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Released: September 18, 2000 -- 3:00 p. For Week Ending September 17, 2000 Volume 49 Issue 29

GENERAL:    Another week of hot, dry, windy weather hurried row crop development but had ranchers busy caring for cattle, according to USDA's South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Major activities by farmers were cutting and moving hay, harvesting silage and preparing to harvest soybeans and corn. Ranchers were busy feeding cattle and moving cattle to water and calves to market. Statewide, there were 6.8 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:    Water quality and water quantity concerns worsened this week. Topsoil moisture declined 6 percentage points to 77 percent of the state now rated short or very short. Subsoil moisture conditions rated 66 percent short or very short, down 1 percentage point from last week. 



 SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON SEPTEMBER 17

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

                       Percent
Very 
 Short     32    29    3    27    28     1
Short      45    42   12    39    37    13
Adeq.      23    26   73    33    32    74
Surplus     0     3   12     1     3    12

CROPS:    A second week of hot, dry, windy weather kept crop maturity ahead of last year and the five-year averages. Corn silage harvest jumped 38 percentage points to 79 percent complete, while sorghum silage is 48 percent harvested. Corn in dent stage, at 92 percent, and corn rated mature, at 41 percent, are both ahead of last year and average. Corn harvest started and is 2 percent complete, compared to 1 percent a year ago. Hot, dry winds catapulted soybeans dropping leaves to 83 percent, 39 percentage points ahead of last year and 27 points ahead of the five-year average. Soybeans rated mature, at 34 percent, remained 12 percentage points ahead of average. Harvest started with 4 percent of the soybean acreage combined, compared to 1 percent last year and the five-year average. Sunflower crop development remained slightly ahead of average with harvest 2 percent complete. Winter wheat and winter rye seeding, at 20 and 33 percent complete respectively, remain below average. Dry soils are hindering growth, as just 2 percent of winter wheat and 5 percent of winter rye have emerged. 

 
     CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS SEPTEMBER 17

ITEM         V POOR  POOR   FAIR    GOOD   EXCEL

                          Percent
Alfalfa       11      26     31      26      6
Corn           4       8     25      43     20
Soybeans       2      11     28      42     17
Sorghum        3      32     36      27      2
Sunflower      3       9     27      52      9
Cattle         0       4     20      60     16
Sheep          0       2     15      63     20
Range & 
   Pasture    11      21     36      26      6

LIVESTOCK AND FORAGE:    Moving cattle has contributed to a slight improvement of stock water supplies. However, increasing salinity in stock dams combined with warm conditions are causing part of the decline in cattle condition. Cattle are rated 76 percent in good to excellent condition, down 6 percentage points from last week. Sheep rated 83 percent in good to excellent condition, unchanged from last week. Dry weather is bringing to a close the third harvesting of alfalfa, which is 69 percent complete. WEATHER:    South Dakota was hot and windy, with no rain. The high temperature, 100 degrees at Long Valley, was 9 degrees above normal. Madison was two degrees below normal, while elsewhere average temperatures ranged from normal to 10 degrees above. Onida received 0.06 inch, which was the largest amount of the three stations reporting rain. 



             
      CROP PROGRESS - SEPTEMPBER 17 1/
                                                                                                    
                  This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM              Week   Week   Year    Ave
                           Percent
Corn    
 dough             99     94     98     98
 dented            92     75     86     85
 mature            41     23     28     28
 grain harvested    2      0      1      1
 silage harvested  79     41     52     34
Sorghum 
 coloring          86     70     88     85
 mature            27     19     26     29
 grain harvested    5      4      2      2
 silage harvested  48     33     24     20
Soybeans
 dropping leaves   83     41     44     56
 mature            34     15     10     22
 harvested          4      0      1      1
Sunflower
 ray flowers dry   95     83     88     94
 bracts yellow     75     62     71     74
 mature            24     13     14     22
 harvested          2      0      0      2
Winter wheat
 seeded            20      9     33     44
 emerged            2      1      9     13 
Winter rye
 seeded            33      6     35     46
 emerged            5      1     16     19  
Alfalfa  
 3rd cutting        69     56     65     NA
1/ Percents represent all acreage in or beyond each stage.






