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Released: May 15, 2000 -- 3:00 p. For Week Ending May 14, 2000 Volume 49 Issue 11

GENERAL:    Needed showers moved through most of the state but still missed some areas, according to USDA's South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Rains during the week slowed fieldwork considerably, easing the drying caused by high winds and bright sun. Major activities by farmers and ranchers were planting small grains and row crops, machinery maintenance, working calves, and moving cattle to pasture. State wide, there were 3.5 days suitable for fieldwork. This report is based on information from county extension educators, farm service agency county directors, and other reporters across the state.

SOIL CONDITIONS: Scattered showers left some areas with topsoil too wet to work and other areas without sufficient soil moisture for crop development. Lack of subsoil moisture is still a concern, as 29 percent of the state is rated short or very short, compared to 37 percent last week. 

SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON MAY 14

               TOPSOIL         SUBSOIL
          This  Last Last  This  Last  Last
RATING    Week  Week Year  Week  Week  Year

                       Percent
Very 
 Short      2     5    0     6     6     0
Short      15    25    0    23    31     0
Adeq.      77    64   45    64    57    50
Surplus     6     6   55     7     6    50

CROPS:    Seeding of small grains neared completion last week, while corn planted jumped 19 percentage points to 82 percent. Percent soybeans planted doubled to 36, 31 percentage points ahead of last year. Last week's showers were interspersed with warm temperatures, allowing development of small grains and planting of row crops to move ahead of the five-year average. Two pockets of low soil moisture in the southeast part of the state are still a concern for crop development. 

     CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS - MAY 14

ITEM        V POOR   POOR   FAIR    GOOD  EXCEL

                          Percent
Winter Wheat   0       2     12      60     26
Winter Rye     0       5     14      50     31
Barley         0       1      8      69     22
Oats           0       1     10      72     17
Spring Wheat   0       0     11      63     26
Cattle         0       0      5      67     28
Sheep          0       0      7      60     33
Range & 
   Pasture     1       4     21      55     19

LIVESTOCK AND FORAGE:    Rains helped bring on pasture and alfalfa growth but left many yards muddy. With 58 percent of cattle moved to pasture, some supplemental feeding is still being done. Calving and lambing are both 92 percent complete. There were many reports of alfalfa weevils, particularly in dryer counties.

WEATHER:    There were many reports of scattered light frosts late in the week, which for many areas was on or near the average date of the last spring freeze. Statewide, temperatures ranged from 10 below to 2 degrees above normal. Average temperatures ranged from 42 degrees at Custer to 60 degrees at Vermillion. Highs in the low to mid 80's occurred in both the southeastern and central areas of the state. Lows in mid to upper 20's occurred in much of the state. Showers left a minimum of 0.27 inch of rain at our reporting stations, with many "unofficial reports" of up to 2.5 inches. Armour, Vermillion, and Yankton average 1.08 inches below normal since April1. 

             

               CROP PROGRESS - MAY 14 1/
                                                                                                    
                  This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM              Week   Week   Year    Ave
 
                           Percent
Barley  
 seeded            97     91     78     56
 emerged           84     72     55     32
Spring Wheat
 seeded            99     96     88     67
 emerged           89     79     71     41
Oats    
 seeded            95     90     80     62
 emerged           81     63     54     38
Corn    
 planted           82     63     28     34
 emerged           38      8      5     NA
Sorghum 
 seeded             9      6      1      7
 emerged            2      0     NA     NA
Soybeans
 planted           36     18      5      8
 emerged            9      1      0     NA
Sunflower
 seeded             8      0      1      4
Winter wheat
 boot              26      9     54     21
 headed             0      0      0      0
Winter rye
 boot              38      6     33     18
 headed             0     NA      0     NA

1/ Percents represent all acreage in or beyond each stage.






