  the Northwest and Southwest Districts to 9 degrees below normal in  the  Northeast  District.   Highs  reached  upper  90’s  in  the Southwest and lows were mostly in the 40’s.   Topsoil Moisture (%):  Very Short  69, Short   28, Adequate  3, Surplus   0.  Subsoil Moisture (%):  Very Short  69, Short  27, Adequate  4, Surplus    0.  GDD Since April 15 (normal):  Concord  2420  (2428),  Elgin  2362  (2375),  West Point 2452  (2496), Mead 2570  (2556).  Rainfall inches by district since April 1 (% of normal):  NE 10.66 (67%),  EC 11.37 (69%),  SE 11.97 (70%). 

Field  Crops  Report: 
Corn  in  the  dough  stage  was  93  percent,  compared  to  76  last  year  and  10  days  ahead  of  79 average.   Corn in the dent stage reached 67 percent, ahead of 25 last year and 32 average.  Corn that has reached maturity was  14  percent,  compared  to  0  last  year  and  average.    Corn harvested for grain was 1 percent, compared to 0 last year and average.  Corn conditions rated 22 percent very poor, 19 poor, 29 fair, 28 good, and 2 excellent, well below 75 percent good to excellent last year and 78 average.  Irrigated corn conditions rated 51 percent good to excellent and dryland corn rated 2.  

Soybeans setting pods were 91 percent, ahead of 80  last year and  88  average.    Soybeans  turning  color  were  at  9  percent, compared  to  0  last  year  and  1  average.  Soybean  conditions rated  20  percent  very  poor,  25  poor,  36  fair,  18  good,  and  1 excellent, well below last year’s 78 percent good to excellent and 77 average.

Wild  hay  harvest was  97  percent  complete,  ahead  of  84  last year and 58 average.  

Sorghum  headed  was  76  percent,  behind  85  last  year  and  86 average.   Sorghum  turning color was 6 percent, compared to  18  last  year  and  11  average.    Sorghum  conditions  rated  13  percent  very  poor,  36  poor,  36  fair,  15  good,  and  0 excellent, well below last year’s 78 percent good to excellent and 77 average.

The  third  cutting  of  alfalfa  was  93  percent  complete, compared  to 65  last year and average.     The  fourth cutting of alfalfa was 19 percent complete, compared  to 3  last year and  1  average.    Alfalfa  conditions  rated  44  percent  very  poor,  29  poor,  18  fair,  9  good,  and  0  excellent,  well  below  79 percent good to excellent last year and 71 average.  

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report:
Pasture and  range conditions  rated  61  percent  very  poor,  32  poor,  7  fair,  0  good,  and  0  excellent,  well  below  73  percent  good  to excellent last year and 71 average.  



Current Weather & Crops County Comments
Survey Date: 08/19/2012

DIXON
With cooler temperatures and rain on Saturday there is not much change in overall conditions from the previous week.

KNOX
Silage harvest is wrapping up. Pastures continue to suffer. Most cattle are being supplemented and/or calves have been weaned.

LANCASTER
All corn has hit black layer. Most of the ears started out well. Most ears have 14 or more rows of kernels but many ears tipped back. Some fields had poor pollination where one side of the ear had less than 20 kernels. Rain fed soybeans have pods in the lower canopy but most of the later blooms in the upper canopy aborted. If we get some rain soon, the established pods could fill and make some beans worth harvesting as grain. Some beans are being harvested as hay.

PAWNEE
Corn harvest has begun, but yield and test weight reports are low due to the continued dry conditions. While soybeans look good from the road, upon inspection the pods (if there are any) are very small. Livestock producers continue to haul water and hay to fields. Also, producers are weaning early and culling. The only crop looking decent is grain sorghum, and unfortunately, we don't have much of that planted.

STANTON
Reports of some turning livestock out to graze off dry alfalfa rather than being able to harvest a 4th cutting.



