September 8 Crop Progress & Condition Reports NE - IA - US

NEBRASKA CROP PROGRESS - CORN SILAGE HARVEST & WINTER WHEAT SEEDING BEGIN

For the week ending September 7, 2014, cool temperatures coupled with rain  slowed  fieldwork  activities  early  and  again  late  in  the  week,  according  to  the  USDA’s  National Agricultural  Statistics  Service.  Moisture  accumulations  in most  areas were  less  than  an  inch  but  enough  to make hay harvest difficult.  Irrigation was in the final stages and corn silage harvest began in southern counties.  Winter wheat seeding was underway in the west.  There were 5.0 days suitable for fieldwork. Topsoil moisture supplies  rated  4  percent  very  short,  23  short,  68  adequate,  and  5  surplus.  Subsoil moisture  supplies  rated  8 percent very short, 27 short, 63 adequate, and 2 surplus.
 
Field Crops Report:
Corn  conditions  rated  3  percent  very  poor,  6  poor,  19  fair,  50  good,  and  22  excellent.    Corn  dough  was  98 percent, near 97  last year and equal  to  the average. Corn dented was 75 percent, ahead of 69  last year, but behind 80 average. Corn mature was 15 percent, ahead of 4 last year, but near 16 average.

Soybean conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 5 poor, 21 fair, 53 good, and 19 excellent.   Soybeans dropping leaves was 10 percent, near 14 last year and equal to the average.

Sorghum conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 5 poor, 33 fair, 39 good, and 21 excellent. Sorghum coloring was 83 percent, well ahead of 61 last year and 59 average. Sorghum mature was 3 percent, ahead of 0 last year, but near 2 average. 

Alfalfa hay conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 6 poor, 29 fair, 52 good, and 11 excellent.   Alfalfa hay  third cutting  was  95  percent  complete,  near  94  last  year  and  92  average.  Alfalfa  hay  fourth  cutting  was 34 percent complete, ahead of 12 last year, but near 30 average.

Winter wheat  planted was  11  percent,  ahead  of  5  last  year,  but  equal  to  the  five-year average.
 
Livestock,  Pasture  and  Range  Report: 
Pasture  and  range  conditions  rated  6  percent  very  poor,  8  poor,  33 fair, 45 good, and 8 excellent.  Stock water supplies rated 1 percent very short, 6 short, 92 adequate, and 1 surplus. 



Access the National publication for Crop Progress and Condition tables at: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/CropProg//2010s/2014/CropProg-09-08-2014.txt. 

Access  the  High  Plains  Region  Climate  Center  for  Temperature  and  Precipitation  Maps  at: http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/maps/current/index.php?action=update_region&state=NE&region=HPRCC. 

Access the U.S. Drought Monitor at: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?NE. 



IOWA CROP PROGRESS - DISEASES BECOME CONCERN IN CORN & SOYBEANS

Precipitation  early  in  the  week  slowed  fieldwork  to  only  3.7  days suitable  across  Iowa  during  the  week  ending  September  7,  2014, according  to  the  USDA,  National  Agricultural  Statistics  Service.  Average  temperatures  for  the  week  were  above  normal  aiding  crop development.    Disease  concerns  were  reported  in  both  corn  and soybeans  across  parts  of  the  State.  Activities  for  the  week  included chopping silage, harvesting hay, and seeding cover crops. 

Recent precipitation  increased  soil moisture.  Topsoil moisture  levels rated  0 percent  very  short,  7 percent  short,  79 percent  adequate,  and 14 percent surplus.  Subsoil moisture levels rated 2 percent very short, 12 percent short, 78 percent adequate, and 8 percent surplus.  

Almost all of Iowa’s corn crop was  in  the dough stage or beyond, and 72  percent  had  reached  the  dent  stage,  1 week  ahead  of  the  previous year  but  3  days  behind  the  five-year  average. Six  percent  of  the  corn acreage  was  mature,  slightly  ahead  of  last  year  but  almost  2  weeks behind  normal.    Unchanged  from  last  week,  76  percent  of  the  corn acreage was  reported  in good  to excellent  condition.  

With almost  the entire  soybean  crop  setting  pods  or  beyond,  26  percent  of  soybean leaves were turning color, 5 days ahead of the previous year, but 4 days behind  average.   Seventy-three percent  of  the  soybean  acreage was  in good to excellent condition, equal to the previous week. 
   
The  third  cutting  of  alfalfa  hay  was  64 percent  complete,  almost 2 weeks  behind  both  last  year  and  the  five-year  average.   Sixty-seven percent  of  all  hay  was  rated  in  good  to  excellent  condition.  Pasture  condition  rated  63 percent  good  to  excellent.    Livestock conditions were reported as excellent with limited heat and insect stress. 


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

The  reporting  week  began  with  warm  and  humid  weather.  Thunderstorms brought rain statewide from Sunday (31st) afternoon into Monday (1st) morning.  High winds, with some hail, were reported from 25  counties  Sunday  night  with  greatest  damage  across  west  central Iowa.  Light  rain fell across much of  the northern one-half of  the state from Monday  (1st)  evening  into  Tuesday  (2nd) morning.   The week’s warmest weather  came on Thursday  (4th) with highs  in  the nineties  in some areas while  thunderstorms brought  locally heavy  rain  to parts of east central Iowa Thursday morning.  A strong cold front brought much cooler and drier air  to  the state starting Thursday night and continuing through the weekend.  An area of showers and thunderstorms developed behind  the  cold  front  and  brought  light  to moderate  rain  to much  of Iowa between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon.  The weekend was dry statewide.  Weekly rain  totals varied from only 0.06  inches at Rock Rapids, Donnellson and Fort Madison to a hefty 6.37 inch total in west central Crawford County between Denison and Charter Oak.  The statewide  average  precipitation was  1.35  inches while  normal  for  the week  is  0.84  inches.   Temperature  extremes  varied  from  Thursday afternoon  highs  of  94  degrees  at Donnellson, Glenwood,  Shenandoah and  Sidney  down  to  a  Saturday  (6th)  morning  low  of  40  degrees  at Sheldon.   Temperatures  for  the week  as  a  whole  averaged  from  two degrees above normal over the southeast and just below normal over the far northwest with a statewide average of 1.3 degrees above normal.



USDA:  Corn, Soybean Crops Lag in Development

The U.S. corn and soybean crops are behind the five-year average development pace as of Sept. 7, according to USDA's weekly Crop Progress report. This at a time when extended weather forecasts see some chilly temps for the northern Corn Belt.

The nation's corn crop is 95% in the dough stage, 69% in the dent stage and 15% mature. That compares to 91%, 61% and 8% last year and five-year averages of 94%, 74% and 26%. Corn condition remained steady.  The Northern Plains states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota are running the furthest behind ahead of this week's expected freeze event. But even Iowa is 21 percentage points behind on maturity.

Twelve percent of soybeans are dropping leaves, compared to 55 last week and a 17% five-year average. Soybean condition remained steady.  As with corn maturity, it is the Northern Plains where most of the lag is seen. However, also as with corn, the Iowa soybean crop dropping leaves was pegged at only 3% as compared to the five-year average of 10%.

Spring wheat is 58% harvested, compared to 38% last week and a 78% five-year average.  As would be expected, Minnesota at 54% is 35 percentage points behind average while North Dakota at 42% is 32 percentage points behind average.

Winter wheat is 3% planted compared to a 4% five-year average.  Early winter wheat planting activity was noted in the key states of Kansas (2%), Oklahoma (2%), and Texas (3%).