               SOIL TEMPERATURES         
     WEEK ENDING MAY 14  (4-inch Depth)

LOCATION      TEMP             LOCATION   TEMP
Beresford      57              Gettysburg   56
Brookings      55              Nisland      54
Caputa         53              Pierre       59
Chamberlain    59              Redfield     56
Cottonwood     55              Watertown    52






             TEMPERATURE  |    -----  PRECIPITATION -----   | GDD BASE 50F
             -----------  |       SINCE  SINCE  SINCE  SINCE| ------------
            CURRENT WEEK  | CURR  JAN 1  APR 1  JAN 1  APR 1|SINCE APRIL 1
STATION    AVG DFN  HI  LO| WEEK  TOTAL  TOTAL    DFN    DFN| TOTAL   DFN
-------     --  --  --  --|-----  -----  -----  -----  -----| -----  ----
Bison       50  -6  68  28| 0.88   7.08   4.55  +1.60  +1.09|   169   +57
Buffalo     47  -7  67  27| 1.41   3.92   3.17  +0.22  +0.69|   163   +62
Newell      45 -10  65  25| 1.05   5.59   4.03  +1.30  +1.28|    98   -10
Timber Lake 51  -6  70  29| 0.55   8.14   3.72  +2.79  +0.38|   157   +24
Aberdeen    53  -4  68  30| 1.90   6.52   4.35  +1.33  +1.40|   191   +45
Eureka      52  -3  69  32| 1.28   7.54   3.59  +2.99  +0.67|   184   +69
Faulkton    56  +1  74  36| 1.39   6.79   4.64  +1.39  +1.40|   224  +100
Mobridge    51  -6  72  31| 1.60   5.59   2.99  +0.40  -0.24|   167   +34
Britton     53  -4  68  32| 1.98   4.94   3.78  +0.27  +0.83|   199   +45
Sisseton    53  -5  67  33| 0.65   5.79   3.53  -0.25  -0.02|   189   +27
Webster     51  -5  66  35| 0.69   4.70   2.97  -0.69  -0.08|   177   +37
Watertown   54  -3  74  33| 1.11   4.14   2.77  -1.93  -0.71|   195   +65
Faith       49  -7  69  28| 1.93   8.95   6.08  +3.84  +2.83|   164   +28
Lead        45  -5  64  27| 0.61  13.18   6.79  +1.94  +0.89|    66   +17
Long Valley 52  -4  70  28| 0.35   8.43   4.55  +3.20  +1.25|   181   +32
Philip      51  -7  69  26| 0.31   6.32   4.22  +1.70  +1.28|   180   +19
Rapid City  49  -5  68  27| 0.63  11.45   7.77  +6.43  +4.74|   144   +39
Chamberlain 55  -4  78  30| 0.53   3.98   3.03  -1.07  -0.20|   197    +8
Highmore    54  -3  72  31| 0.70   5.84   4.21  +0.15  +0.66|   210   +58
Huron       56  +0  79  33| 1.35   4.38   3.28  -1.74  -0.03|   245   +93
Pierre      56  -2  75  33| 1.46   3.91   2.69  -1.48  -0.61|   260   +98
Brookings   54  -1  78  33| 2.05   5.78   3.57  +0.50  +0.33|   161   +51
Madison     55  -2  81  33| 2.17   5.95   4.06  -0.86  +0.43|   194   +57
Mitchell    58  -1  83  38| 0.80   6.39   3.06  -0.08  -0.71|   232   +46
Sioux Falls 57  +1  83  36| 1.56   6.80   4.14  +0.11  +0.31|   228   +68
Custer      42  -7  63  24| 0.52   5.65   4.53  +0.50  +1.30|    55   +15
Hot Springs 50  -7  68  27| 0.85   7.36   5.18  +2.96  +2.31|   133   -20
Porcupine   50  -6  70  28| 0.95  10.32   5.98  +5.91  +3.09|   135   +10
Murdo       54  -3  70  29| 0.27   7.07   4.79  +1.36  +1.40|   187   +50
Winner      57  -3  78  30| 1.77   5.38   4.50  -1.91  +0.10|   272   +49
Armour      58  -1  80  34| 1.65   5.05   2.98  -1.58  -0.70|   292   +79
Vermillion  60  -1  85  34| 0.35   4.76   2.46  -1.85  -1.46|   320   +65
Yankton     59  +2  85  37| 0.33   5.40   2.51  -0.76  -1.09|   262   +71
 
Precipitation (rain or melted snow/ice) in inches.
Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit.

To view Crop Weather Charts and maps please go to:
http://www.nass.usda.gov/sd/cw/cw0i11.htm#charts_and_maps

bar chart showing crop progress compared to the last 10 years


 
 
 
South Dakota county map showing topsoil moisture South Dakota county map showing subsoil moisture

Topsoil image in 'TIF' format for publishers
Subsoil image in 'TIF' format for publishers
 

Return to the List of 2000 Crop Weather Reports