Return to the List of 2001 CROP WEATHER Reports

Released: October 9, 2001 -- 3:00 p.m. CST For Week Ending October 7, 2001 SD-CW4001 VOLUME 50 ISSUE 40

AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY:    Harvest of row crops went into full swing last week, with most areas experiencing a hard freeze by week's end, according to USDA's South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Major farm activities for the week included harvesting of row crops, moving cattle to harvested acres, moving hay, and working calves. Statewide, there were 6.6 days reported suitable for fieldwork. This report is based on information from county extension educators, farm service agency county directors, and other reporters across the state.

WEATHER INFORMATION:  A hard freeze occurred in most areas of the state last week. Temperatures ranged from a high of 92 degrees to a low of 20 degrees. Only thirteen stations reported precipitation for the week, with minimal amounts recorded. Porcupine received the greatest amount of moisture, with 0.63 inch.

SOIL CONDITION:   A few sites across the state reported only trace levels of precipitation for the week, making winter seeding and germination difficult. Both topsoil and subsoil moisture levels continue to decline, with 8 percent of topsoil rated very short, 31 percent short, and 61 percent adequate. Subsoil moisture is 12 percent very short, 37 percent short, and 51 percent adequate. Average soil temperature reported for last week was 57 degrees.

FIELD CROPS REPORT:    Another week of mild temperatures accompanied by little precipitation helped row crops' maturity. Soybeans rated mature increased to 92 percent, 27 percentage points ahead of the previous week, still 5 percentage points behind last year, but 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Producers were out harvesting beans in full force last week, with 43 percent now harvested, ahead of the five-year average of 41 percent. Corn harvested jumped to 18 percent complete, right in line with the five-year average. Sunflower are reported at 85 percent mature, behind last year's 91 percent, but slightly ahead of the five-year average. Harvesting of sunflower is 25 percent complete, behind both last year and the five-year average. Winter wheat seeding increased 16 percentage points to 88 percent, ahead of the previous year's 76 percent and the five-year average of 85 percent.

LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT:    Although there was only a slight change in stock water ratings, farmers and ranchers are showing concern about lack of precipitation and its eventual effect on livestock. Cattle condition is rated at 84 percent good to excellent, while sheep are reported to be 87 percent good to excellent. Range and pasture conditions showed little change despite lack of precipitation, with 77 percent rated as fair to excellent. Feed supplies are at 82 percent adequate to surplus.




       SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON                                           
               AS OF October 7, 2001 

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

                       Percent
Very 
 Short      8     8   28    12    11    31
Short      31    25   45    37    35    41
Adeq.      61    66   27    51    53    28
Surplus     0     1    0     0     1     0



             CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS
                AS OF October 7, 2001 
  
ITEM       V POOR    POOR   FAIR    GOOD   EXCEL

                          Percent
Alfalfa        5      19     36      35      5
Corn           1       6     25      54     14
Soybeans       4      13     29      45      9
Sorghum        0       6     46      42      6
Sunflower      1      10     36      48      5
Cattle         0       2     14      68     16
Sheep          0       1     12      70     17
Range & 
   Pasture     6      17     42      31      4


  CROP PROGRESS AS OF October 7, 2001   1/
                                                   
                    This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM                Week   Week   Year    Ave
                               Percent
Corn        
 mature              92     84     97      90
 grain harvested     18     11     29      18
 silage harvested    98     93     97      91
Sorghum     
 mature              86     76     92      88
 grain harvested     42     21     41      24
 silage harvested    75     68     79      74
Soybeans    
 dropping leaves     99     94    100      98
 mature              92     65     97      89
 harvested           43     15     63      41
Sunflower   
 bracts yellow       99     96     99      96
 mature              85     68     91      84
 harvested           25     10     43      27
Winter wheat
 seeded              88     72     76      85
 emerged             53     33     34      58
Winter rye  
 seeded              97     81     87      87
 emerged             64     41     59      65
Alfalfa  
 3rd cutting          92     84     92      65
1/ Percents represent all acreage in or beyond each stage. 
 




