April 2 Crop Progress and Condition Report

First NE Crop Progress and Condition Report for 2012 Growing Season

Agricultural  Summary: 
For  the  week  ending  April  1,  2012,  high  winds  coupled  with temperatures  well  above  normal  and  little precipitation caused soil moisture levels to be below previous  year  and  5  year  averages,  according  to USDA’s  National  Agricultural  Statistics  Service, Nebraska Field Office.  The first fields of corn have been  planted,  but most  producers were holding off to  limit chances of freeze damage.  Planting of oats was  off  to  a  good  start with  6.5  days  suitable  for fieldwork.   Producers have been applying fertilizer, performing  spring  tillage,  and  getting  machinery ready to plant.  Soil temperatures have climbed into the mid 50’s to low 60’s compared to upper 30’s to mid 40’s  last year.  Spring calving was near  three-fourths  complete with  favorable  conditions  having aided in calf losses to be well below average.  

Weather  Summary:   
Temperatures  averaged  18  degrees  above  normal  across  the  state.  Highs reached the low 90’s in the east and lows dipped to just below freezing in the Panhandle.  Limited or no precipitation was  recorded across most of  the state.  However,  isolated  pockets  in  South  Central  and extreme Southeast Nebraska received over one inch.  Topsoil Moisture:  Very Short - 16%,  Short - 44%, Adequate - 40%, Surplus - 0%.  Subsoil Moisture:  Very Short - 13%, Short - 42%, Adequate - 45%, Surplus - 0%. 

Field  Crops  Report: 
Wheat  conditions  rated  0  percent  very  poor,  4  poor,  33  fair,  56  good,  and  7  excellent, well above  last year’s 36 percent good to excellent.   The  first  fields  of  corn  were  being  planted  in  the eastern third of the state. Oats planted were at 38 percent, well ahead of  last year’s 14 and 13 average.  

Livestock,  Pasture  and  Range  Report: 
Cattle  and calf  condition  rated  0  percent  very  poor,  0  poor,  8  fair,  77  good,  and  15  excellent.    Spring  calving was  73  percent  complete.    Calf  losses  rated  32 percent below average, 67 average, and 1 above average.



Current Weather & Crops County Comments
Survey Date: 04/01/2012

BOONE
Boone County has missed most rain. We received a mist of .10", not enough to really help.

DODGE
Beautiful weather, but too warm too early!!!

DODGE
Field preparation and fertilizing are the main activities.

DOUGLAS
Need Rain.

KNOX
Primary activities were care of livestock and preparation for planting. Grass and alfalfa are way ahead of normal. Moisture would be very welcome.

MADISON
Remains very dry. Rain chances occur but never materialize. Soil temperatures support early planting but most holding off due to crop insurance planting dates. Planting expected to proceed rapidly once it begins.

OTOE
It has been unseasonably warm. Lots of field work completed and producers are ready to plant.

SALINE
Alfalfa growth is such that even with a hard April freeze in the next two weeks there will be a quality cutting. Winter wheat will be in a vulnerable situation for a freeze before the frost free date of May 7. Everything is ahead of schedule and dry conditions have allowed for much of the spring fieldwork, including fertilizing and spraying, to be caught up.

SAUNDERS
A few acres of corn have been planted.



Click here to see the latest national numbers from USDA:  http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-04-02-2012.txt.  



Temptation Too Great:  Some Iowa Farmers Plant Corn

Sunshine and above normal temperatures have left Iowa farmers eager  to  plant  their  crop  for  the  upcoming  crop  year.  Warm conditions have most  farmers believing we  are  in  the month of May  instead of April. Some  farmers have been spotted planting corn fields although  the earliest allowable planting date  in Iowa for  full  crop  insurance  coverage  is  April  11.  Throughout  the state, most field work has  involved anhydrous and dry fertilizer application.  Manure hauling and some tillage are starting to take place. 

There were 4.7 days suitable for fieldwork during the past week.  Topsoil  moisture  levels  rated  8 percent  very  short,  28 percent short,  60 percent  adequate,  and  4 percent  surplus.    Subsoil moisture  rated  17 percent  very  short,  32 percent  short, 49 percent adequate, and 2 percent surplus.  

Oat acreage planted was 58 percent complete, well beyond both last year’s 4 percent and the five-year average of 7 percent. This marks the first time since 1981 Iowa farmers have had over half their  oat  acreage  planted  by  the  beginning  of  April.  In  1981, 46 percent was planted by March 29.
 
Pasture and range condition rated 1 percent very poor, 5 percent poor, 27 percent fair, 49 percent good, and 18 percent excellent.  Warmer  than  normal  weather  conditions  have  provided  cattle with  the opportunity  to give birth on green pastures  rather  than dry lots throughout Iowa. 