Click here for the latest national numbers... http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-08-20-2012.txt.



Little Change Last Week in Iowa Crops

Despite  scattered  showers  and moderate  temperatures,  crop  conditions showed  little  change  according  to  USDA’s  National  Agricultural Statistics  Service,  Iowa  Field  Office.  Crop  development  continues  to stay ahead of normal pace. The week’s activities  included cutting hay, spraying crops, and chopping corn for silage.  

There  were  6.2  days  suitable  for  fieldwork  statewide  during  the  past week. East central  Iowa, with 5.5 days, was  the only area of  the  state with less than 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork. Topsoil moisture level is unchanged  from  last  week  at  60 percent  very  short,  31 percent  short, 9 percent  adequate,  and  0 percent  surplus.  Subsoil  moisture  also remains unchanged from  last week at 70 percent very short, 26 percent short, 4 percent adequate, and 0 percent surplus. 

Ninety percent of  the corn crop has reached dough stage, ahead of  last year’s  71 percent  and  the  five  year  average  of  59 percent.  Sixty-five percent of  the  corn  crop has  reached  the dent  stage,  ahead of  last year’s  33 percent  and  the  five  year  average  of  25 percent. Thirteen percent  of  the  corn  crop  is  now mature,  almost  three weeks ahead  of  normal.  Corn  condition  is  reported  at  23 percent  very  poor, 30 percent  poor,  32 percent  fair,  14 percent  good,  and  1 percent excellent. 

Pods  are  being  set  on  95 percent  of  the  soybean  crop. Five percent of  soybean  fields  are  turning  color. Soybean  condition  is reported  at  14 percent  very  poor,  23 percent  poor,  38 percent  fair, 23 percent  good,  and  2 percent  excellent.  Harvest  of  third  cutting  of alfalfa hay, at 93 percent complete, is a month ahead of normal. 

Only sixteen percent of Iowa’s pasture and range land is rated in fair or better condition. Pasture and range condition rated 57 percent very poor, 27 percent  poor,  13 percent  fair,  3 percent  good,  and  0 percent excellent.  Moderating  temperatures  have  improved  conditions  for livestock.



IOWA PRELIMINARY WEATHER SUMMARY
Provided by Harry Hillaker, State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship

The  past  reporting  week  brought  mostly  cooler  than  usual weather  to  Iowa  with  widely  varying  rainfall  amounts.  Temperatures  averaged  below  normal  on  each  day  except Wednesday  (15th)  when  highs  reached  into  the  low  90s  over portions  of  southwest  Iowa.      Temperatures  fell  well  below normal over the weekend with several daily record low readings reported  on  Friday  (17th)  and  Saturday  (18th)  mornings.  Temperature  extremes  for  the  week  varied  from  a Wednesday afternoon high of 93 degrees at Little Sioux  to  Friday morning lows of 38 degrees  at Battle Creek  and Sibley.     Temperatures for  the week as a whole  averaged 6.1 degrees below normal  to make this the coolest week in eleven weeks (early June).     Rain fell  over  much  of  Iowa  late  Sunday  (12th)  into Monday  (13th) morning with  locally  heavy  rain over  a  small  area of  southeast Iowa.     Rain  also  fell over much of  the  state Wednesday  night into Thursday morning.     Finally,  light  rain  fell across portions of the west one-half of the state on Saturday (18th).   There were scattered  light  rain  showers  across  about  the northeast one-half of  Iowa  on  Sunday  (19th)  but  these  arrived  after  the  crop condition  survey  and  will  be  included  in  next  week’s  report.  Weekly  rain  totals  varied  from  none  at  Shenandoah,  Sidney, Clarinda and Mount Ayr to 2.26 inches at Brighton (Washington Co.).   The statewide average precipitation was 0.60 inches while normal for the week is 0.98 inches.   Rainfall, while greater than seen  during  July,  has  remained  below  normal  for  nine consecutive weeks.