April 30 Crop Progress and Condition Report

Another Productive Week for NE Crop Farmers

Agricultural  Summary: 
For  the  week  ending  April  29,  2012,  good  planting  progress  was made until late in the week when widespread precipitation stopped  fieldwork,  according  to  USDA’s  National Agricultural  Statistics  Service,  Nebraska  Field Office.  While precipitation  slowed  field  activities, the moisture was welcome.  Corn planted jumped to 44  percent  complete  with  4.6  days  suitable  for fieldwork.    Soybean  planting was  under way with  6  percent  complete  and  the  first  fields  of  sorghum had  been  planted.    Wheat  jointed,  at  67  percent, continued  two weeks  ahead  of  average with  heads starting  to  show.   Planting  of  oats  was  winding down  while  the  first  cutting  of  alfalfa  continued well  ahead  of  average.    Accumulated  growing degree days are ahead of normal.  

Weather  Summary:   
Temperatures  averaged  4  degrees  above  normal  across  the  state.    High temperatures  ranged  from  the  mid  90’s  in  the southern  half  of  Nebraska  to  lows  of  30  in  the Central District.  The highest levels of precipitation of  over  one  inch  fell  in  the  Panhandle,  North Central,  Central  and  Southwest  Districts.    Lesser accumulations fell across the remainder of the state.   Topsoil Moisture (%):  Very Short  1, Short   16, Adequate  78, Surplus  5.  Subsoil Moisture (%):  Very Short  7, Short  28, Adequate  64, Surplus 1.  GDD since April 15 (normal):  Concord  122  (118),  Elgin 125 (119), West Point 126 (122), Mead 141 (126). 

Field  Crops  Report: 
Corn  planting  advanced  to  44  percent  complete,  well  ahead  of  last  year’s  12 and six days ahead of 23 average.  Corn emerged stood  at  4  percent  compared  to  1  last  year  and average. 

Soybean planting was 6 percent complete, ahead of 1 last year and 2 average.

Sorghum planting was  just under way  at 1 percent completed.

Wheat  jointed  was  67  percent,  well  ahead  of  last year’s  21  and  26  average.    Wheat  headed  was 5  percent.    Rust  was  a  concern  in  parts  of  South Central  and Southeast Districts.   Wheat  conditions rated  3  percent  poor,  27  fair,  59  good,  and  11  excellent,  above  last  year’s  46  percent  good  to excellent and 62 average.  

Oats planted were at 93 percent, ahead of last year’s 77  and  85  average.   Oats  emerged  was  at  70  percent,  well  ahead  of  39  last  year  and  44  average.  Oats  conditions  rated  20  percent  fair, 77 good, and 3 excellent. 

The  first  cutting  of  alfalfa  was  12  percent completed.    Concerns  were  expressed  over  insect activity.    Alfalfa  rated  4  percent  poor,  30  fair,  53  good,  and  13  excellent,  below  last  year’s  77 percent good to excellent and 70 average.  
  
Livestock,  Pasture  and  Range  Report: 
Cattle conditions  rated  6  percent  fair,  73  good,  and  21  excellent.    Calving  was  94  percent  complete.  Calf  losses  rated  34  percent  below  average  and  66  average.   Pasture  and  range  conditions  rated  5  percent  poor,  33  fair,  56  good,  and  6  excellent, below last year’s 68 good to excellent and average.



Current Weather & Crops County Comments
Survey Date: 04/29/2012

BOONE
We received much needed rain on Friday with some areas getting more than an inch and some areas of the county getting very little.

CEDAR
A flurry of activity went on for corn planting before the rain started on Friday. Isolated small hail was experienced but no real damage was done.

DIXON
Welcome rain came toward the end of the week. Pastures are slow coming on. Producers continue to push to get the corn in the ground. Some producers are getting started on soybeans. Earlier planted corn acres have corn out of the ground.