             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       68 +10  95  44  0.00  13.43  10.90  -0.99  -1.50   2555  +304
Buffalo     67  +9  94  46  0.02   9.25   8.50  -2.50  -2.03   2525  +388
Dupree      69  +9  97  43  0.00  15.69  11.92  +1.53  -0.50   2613  +139
Mc Intosh   64  +6  95  40  0.00  14.99   8.72  +0.93  -3.82   2354   +57
Newell      64  +6  91  41  0.00  12.58  11.02  -0.08  -0.10   2196   -44
Timber Lake 66  +7  92  44  0.00  15.47  11.05  +0.43  -1.98   2498  +155
Aberdeen    61  +2  86  32  0.00  18.72  16.55  +2.97  +3.04   2391   +29
Eureka      63  +5  91  39  0.00  17.69  13.74  +3.30  +0.98   2411  +205
Faulkton    64  +5  90  38  0.00  19.20  17.05  +3.42  +3.43   2745  +427
Mobridge    65  +6  94  41  0.00  14.76  12.16  +0.42  -0.22   2537  +127
Roscoe      61  +3  88  43  0.00  21.65  18.06  +5.64  +4.03   2220  -100
Britton     63  +3  85  38  0.00  17.03  15.87  +1.24  +1.83   2598  +187
Clear Lake  60  +0  84  37  0.00  14.65  12.76  -5.18  -4.10   2199  -126
Sisseton    61  +1  87  32  0.00  16.63  14.37  -0.79  -0.56   2306  -156
Webster     62  +4  85  39  0.00  14.94  13.21  -2.72  -2.11   2336   +28
Watertown   61  +2  85  35  0.00  15.36  13.99  -2.92  -1.70   2337    +4
Faith       68  +8  94  45  0.00  16.76  13.89  +2.57  +1.56   2577  +117
Milesville  69  +8  99  43  0.00  14.56  10.97  -0.72  -2.34   2728  +106
Long Valley 70  +9 100  42  0.00  15.44  11.56  -0.05  -2.00   2903  +310
Philip      68  +6  97  42  0.00  10.75   8.65  -2.96  -3.38   2794   +94
Rapid City  68  +9  93  44  0.00  17.45  13.77  +3.42  +1.73   2575  +350
Spearfish   67  +8  95  48  0.00  13.48  11.29  -4.71  -4.04   2344  +224
Chamberlain 67  +4  98  42  0.00  12.89  11.94  -2.11  -1.24   2803   -43
Highmore    68  +7  96  41  0.00  14.74  13.11  -2.00  -1.49   2878  +309
Huron       65  +5  93  38  0.00  15.26  14.16  -1.52  +0.19   2777  +252
Onida       68  +7  96  42  0.06  16.30  14.69  +0.69  +1.47   2619   -23
Pierre      71  +9  98  43  0.00   9.00   7.78  -6.78  -5.91   3176  +463
Brookings   59  +2  88  30  0.00  17.39  15.18  -1.69  -1.86   2202   +92
Madison     59  -2  87  31  0.00  20.38  18.49  +0.81  +2.10   2392   +82
Mitchell    64  +3  92  37  0.00  17.62  14.29  -0.51  -1.14   2719    -1
Sioux Falls 63  +3  89  35  0.00  21.27  18.61  +2.10  +2.30   2570   +28
Custer      63  +9  87  39  0.00  13.28  12.16  -3.07  -2.27   1721  +251
Hot Springs 68  +7  97  40  0.00  10.94   8.76  -2.58  -3.23   2593  +140
Oelrichs    68  +6  96  43  0.00  13.40  10.84  -0.94  -1.53   2656   +87
Porcupine   66  +6  94  40  0.00  16.03  11.69  +2.41  -0.41   2472    +3
Murdo       68  +7  94  42  0.00  14.35  12.07  -0.90  -0.86   2786  +237
Winner      71  +7  98  42  0.00  13.58  12.70  -6.38  -4.37   3150  +183
Armour      69  +6  95  39  0.00  14.51  12.44  -4.40  -3.52   3054  +229
Centerville 63  +3  92  38  0.04  17.27  14.04  -3.39  -3.78   2720  +159
Marion      63  +3  89  36  0.00  17.73  15.38  -2.13  -1.41   2560   +50
Pickstown   68  +6  98  43  0.00  11.18   9.12  -7.16  -6.66   3036  +271
Vermillion  68  +4  96  36  0.00  17.38  15.08  -2.92  -2.53   3065  +130
Yankton     65  +3  96  39  0.00  23.25  20.36  +3.73  +3.40   2876  +174


 
Precipitation (rain or melted snow/ice) in inches.
Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit.

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
 

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