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Released: October 22, 2001 -- 3:00 p.m. CST For Week Ending October 21, 2001 SD-CW4201 VOLUME 50 ISSUE 42

AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY:   Ideal conditions not only allowed producers to move ahead on harvest progress last week but also helped farmers and ranchers bring winter wheat seeding to completion, 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, and weaning and selling calves. Statewide, there were 6.2 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:  Temperatures ranged from the mid-teens to low 80's last week, with temperatures averaging 3 degrees below normal across the state. A high of 83 degrees was reported in Winner, while Porcupine recorded a low of 15 degrees. Little precipitation fell across the state, with reporting stations recording only trace amounts of rainfall. Rapid City reported the greatest amount of precipitation at 0.27 inch.

SOIL CONDITION:   Soil moisture levels declined slightly across the state again last week. The eastern portion of the state remains at mostly adequate for topsoil and subsoil moisture, while many western counties continue to see short or very short soil moisture levels. Areas reporting short or very short topsoil moisture covered 30 percent of the state, while areas reporting short or very short subsoil moisture now cover 41 percent of the state.

FIELD CROPS REPORT:    Row crop harvest continues to move ahead, still behind last year's pace, but ahead of the five-year average. Soybeans harvested jumped 21 percentage points to 86 percent complete, ahead of the five-year average of 84 percent. Corn is now at 43 percent harvested, behind last year's 62 percent, but ahead of the five-year average of 41 percent. Sorghum harvested for grain is now 77 percent complete, right in line with last year, but ahead of the five-year average of 60 percent. Sunflower are reported at 54 percent harvested, compared to last year's 80 percent, and the five-year average of 63 percent. Winter wheat seeding is at 96 percent complete after a week of good planting conditions.

LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT:    Producers continue to move cattle and wean calves. Cattle are being turned out on crop residues to take advantage of additional feed sources, while some producers are baling corn stalks to add to their supply of feed. Feed supplies rated at 81 percent adequate to surplus, while stock water supplies were similar at 79 percent. Cattle and sheep remain in good to excellent condition. With the additional moisture across the state in the last two weeks, alfalfa is now rated at 82 percent fair to good and 7 percent excellent.




       SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON                                           
               AS OF October 21, 2001 

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

                       Percent
Very 
 Short      6     6   37    10     8    35
Short      24    22   43    31    34    44
Adeq.      67    70   20    56    57    21
Surplus     3     2    0     3     1     0



             CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS
                AS OF October 21, 2001 
  
ITEM       V POOR   POOR   FAIR   GOOD   EXCEL

                          Percent
Alfalfa        1      10     35      47      7
Corn           2       6     22      53     17
Sunflower      1       7     33      49     10
Cattle         0       2     14      68     16
Sheep          0       1     15      69     15
Range & 
   Pasture     6      15     35      38      6



  CROP PROGRESS AS OF OCTOBER 21, 2001   1/
                                                   
                    This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM                Week   Week   Year    Ave
                               Percent
Corn        
 grain harvested     43     30     62      41
Sorghum     
 grain harvested     77     66     77      60
 silage harvested    95     90    100      96
Soybeans    
 harvested           86     65     93      84
Sunflower   
 harvested           54     39     80      63
Winter wheat
 seeded              96     92     88      96
 emerged             81     68     56      82
Winter rye  
 emerged             98     88     87      91

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





                  SOIL TEMPERATURES         
    WEEK ENDING October 21, 2001 (4-inch Depth)

LOCATION      TEMP             LOCATION   TEMP
          
Beresford      50              Gettysburg   48
Brookings      47              Nisland      50
Caputa         48              Pierre       50
Chamberlain    52              Redfield     48
Cottonwood     49              Watertown    46




             TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION, 
          WEEK ENDING SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2001                


