I thought this is a interesting report on the northern US plains;
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/agweek/3800694.htm
Posted on Mon, Aug. 05, 2002
Harvest rolls north
North Dakotans start on barley, canola
By Jerry W. Kram
Agweek Staff Writer
The heat finally found the Northern Plains in July, and it quickly pushed crops toward maturity.
Farmers just are starting to harvest barley and swath canola in southern North Dakota, while in South Dakota and southeastern Montana the last of the winter wheat is finishing up and the spring wheat harvest has begun. The condition of the crops varies with the weather, but drought conditions across much of the Northern Plains - along with freeze damage, hail and flooding in other areas - will leave many farmers with short crops this year.
Wiped out wheat
Between 85 percent and 90 percent of the winter wheat near St. Lawrence, S.D., was plowed under, says Richard Mueller, manager of the Dakota Ag Co-op. A small area that caught a few rains last fall and this spring did manage to yield 20 to 30 bushels an acres. A few fields that were planted on fallow or prevented planting acres made up to 70 bushels an acre.
The spring wheat harvest is nearly complete, he says. Yields were all over the board, ranging from five bushels an acre to 30 bushels an acre. However, about 80 percent of the crop was harvested. The quality of both the winter wheat and spring wheat that was harvested is excellent. The winter wheat had test weights well over 60 pounds on average, and the spring wheat had protein levels that averaged 16 percent.
Mueller says row crops still are suffering from the drought. He estimates that 90 percent of corn crop will not be harvested for grain, and that most of it won't even set ears. If the area gets a half-inch of rain a week for the rest of the year, the area could produce mediocre soybean and sunflower crops, Mueller says, if the temperatures stay below 95 degrees. He adds that about 40 percent of the sunflower crop that didn't emerge until after some rain fell after the Fourth of July will be lost.
“It's going to be a real thin year for the farmers down here, and for the elevators,” Mueller says.
Crops - along with trees, buildings and vehicles - were pounded by hail and strong straight-line winds in eastern South Dakota July 28. The National Weather Service recorded winds speeds that topped 60 miles per hour in an area stretching from Huron, S.D., to across the Minnesota border. Devastating hail fell in Kingsbury and Brookings (S.D.) counties. Darrell Granebois, Brookings County district conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, says row crops like corn and soybeans were badly damaged.
“I was in Mitchell (S.D.) when it happened and we drove through a lot of that coming home,” Granbois says. “I would say, starting north of Howard, S.D., up through Desmet and to Brookings, the damage is very heavy. In Brookings County, most of the damage I saw was wind damage to the corn.”
Granbois says many corn fields will be able to recover from the wind damage, but that others will be too low to pick up. Although more small grains were planted around the county than in the past five years, Granbois says most of those had already been harvested and so escaped damage. Soybeans were more badly damaged by the hail. Granbois says those fields are going to pose major problems with erosion next spring.
“That's my biggest concern,” Granbois says. “The bean fields that were hailed on are going to give us trouble with residue management next spring, as far as wind erosion, water erosion. We've lost a lot of the protection we need to keep the soil in place.”
The storm was a major disappointment because Brookings County was in better shape for moisture than the rest of South Dakota.
“A lot of the county still has really good crops,” he says. “It's just where we have the blowdown corn that we are going see problems.”
Near Glendive, Mont., the winter wheat harvest is wrapping up and the spring wheat harvest is beginnings, says Wayne Herman, manager of the Farmers Elevator of Glendive. Overall, the wheat crop in southeastern Montana is variable but well below average, he says.
“It's a little early to tell, but it isn't looking promising,” says. “It depends on if they got the rain. It's spotty, but I expect in our area production to be down by a third to half of normal. So far, so good as far as the quality is concerned, except that the test weights are a little light.”
Barley, barelyThe barley harvest is just getting under way in North Dakota. Like other crops, it has suffered from the dry, hot weather across the state, says Lawrence Klein, manager of Southwest Grain in Regent, N.D. Klein says the barley harvest was just getting underway at the beginning of last week.