                  SOIL TEMPERATURES         
    WEEK ENDING October 7, 2001 (4-inch Depth)

LOCATION      TEMP             LOCATION   TEMP
          
Beresford      59              Gettysburg   56
Brookings      55              Nisland      61
Caputa         54              Pierre       60
Chamberlain    61              Redfield     54
Cottonwood     59              Watertown    53



                 TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, and GROWING DEGREE DAYS
                      WEEK ENDING SUNDAY October 7, 2001


             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       52  -2  85  25| 0.09  16.96  15.85  +1.78  +2.63|  2766  +404
Buffalo     52  +1  87  24| 0.00  13.21  12.57  +0.76  +1.30|  2642  +402
Dupree      51  -4  85  26| 0.00  11.78  10.33  -3.14  -2.90|  2822  +214
Mc Intosh   49  -5  84  22| 0.00  16.84  16.23  +1.95  +2.81|  2586  +186
Newell      49  -4  84  23| 0.20  12.57  11.02  -0.85  -0.90|  2600  +252
Timber Lake 51  -3  85  24| 0.00  15.04  13.36  -0.76  -0.48|  2760  +307
Aberdeen    50  -4  83  20| 0.00  19.50  17.65  +2.74  +3.07|  2759  +288
Eureka      51  -2  82  24| 0.00  18.24  17.29  +3.04  +3.67|  2782  +479
Faulkton    52  -2  86  22| 0.00  16.41  13.45  -0.32  -1.18|  2949  +519
Mobridge    53  -2  83  25| 0.00  16.27  15.72  +1.13  +2.48|  2885  +356
Roscoe      50  -4  83  24| 0.00  16.24  14.78  -0.62  -0.16|  2546  +119
Britton     52  -2  81  21| 0.00  17.80  16.31  +0.96  +1.18|  3003  +473
Clear Lake  49  -6  81  22| 0.00  26.15  22.55  +4.98  +4.29|  2524   +80
Sisseton    50  -5  84  20| 0.00  18.28  17.15  -0.27  +1.03|  2615   +26
Webster     50  -3  81  27| 0.00  17.62  16.50  -1.11  +0.06|  2671  +261
Watertown   51  -3  81  22| 0.00  18.60  17.62  -0.87  +0.68|  2669  +224
Faith       53  -2  85  27| 0.10  11.88  11.33  -3.07  -1.81|  2897  +302
Milesville  53  -3  87  24| 0.00  16.70  14.79  +0.55  +0.56|  2994  +225
Long Valley 55  -2  88  24| 0.35  15.16  12.56  -1.09  -1.82|  3063  +309
Philip      54  -3  88  22| 0.04   8.77   8.31  -5.65  -4.47|  3200  +345
Rapid City  53  -2  87  25| 0.10  13.35  12.51  -1.44  -0.34|  2804  +456
Spearfish   54  +2  89  26| 0.00  15.67  12.90  -3.63  -3.61|  2837  +600
Chamberlain 54  -3  89  27| 0.00  23.64  20.73  +7.88  +6.74|  3057   +41
Highmore    58  +4  87  32| 0.00  17.91  16.79  +0.23  +1.18|  3082  +370
Huron       54  +0  90  22| 0.00  22.82  19.26  +5.03  +4.22|  3072  +418
Onida       53  -3  83  25| 0.00  16.79  14.87  +0.42  +0.83|  2910  +121
Pierre      54  -2  84  24| 0.00  17.43  14.74  +0.70  +0.05|  3244  +382
Brookings   48  -4  85  20| 0.00  19.30  17.26  -1.27  -1.33|  2567  +361
Madison     50  -3  85  20| 0.00  20.44  18.37  -0.49  +0.55|  2708  +281
Mitchell    53  -4  88  23| 0.00  21.88  18.36  +2.41  +1.52|  3041  +170
Sioux Falls 55  +1  90  22| 0.00  24.56  21.60  +3.75  +3.58|  2962  +291
Custer      47  -3  76  21| 0.49  19.21  17.57  +2.01  +2.25|  1797  +255
Hot Springs 54  -2  87  26| 0.54  11.60   9.74  -2.74  -3.11|  2744  +139
Oelrichs    51  -5  88  25| 0.55  14.19  11.47  -0.91  -1.71|  2817   +92
Porcupine   50  -4  87  22| 0.63  16.76  13.97  +2.38  +1.07|  2690   +94
Murdo       55  +0  84  28| 0.02  18.89  16.78  +2.87  +3.02|  3034  +345
Winner      55  -4  86  26| 0.08  25.12  22.32  +3.95  +3.98|  3325  +169
Armour      57  +2  88  26| 0.00  26.79  23.69  +6.40  +6.18|  3237  +246
Centerville 54  -1  91  25| 0.04  22.63  20.11  +0.48  +0.74|  2923  +227
Marion      53  -2  88  24| 0.00  25.85  22.38  +4.37  +3.89|  2842  +203
Pickstown   55  -2  89  29| 0.00  24.20  20.61  +4.49  +3.39|  3182  +253
Vermillion  58  +2  92  23| 0.00  20.29  18.03  -1.37  -1.00|  3329  +208
Yankton     57  +3  89  32| 0.00  24.21  20.54  +3.47  +2.31|  3234  +373
 


Map to weather reporting stations



 
 
 
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 2001 CROP WEATHER Reports