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

The  past  week  brought  weather  much  more  typical  of  May instead  of  late March.   Temperatures  averaged  from  9  degrees above normal in the northeast to 21 degrees above normal in the southwest  with  a  statewide  average  of  14.1  degrees  above normal.  However, temperatures were more variable than seen in recent weeks.   Highs  on Monday  (26th)  varied  from  the  upper 40’s northeast to lower 80’s southwest.  Highs on Tuesday (27th) were mostly  in  the 70’s and on Wednesday  (28th)  from  the  low 60’s  north  to  mid  70’s  southwest.    On  Thursday  (29th)  highs were  only  in  the  upper  50’s  southeast  to  lower  70’s  northwest while  on  Friday  (30th)  varied  from  the  upper  40’s  northeast  to mid  70’s  southwest.   The weekend  brought  a wide  gradient  in temperatures with highs on Saturday  (31st)  from  the upper 40’s northeast to near 90 over the far west while Sunday (1st) brought highs  from  the  low  60’s  northeast  to  low  90’s  far  west.  Temperature  extremes  for  the  week  varied  from  a Wednesday morning  low  of  29  degrees  at  Sibley  to  an  amazing  Sunday afternoon  high  of  93  degrees  at  Sioux  City.    Light  freezes occurred over very  small areas of  the northwest on Wednesday morning and over the northeast on Thursday morning.  Rain fell nearly  statewide  on  Thursday  night  with  isolated  showers  and thunderstorms  every  other  day  except  Sunday.    Weekly  rain totals  varied  from  none  at  Battle  Creek  (Ida  County)  to 3.63 inches at Bedford.   The statewide average precipitation  for the week was 0.62 inch or just slightly more than  the normal of 0.60 inch.   Finally, there were isolated occurrences of large hail in  southwest  Iowa  on Thursday  evening, west  central  Iowa  on Friday evening and east central Iowa on Saturday evening.



Iowa March 2012 Summary 

March  has  been  a  dry  month  for  Iowa  despite  most  of  the  state getting  a  small  amount  of  rain  for  the week  of March  19. Alfalfa and oat seeding, disking, field leveling, and applying fertilizer have been  the most common activities of  late  for  farmers. With warmer than  normal  weather  conditions,  green  pastures  can  be  seen throughout the state. 

Topsoil  moisture  levels  rated  14  percent  very  short,  35  percent short,  50  percent  adequate,  and  1  percent  surplus. Northwest  and north central  Iowa continue  to be  the driest areas  in  the State with 84 percent short to very short.  

Grain movement rated 27 percent none, 38 percent light, 29 percent moderate and 6 percent heavy.  

Availability  of  hay  and  roughage  supplies  was  15  percent  short, 77 percent  adequate  and  8  percent  surplus  with  9  percent  of  the supply in poor condition.  Livestock losses continue to be light due to warm and dry weather for most of the month. Hog and pig losses in March were reported at 35 percent  light, 64 percent average and 1 percent heavy.  Cattle and calf losses were similar with 48 percent light,  51  percent  average  and  1  percent  heavy.    Warm  weather condition aided calving although muddy lots bothered some areas. 



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

March  2012  will  long  be  remembered  for  exceptionally  mild temperatures.    Preliminary  numbers  indicate  a  statewide  average temperature  of  51.2  degrees  or  15.3  degrees  above  normal.    The month  averaged  2.3  degrees  warmer  than  the  typical  April  and 2.5 degrees warmer than the previous warmest March (48.7 degrees in  1910).     Daily  temperatures  averaged  above  normal  on  all  but three days of the month (3rd to 5th were the exceptions).  There were three  days  at mid month  (17th,  18th  and  19th)  averaging more  than 30 degrees  above  normal  and  every  day  from  the  10th  through  the end of the month averaged at least ten degrees above normal.  High temperatures  reached  into  the  80’s  somewhere  in  the  state  on 14 days during March,  topping off at 90 degrees at Sioux City and Little Sioux on  the 31st.   Nevertheless  there was a  little winter-like weather  early  in  the month with  daytime  highs  only  20’s  in  some areas on the 3rd and 4th while Estherville reported a low temperature of  minus  1  degree  on  the  morning  of  the  5th.    While  the  mild weather has been fabulous for allowing plenty of early field work it has  raised  tremendous  concern  for  the  potential  of  severe  frost damage to some horticultural crops which are developing far ahead of the normal pace.  The typical date of the last freeze of the spring is  not  until  mid  April  in  southern  Iowa  to  early May  across  the north.

Meanwhile,  precipitation  averaged  1.96  inches  or  0.19  inch  less than  normal.    This  ranks  56th wettest March  among  140  years  of records.   Precipitation was generally above normal from southwest, through central, into northeast Iowa but was well below normal over portions  of  far  northwest  and  southeast  sections.    Monthly precipitation  totals  varied  from  0.63  inch  at  Hawarden  to 5.49 inches  at Bedford.   There was  some  snow  early  in  the month with two to four inches over the east one-third of the state on the 2nd and one to three inches on the 4th in a diagonal stripe from northwest to southeast Iowa.   Kanawha in Hancock County reported the most snow with 5.5 inches while most of southwest Iowa saw only a few flurries.    The  statewide  average  snowfall  was  1.6  inches  or 3.1 inches  less  than  normal.    This  ranks  as  the  13th  lowest March snow total among 125 years of records.

Finally,  there  were  isolated  occurrences  of  severe  thunderstorms, mostly involving large hail, on the 19th, 29th, 30th and 31st.