“All we have seen is a couple of samples,” Klein says. “They were in the 45 pound (per bushel) range, a little light. We saw one sample that was 42 pounds and others were 45 or 46. The protein was 14.5 percent, so I question whether it will make malting.”
Most of the barley in his area has a poor stand, so most farmers will straight cut the crop instead of swathing it. Klein estimates about a quarter of barley in his area was cut for hay.
Only a small amount of canola will be harvested this year southwestern North Dakota, Klein says. Most of the crop was plowed up this spring after a late freeze damaged it.
“There's some of what's left being swathed,” he says.
This year's drought is the first hiccup in a string of reasonably good crop years, Klein says.
“We were due for one of these and we got it this year,” he says. “We haven't had a drought like this since 1988. I think this here one is more severe than that one. We were due.”
Farther east, near Edgeley in south-central North Dakota, Tony Johannesen, manager of Dakota Prairie Ag says a number of barley fields were harvested and farmers were eager to get started on the wheat crop before a series of rain showers shut down harvest about two weeks ago. The barley wasn't in very good shape, with yields down around 25 bushels an acre, 40 pound test weight, 15 percent protein and plump values between 30 and 40. The stunted crops also made it difficult for those farmers who cut the crop for hay because the short plants were difficult to rake into windrows.
“Along about the Fourth of July, it just burned up,” Johannesen says. “Actually, it was toast even before that.”
The wheat crop looks better than barley crop Johannesen says. Although he doesn't expect any yields to be above average at best, the quality of the crop should be alright if the weather dries out a little bit. Samples taken July 23 were still running about 30 percent moisture.
“Now that we finally got the rain turned on, we can't seem to shut it off,” he says. “We have one area up north of us that has had 9 inches of rain since the Fourth of July. It's good for the row crops. The corn, soybeans and sunflowers look excellent. But it makes it tough on the small grains.”
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/agweek/3800694.htm
Posted on Mon, Aug. 05, 2002
Harvest rolls north
North Dakotans start on barley, canola
By Jerry W. Kram
Agweek Staff Writer
The heat finally found the Northern Plains in July, and it quickly pushed crops toward maturity.
Farmers just are starting to harvest barley and swath canola in southern North Dakota, while in South Dakota and southeastern Montana the last of the winter wheat is finishing up and the spring wheat harvest has begun. The condition of the crops varies with the weather, but drought conditions across much of the Northern Plains - along with freeze damage, hail and flooding in other areas - will leave many farmers with short crops this year.
Wiped out wheat
Between 85 percent and 90 percent of the winter wheat near St. Lawrence, S.D., was plowed under, says Richard Mueller, manager of the Dakota Ag Co-op. A small area that caught a few rains last fall and this spring did manage to yield 20 to 30 bushels an acres. A few fields that were planted on fallow or prevented planting acres made up to 70 bushels an acre.
The spring wheat harvest is nearly complete, he says. Yields were all over the board, ranging from five bushels an acre to 30 bushels an acre. However, about 80 percent of the crop was harvested. The quality of both the winter wheat and spring wheat that was harvested is excellent. The winter wheat had test weights well over 60 pounds on average, and the spring wheat had protein levels that averaged 16 percent.
Mueller says row crops still are suffering from the drought. He estimates that 90 percent of corn crop will not be harvested for grain, and that most of it won't even set ears. If the area gets a half-inch of rain a week for the rest of the year, the area could produce mediocre soybean and sunflower crops, Mueller says, if the temperatures stay below 95 degrees. He adds that about 40 percent of the sunflower crop that didn't emerge until after some rain fell after the Fourth of July will be lost.
“It's going to be a real thin year for the farmers down here, and for the elevators,” Mueller says.