             TEMPERATURE  |    -----  PRECIPITATION -----   | 
             -----------  |       SINCE  SINCE  SINCE  SINCE| 
            CURRENT WEEK  | CURR  JAN 1  APR 1  JAN 1  APR 1|
STATION    AVG DFN  HI  LO| WEEK  TOTAL  TOTAL    DFN    DFN| 
-------     --  --  --  --|-----  -----  -----  -----  -----| 
Bison       45  -3  71  22| 0.00  17.68  16.57  +2.03  +2.88|  
Buffalo     45  -3  70  23| 0.00  13.75  13.11  +0.88  +1.42|  
Dupree      45  -5  70  17| 0.09  12.43  10.98  -3.01  -2.77|  
McIntosh    44  -4  72  20| 0.00  17.32  16.71  +1.95  +2.81|  
Newell      42  -6  73  20| 0.14  12.96  11.41  -0.97  -1.02|  
Timber Lake 45  -3  70  21| 0.00  15.56  13.88  -0.79  -0.51|  
Aberdeen    44  -3  62  24| 0.01  21.41  19.56  +4.15  +4.48|  
Eureka      45  -2  64  21| 0.02  19.73  18.78  +3.97  +4.60|  
Faulkton    47  +0  63  24| 0.11  18.77  15.81  +1.48  +0.62|  
Mobridge    46  -2  66  21| 0.00  17.22  16.67  +1.57  +2.92|  
Roscoe      43  -5  61  23| 0.07  17.48  16.02  +0.07  +0.53|  
Britton     45  -3  61  23| 0.03  19.46  17.97  +2.01  +2.23|  
Clear Lake  43  -5  64  26| 0.02  26.75  23.15  +4.67  +3.98|  
Sisseton    46  -3  63  28| 0.02  19.65  18.52  +0.40  +1.70|  
Webster     45  -3  62  27| 0.12  18.58  17.46  -0.83  +0.34|  
Watertown   44  -4  61  30| 0.03  19.31  18.33  -1.04  +0.51|  
Faith       46  -3  74  24| 0.01  12.60  12.05  -2.85  -1.59|  
Milesville  47  -4  70  21| 0.20  17.84  15.93  +1.12  +1.13|  
Long Valley 49  -2  82  17| 0.00  15.99  13.39  -0.72  -1.45|  
Philip      48  -3  82  18| 0.13   9.42   8.96  -5.50  -4.32|  
Rapid City  46  -2  78  21| 0.27  14.12  13.28  -1.19  -0.09|  
Spearfish   47  -2  73  26| 0.20  16.68  13.91  -3.40  -3.38|  
Chamberlain 47  -4  68  22| 0.04  23.89  20.98  +7.57  +6.43|  
Highmore    46  -4  64  19| 0.00  19.14  18.02  +0.82  +1.77|  
Huron       48  +0  68  21| 0.01  23.22  19.66  +4.73  +3.92|  
Onida       47  -3  66  22| 0.00  18.25  16.33  +1.32  +1.73|  
Pierre      48  -2  65  24| 0.02  18.66  15.97  +1.36  +0.71|  
Brookings   42  -4  64  24| 0.02  20.27  18.23  -1.06  -1.12|  
Madison     43  -4  64  25| 0.02  21.78  19.71  +0.02  +1.06|  
Mitchell    45  -5  67  25| 0.00  22.48  18.96  +2.34  +1.45|  
Sioux Falls 46  -3  65  27| 0.02  25.42  22.46  +3.80  +3.63| 
Custer      40  -5  70  21| 0.14  19.98  18.34  +2.33  +2.57|  
Hot_Springs 48  -2  77  19| 0.03  12.12  10.26  -2.67  -3.04|  
Oelrichs    44  -6  76  20| 0.05  14.66  11.94  -0.90  -1.70|  
Porcupine   45  -3  78  15| 0.00  17.28  14.49  +2.45  +1.14|  
Murdo       47  -3  74  26| 0.11  19.64  17.53  +3.01  +3.16|  
Winner      51  -1  83  28| 0.00  25.23  22.43  +3.39  +3.42|  
Armour      49  -2  69  26| 0.00  27.53  24.43  +6.43  +6.21|  
Centerville 46  -3  68  22| 0.00  23.52  21.00  +0.59  +0.85|  
Marion      46  -3  66  26| 0.00  26.76  23.29  +4.52  +4.04|  
Pickstown   49  -2  72  25| 0.00  25.14  21.55  +4.75  +3.65|  
Vermillion  49  -3  69  26| 0.00  22.75  20.49  +0.30  +0.67|  
Yankton     48  -3  71  27| 0.00  25.93  22.26  +4.46  +3.30| 

 


Map to weather reporting stations



 
 
 
Harvest Progress Chart


 
 
 
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