Released: August 12, 2002 -- 3:00 p.m. CST For Week Ending August 11, 2002 SD-CW3202 Volume 51 Issue 32

AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY:   Warm temperatures and scattered showers covered the state last week, bringing much-needed precipitation to row crops and improving soil moisture conditions, according to USDA's South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Major farm activities included cutting hay, harvesting small grains, spraying, fixing fences, working summer fallow, and moving cattle to market. Statewide, there were 5.1 days reported suitable for fieldwork last week. This report is based on information from county extension educators, farm service agency county directors, and other reporters across the state.

WEATHER INFORMATION:  Precipitation was the highlight of last week, with most areas of the state reporting some rainfall. Many reporting stations received an inch or more last week, with Brookings recording the most rainfall at 3.8 inches. Temperatures for the week ranged from lows in the 40's to highs in the 100's. Philip reported a high of 104 degrees.

SOIL CONDITION:   Topsoil and subsoil moisture conditions improved from the previous week. Topsoil is now 35 percent very short, 33 percent short, and 32 percent adequate. Subsoil is rated 47 percent very short, 31 percent short, and 22 percent adequate.

FIELD CROPS REPORT:   Small grain harvest continues with spring wheat 91 percent, oats 94 percent, and barley 88 percent harvested. Row crop conditions improved slightly from last week with the precipitation. Soybeans are 99 percent in bloom, with 79 percent setting pods, both ahead of last year and the five-year average. Corn is 92 percent silked, 38 percent in the dough stage, and 11 percent dented, all at or ahead of the five-year average. Sunflowers are 68 percent in bloom, with 22 percent of the ray flowers dry. Sorghum is 66 percent headed and 24 percent coloring. Silage harvest is underway, as 3 percent of corn and 5 percent of sorghum silage are harvested.

LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT:    Range and pasture conditions improved slightly last week from the much-needed rainfall. Cattle and sheep are in mostly good to excellent condition, but feed and water supplies remain a concern for producers. Second cutting alfalfa is 82 percent harvested, and third cutting is 33 percent harvested. The livestock feed and water supply comparison table was added to show current drought conditions.

           FEED AND WATER SUPPLIES COMPARISON
                  AS OF AUGUST 11, 2002 

              FEED           STOCK WATER 
            SUPPLIES           SUPPLIES 
         This  Last 5-Yr.    This  Last  5-Yr.
RATING   Year  Year  Ave.    Year  Year   Ave.

                       Percent
Very 
 Short     34     1    NA     39      1     3
Short      37    12    NA     32     10     9
Adeq.      28    82    NA     28     85    78
Surplus     1     5    NA      1      4    10





           SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON
                  AS OF AUGUST 11, 2002 

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

                        Percent
Very 
 Short     35    55     9     47     56     4
Short      33    33    36     31     29    30
Adeq.      32    12    54     22     15    65
Surplus     0     0     1      0      0     1



          CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS
                AS OF AUGUST 11, 2002 

ITEM       V POOR   POOR   FAIR   GOOD   EXCEL

                           Percent
Corn          22      24     27      22      5
Soybeans       9      20     31      34      6
Alfalfa       46      30     16       8      0
Sorghum       36      37     23       4      0
Sunflower     30      29     32       8      1
Cattle         6      11     32      42      9
Sheep          5      11     27      47     10
Range & 
   Pasture    43      29     19       9      0






            CROP PROGRESS AS OF AUGUST 11, 2002   1/
                                                       
                                                                           
                    This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM                Week   Week   Year    Ave  
                             Percent
Barley      
 ripe                99     93     95      94
 harvested           88     56     62      70 
Spring Wheat
 harvested           91     69     70      66
Oats        
 harvested           94     83     75      77 
Corn          
 tasseling          100     92     98      98
 silked              92     76     91      91
 dough               38     21     40      38
 dented              11      4      6       7
 silage harvested     3      0      0       0
Sorghum      
 headed              66     50     85      61
 coloring            24     18     16      16
 silage harvested     5      0      0       1
Soybeans    
 blooming            99     92     94      93
 setting pods        79     60     71      72
 dropping leaves      5      0      3       2
Sunflower   
 blooming            68     44     72      70 
 ray flowers dry     22      9     15      15
 bracts yellow        7      5      4      10
Winter Rye  
 harvested           95     85     85      87 
Alfalfa     
 2nd cutting         82     75     86      82 
 3rd cutting         33     24     27      NA 
Other Hay   
 cut                 93     89     89      86

