July 27 Crop Progress & Condition Report - NE - IA - US

NEBRASKA CROP PROGRESS AND CONDITION

For the week ending July 26, 2015, Nebraska experienced near normal temperatures throughout the State, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Portions of the southeast received up to four inches of rain, while the rest of the State generally saw totals amouting to one inch or less. The combination of warm conditions with scattered rain facilitated crop development in most areas, although locations with minimal rainfall reported dryland stress. There were 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork. Topsoil moisture supplies rated 6 percent very short, 24 short, 66 adequate, and 4 surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 5 percent very short, 21 short, 71 adequate, and 3 surplus.

Field Crops Report:
Corn condition rated 1 percent very poor, 5 poor, 20 fair, 57 good, and 17 excellent.  Corn silking was at 83 percent, near 82 for both last year and the five-year average. Dough was at 11 percent, behind 21 last year and 16 average.

Sorghum condition rated 0 percent very poor, 1 poor, 28 fair, 61 good, and 10 excellent. Sorghum headed was at 42 percent, ahead of 34 last year and 23 average. Sorghum coloring was at 2 percent, near 5 last year and 1 average.

Soybean condition rated 1 percent very poor, 6 poor, 21 fair, 57 good, and 15 excellent. Soybeans blooming was at 77 percent, behind 82 last year, but near 78 average. Setting pods was at 33 percent, behind 50 last year, but near 32 average.

Winter wheat condition rated 15 percent very poor, 20 poor, 32 fair, 31 good, and 2 excellent. Winter wheat harvested was 81 percent, ahead of 75 last year, but near 80 average.

Oats condition rated 2 percent very poor, 6 poor, 25 fair, 61 good, and 6 excellent. Oats mature was at 91 percent, ahead of 82 last year. Harvested was at 60 percent, ahead of 54 last year, but behind 72 average.

Alfalfa condition rated 1 percent very poor, 4 poor, 28 fair, 54 good, and 13 excellent. Alfalfa second cutting was at 80 percent, near 84 last year, but behind 85 average. Third cutting was at 23 percent, behind 33 last year, but near 21 average.

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report:
Pasture and range conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 6 poor, 22 fair, 58 good, and 12 excellent.  Stock water supplies rated 2 percent very short, 9 short, 87 adequate, and 2 surplus.

Access the National publication for Crop Progress and Condition tables at:
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/CropProg/2010s/2015/CropProg-07-27-2015.pdf.

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 & CONDITION REPORT 

A dry start with rain near the end of the week allowed Iowa farmers 5.0 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending July 26, 2015, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Activities for the week included cutting hay, aerial fungicide application to corn, and herbicide and insecticide application to soybeans. There were reports of crop stress due to the hot, dry weather, as well as weed problems in soybeans.

Topsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 6 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 16 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 5 percent short, 79 percent adequate and 16 percent surplus. Northwest Iowa was the driest area of the State with one-quarter rated very short to short on topsoil moisture.

Eighty-three percent of the corn crop had reached the silking stage or beyond, with 11 percent reaching the dough stage. Corn condition rated 83 percent good to excellent.

Soybeans blooming or beyond reached 78 percent. Thirty-seven percent of soybeans were setting pods, slightly ahead of average. Soybean condition rated 76 percent good to excellent this week.

Oat acreage turning color or beyond reached 96 percent, with 57 percent of the oat crop harvested for grain or seed, 5 days ahead of last year. Oat crop condition rating increased to 81 percent good
to excellent.

The first cutting of alfalfa hay neared completion, while the second cutting reached 68 percent, one day behind last year, and nearly a week behind the average.  The third cutting of alfalfa hay got underway this week. Hay condition was rated at 68 percent good to excellent, while pasture condition rated 77 percent good to excellent. Livestock saw some stress during the day, but generally recovered at night.



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

The past reporting week began with cooler and drier than normal weather prevailing through Thursday (23rd). However, there was rain scattered over much of the state on Monday (20th) but amounts were under one-third of an inch at all but a few locations with the early week storms. Much warmer and more humid weather was the rule on Friday (24th) and through the weekend. Thunderstorms brought rain to much of the eastern one-half of Iowa on Friday with heaviest rain in the Mason City area. Thunderstorms were also widespread across the southern one-third of the state on Saturday (25th) with rain falling over much of Iowa on Sunday (26th) morning. Weekly rain totals varied from only 0.01 inches at Davenport up to 4.89 inches at the Mason City Airport. The statewide average precipitation amount was 1.27 inches while normal for the week is 0.98 inches. This was the sixth week of the past seven to bring above normal precipitation to Iowa. However, rain totals over these past seven weeks have been slightly below normal over much of the northern one-third of Iowa with rain totals well above normal over much of the southern portion of the state. Temperatures for the week varied from a Tuesday (21st) morning low of 48 degrees at Swea City in Kossuth County to a Friday (24th) afternoon high of 97 degrees at Hawarden along the South Dakota border. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 0.2 degrees below normal with the weekend heat nearly cancelling out the earlier mild weather. The combination of heat and humidity pushed the heat index (what the air ‘feels like’) to 103 degrees at Sioux City on Friday and 101 degrees at Davenport and Iowa City on Saturday.



USDA Weekly Crop Progress

The overall condition of the U.S. corn crop this past week was up 1 percentage point from the previous week while soybean conditions were unchanged, according to USDA's weekly Crop Progress and Conditions report. Both crops were developing at a near-average pace.

The nation's corn crop was rated 70% in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, July 26, up 1 percentage point from 69% good to excellent the previous week. Corn silking was at 78%, 1 percentage point ahead of the average pace of 77%. Fourteen percent of corn was in the dough stage, slightly behind the five-year average of 17%.

Soybean conditions, at 62% good to excellent, were unchanged from the previous week. Soybeans blooming were at 71%, near the average of 72%. Soybeans setting pods were 34%, ahead of the five-year average of 31%.

Winter wheat harvest was reported at 85% completed as of Sunday, ahead of the five-year average of 80%. As for spring wheat, NASS pegged the crop at 2% harvested, 3 percentage points behind the five-year average pace but slightly ahead of last year's 1%.