DODGE
Good planting progress was made this week with dry conditions. On Friday things really were drying out because of the strong winds. Some pivots were started to activate herbicides or incorporate fertilizer. What pastures we have show slow growth and if cattle are in them, it will be hard to recover if it doesn't rain soon.

DOUGLAS
Good rains on Sunday came slow and nice.

KNOX
Wonderful rain was received late last week. Some early planted corn is emerging. Some insect damage in alfalfa has been reported.

MADISON
Rapid progress last week with planting. Several producers are done with corn. Others planted soybeans before corn. Rain over the weekend will delay next week planting and give producers a break.

NEMAHA
Dry weather last week allowed farmers to make significant progress on corn and soybean planting. Overall planting is ahead of schedule.

SARPY
Good rains on Sunday came slow and nice.

WASHINGTON
Had nice moisture over the weekend. Planting is stopped until the soil dries out.



Click here for the latest progress numbers from USDA...  http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-04-30-2012.txt. 



Iowa Gets Almost Five Solid Planting Days Last Week

Corn planting progressed rapidly in most areas as Iowa’s farmers took full advantage of dry fields early in the week. Corn planting advanced at least 25 percentage points in each district of the state. However, the weather became much cooler and wetter at the end of the week ending planting activities. 

There were 4.3 days suitable for fieldwork during the week, compared with just 1.8 days the previous week. Topsoil moisture levels improved to 1 percent very short, 7 percent short, 76 percent adequate, and 16 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture also improved and is now rated 7 percent very short, 21 percent short, 65 percent adequate, and 7 percent surplus.

Despite receiving rainfall late in the week, corn planting advanced 41 percentage points and now stands at 50 percent complete, compared with 7 percent at this time last year and the five year average of 32 percent. Five percent of the corn crop has emerged, 10 days ahead of normal. The State’s soybean planting is 3 percent complete with Southeast Iowa leading the way with 12 percent planted. Oat planting was 98 percent complete, ahead of last year’s 80 percent and the five-year average of 76 percent.  Seventy-six percent of the expected oat acreage has emerged, well ahead of last year’s 38 percent and the five-year average of 36 percent. Oat condition improved to 1 percent very poor, 2 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 63 percent good, and 11 percent excellent.

Sixty-seven percent of Iowa’s pasture and range land is now rated good to excellent, a 2 percentage point decrease from the previous week. Pasture and range condition rated 1 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 28 percent fair, 47 percent good, and 20 percent excellent.


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

Iowa experienced a rather typical week of spring weather characterized by widely varying temperatures and occasional showers and thunderstorms.  The reporting week began on the cold side of normal with morning lows mostly in the 30’s on Monday (24th) with a freeze reported in a few northwestern locations.  A rapid warm-up commenced on Tuesday (25th) with afternoon highs ranging from the upper 60s northeast to upper 80s west.  Wednesday (26th) was the warmest day of the week in most areas with highs climbing into the low 90s at a few southwest Iowa locations.  Temperatures dropped to more seasonal levels on Thursday (27th) and were well below normal over the weekend with daytime highs mostly in the 50s.  Temperature extremes for the week ranged from Monday morning lows of 28 degrees at Battle Creek, Sibley and Spencer to a Wednesday afternoon high of 92 degrees at Red Oak.  Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged two to three degrees below normal across the east to three to four degrees above normal in the west with a statewide average of 0.6 degrees above normal.  Dry weather prevailed in most areas through Friday morning.  However, rain fell statewide from Friday afternoon into Saturday morning with rain amounts around one-half inch in most areas.  Rain also fell over the southeast three-fourths of the state on Sunday with greatest amounts of around an inch in parts of east central and southeast Iowa.  Weekly rain totals varied from 0.34 near Lake Park to 2.01 inches at Keosauqua.  The statewide average rainfall was 0.83 inch or just a little less than the weekly normal of 0.95 inch.  Soil temperatures as of Sunday (29th) were averaging near fifty degrees statewide.