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



                TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, and GROWING DEGREE DAYS
                           WEEK ENDING SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2002
             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       75  +3 100  52| 0.45   5.17   4.58  -7.47  -6.10|  1900  +259
Buffalo     73  +2  97  50| 0.17   4.64   4.27  -5.55  -4.74|  1821  +261
Dupree      77  +3 102  52| 0.41   5.67   5.05  -6.80  -5.73|  2021  +212
McIntosh    74  +2 101  53| 0.49   6.06   5.27  -5.90  -5.22|  1875  +177
Newell      71  -3  94  49| 0.77   7.87   6.64  -3.24  -2.97|  1823  +186
Timber Lake 77  +4 100  54| 1.44   6.81   5.99  -6.09  -4.95|  1981  +242
Aberdeen    72  -1  89  51| 1.20  10.35   9.51  -2.86  -1.52|  1900  +140
Eureka      75  +4  96  55| 0.74   9.88   9.23  -2.29  -1.36|  1974  +340
Faulkton    75  +3  97  56| 1.08  13.17  11.88  -0.08  +0.73|  2018  +295
Mobridge    76  +3 102  56| 0.89   6.26   6.08  -6.08  -4.36|  2069  +285
Roscoe      72  -2  95  55| 0.63   8.38   7.54  -5.38  -4.30|  1777   +59
Britton     73  +0  92  55| 0.92   8.69   7.93  -4.49  -3.54|  2032  +240
Clear Lake  70  -3  84  55| 0.92  11.56   8.62  -4.95  -4.98|  1769   +32
Sisseton    73  -2  93  55| 0.39  14.73  14.51  +0.28  +2.49|  1752   -86
Webster     72  +1  89  56| 1.40  14.64  13.79  +0.03  +1.47|  1854  +125
Watertown   73  +0  87  55| 0.49   7.97   7.26  -7.34  -5.52|  1874  +136
Faith       76  +2 103  55| 0.41   5.38   5.19  -7.25  -5.63|  1986  +189
Milesville  79  +4 103  55| 1.20   7.39   5.79  -5.80  -5.48|  2205  +286
Long Valley 78  +4 101  56| 0.00   3.91   3.62  -9.69  -8.11|  2226  +336
Philip      77  +1 104  52| 0.84   4.71   4.32  -7.37  -6.12|  2278  +305
Rapid City  74  +2 100  48| 0.52   7.13   6.21  -5.14  -4.12|  2008  +396
Spearfish   74  +3  96  52| 1.29   8.49   6.35  -7.48  -6.83|  1882  +340
Chamberlain 77  +1 101  55| 1.82   9.56   7.84  -3.37  -3.32|  2162   +72
Highmore    77  +3  98  54| 1.92   8.58   8.18  -5.68  -4.01|  2124  +240
Huron       76  +3  92  56| 1.33   8.58   7.17  -5.92  -4.58|  2221  +340
Onida       76  +1 100  55| 2.32   8.77   8.15  -4.67  -2.96|  2061  +117
Pierre      76  -1 102  55| 1.15   9.64   9.16  -4.16  -2.60|  2182  +189
Brookings   71  +2  84  56| 3.80  16.56  13.69  +0.93  +0.04|  1842  +258
Madison     72  +2  86  54| 1.38   8.16   6.89  -8.05  -6.21|  1952  +227
Mitchell    76  +2  93  55| 3.46  11.95   9.65  -3.24  -2.91|  2149  +119
Sioux Falls 74  +1  84  57| 1.49  13.08  11.25  -2.28  -1.32|  2164  +262
Custer      65  -2  86  44| 1.45  10.83   9.33  -3.34  -2.96|  1278  +218
Hot Springs 74  +0  96  47| 1.53  10.19   7.78  -1.72  -2.64|  1953  +164
Oelrichs    74  -2  98  49| 1.81   9.12   6.65  -3.45  -4.00|  1989  +124
Porcupine   73  -2  98  47| 0.70   7.95   6.28  -4.19  -4.38|  1954  +136
Murdo       75  +2 101  53| 1.00   6.17   4.88  -7.39  -6.42|  2141  +265
Winner      79  +3 102  55| 0.99   8.59   6.99  -8.70  -7.47|  2497  +305
Armour      78  +3  96  55| 2.59   9.72   8.69  -6.47  -4.62|  2426  +323
Centerville 74  +2  85  58| 1.57  13.09  12.04  -4.10  -2.37|  2140  +209
Marion      74  +2  87  57| 2.34  13.25  11.77  -2.95  -1.44|  2046  +153
Pickstown   77  +2  96  55| 2.25   8.66   7.54  -6.63  -5.26|  2338  +291
Vermillion  75  +1  87  60| 1.33  17.18  16.06  +0.26  +1.77|  2447  +242
Yankton     77  +4  90  62| 1.32  11.96   9.94  -4.38  -3.89|  2279  +257
Source: National Weather Service, provided by AWIS, Inc.
Growing Degree Day values calculated using standard corn formula with no temperature caps.