Crops - along with trees, buildings and vehicles - were pounded by hail and strong straight-line winds in eastern South Dakota July 28. The National Weather Service recorded winds speeds that topped 60 miles per hour in an area stretching from Huron, S.D., to across the Minnesota border. Devastating hail fell in Kingsbury and Brookings (S.D.) counties. Darrell Granebois, Brookings County district conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, says row crops like corn and soybeans were badly damaged.
“I was in Mitchell (S.D.) when it happened and we drove through a lot of that coming home,” Granbois says. “I would say, starting north of Howard, S.D., up through Desmet and to Brookings, the damage is very heavy. In Brookings County, most of the damage I saw was wind damage to the corn.”
Granbois says many corn fields will be able to recover from the wind damage, but that others will be too low to pick up. Although more small grains were planted around the county than in the past five years, Granbois says most of those had already been harvested and so escaped damage. Soybeans were more badly damaged by the hail. Granbois says those fields are going to pose major problems with erosion next spring.
“That's my biggest concern,” Granbois says. “The bean fields that were hailed on are going to give us trouble with residue management next spring, as far as wind erosion, water erosion. We've lost a lot of the protection we need to keep the soil in place.”
The storm was a major disappointment because Brookings County was in better shape for moisture than the rest of South Dakota.
“A lot of the county still has really good crops,” he says. “It's just where we have the blowdown corn that we are going see problems.”
Near Glendive, Mont., the winter wheat harvest is wrapping up and the spring wheat harvest is beginnings, says Wayne Herman, manager of the Farmers Elevator of Glendive. Overall, the wheat crop in southeastern Montana is variable but well below average, he says.
“It's a little early to tell, but it isn't looking promising,” says. “It depends on if they got the rain. It's spotty, but I expect in our area production to be down by a third to half of normal. So far, so good as far as the quality is concerned, except that the test weights are a little light.”
Barley, barelyThe barley harvest is just getting under way in North Dakota. Like other crops, it has suffered from the dry, hot weather across the state, says Lawrence Klein, manager of Southwest Grain in Regent, N.D. Klein says the barley harvest was just getting underway at the beginning of last week.
“All we have seen is a couple of samples,” Klein says. “They were in the 45 pound (per bushel) range, a little light. We saw one sample that was 42 pounds and others were 45 or 46. The protein was 14.5 percent, so I question whether it will make malting.”
Most of the barley in his area has a poor stand, so most farmers will straight cut the crop instead of swathing it. Klein estimates about a quarter of barley in his area was cut for hay.
Only a small amount of canola will be harvested this year southwestern North Dakota, Klein says. Most of the crop was plowed up this spring after a late freeze damaged it.
“There's some of what's left being swathed,” he says.
This year's drought is the first hiccup in a string of reasonably good crop years, Klein says.
“We were due for one of these and we got it this year,” he says. “We haven't had a drought like this since 1988. I think this here one is more severe than that one. We were due.”
Farther east, near Edgeley in south-central North Dakota, Tony Johannesen, manager of Dakota Prairie Ag says a number of barley fields were harvested and farmers were eager to get started on the wheat crop before a series of rain showers shut down harvest about two weeks ago. The barley wasn't in very good shape, with yields down around 25 bushels an acre, 40 pound test weight, 15 percent protein and plump values between 30 and 40. The stunted crops also made it difficult for those farmers who cut the crop for hay because the short plants were difficult to rake into windrows.
“Along about the Fourth of July, it just burned up,” Johannesen says. “Actually, it was toast even before that.”
The wheat crop looks better than barley crop Johannesen says. Although he doesn't expect any yields to be above average at best, the quality of the crop should be alright if the weather dries out a little bit. Samples taken July 23 were still running about 30 percent moisture.
“Now that we finally got the rain turned on, we can't seem to shut it off,” he says. “We have one area up north of us that has had 9 inches of rain since the Fourth of July. It's good for the row crops. The corn, soybeans and sunflowers look excellent. But it makes it tough on the small grains.”
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