Released: May 19, 2003 -- 3:00 pm CST For Week ending May 18, 2003 SD-CW2003 Volume 52 Issue 20

AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY:    Planting progress continues, but cool and damp conditions have slowed crop development, according to USDA's South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Farmers are busy with row crop planting, spraying and applying fertilizers, fixing fences, and moving cattle to pasture. Statewide, there were 3.5 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:   Below-average temperatures were reported for nearly all of the 43 weather stations across South Dakota. Oelrichs reported the daily high at 82 degrees, while Custer had the low of 28 degrees. All but four weather stations reported precipitation, with the most moisture,1.33 inches, received in Roscoe.

SOIL CONDITION:    Recent rains improved both topsoil and subsoil moisture, with subsoil moisture rating increasing from 69 percent adequate to surplus to 74 percent adequate to surplus last week. Slight improvement has been seen in soil temperatures. Watertown reported the lowest soil temperature, at 52.2 degrees.

FIELD CROPS REPORT:    Cloudy weather and wet conditions have slowed planting progress and hindered row crop emergence. Seeding of barley, oats, and spring wheat near completion, with progress for all three either at or above 95 percent. Emergence is at 81 percent for barley, 88 percent for oats, and 93 percent for spring wheat. Corn planting has progressed to 69 percent; ahead of both last year and the five-year average. Corn emergence is reported at 10 percent, which is on track with last year, but 16 percent behind the five-year average. Soybeans are 15 percent planted and 1 percent emerged. Sorghum is 15 percent planted, and sunflower is 3 percent planted.

LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT:    Livestock remain in mostly good to excellent condition, with range and pasture condition slowly improving. Calving has reached 94 percent completion, with lambing not far behind at 93 percent. Cattle moved to pasture is at 57 percent, which is ahead of last year, yet behind the five- year average. Producers are moving cattle back to pasture slowly to avoid any damage now or later in the season. The livestock feed and water supply comparison table was added to show current conditions.

           FEED AND WATER SUPPLIES COMPARISON
                  AS OF May 18, 2003 

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

                       Percent
Very 
 Short     10     3     2     10     12    3
Short      32    17    10     24     16    6
Adeq.      56    76    79     64     69   74
Surplus     2     4     9      2      3   17


           SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON
                  AS OF May 18, 2003 

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

                       Percent
Very 
 Short      1     2     5      5      6     9
Short       5     6    19     21     25    21
Adeq.      84    87    73     68     66    67
Surplus    10     5     3      6      3     3




           CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS
                  AS OF May 18, 2003 

ITEM       V POOR   POOR   FAIR   GOOD   EXCEL

                          Percent
Winter Wheat   1       6     21      50     22
Winter Rye     0       2     39      48     11
Spring Wheat   0       2     22      56     20
Barley         0       1     30      60      9
Oats           0       2     22      63     13
Cattle         0       3     21      63     13
Sheep          0       4     17      61     18
Range &                                       
   Pasture     7      20     36      30      7




                   CROP PROGRESS 
               AS OF May 18, 2003  1/
                                                      
                                                                       
                    This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM                Week   Week   Year    Ave
  
                         Percent
Barley        
 seeded              95     88     92      91
 emerged             81     62     57      70
Spring wheat 
 seeded              99     97     97      95
 emerged             93     84     76      80 
Oats        
 seeded              98     92     94      92
 emerged             88     73     68      73
Corn        
 planted             69     47     77      67
 emerged             10      3     10      26
Sorghum     
 seeded              15      7     11      13
Soybeans    
 planted             15      7     26      28
 emerged              1      0      1       6
Sunflower   
 seeded               3      2      4       9
Winter wheat
 boot                41     25     14      37
 headed               1      0      0       2
Winter rye  
 boot                18     12     18      36
 headed               1      0      0       7

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



                  SOIL TEMPERATURES
        WEEK ENDING May 18, 2003 (4-inch Depth)

LOCATION      TEMP             LOCATION   TEMP

Beresford      57              Gettysburg   56
Brookings      55              Nisland      57
Caputa         56              Pierre       57
Chamberlain    58              Redfield     54
Cottonwood     61              Watertown    52




            TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, AND GROWING DEGREE DAYS
                        WEEK ENDING May 18, 2003
                                     
             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       55  -1  70  35| 0.33   8.63   4.70  +2.88  +0.91|   152   +20
Buffalo     55  +2  73  37| 0.13   3.98   1.86  +0.04  -0.90|   168   +48
Dupree      55  -2  74  29| 0.26   5.39   3.10  +0.16  -0.44|   179   +17
Mc Intosh   55  -2  68  33| 0.69   5.47   4.37  +0.74  +1.11|   140    -1
Newell      54  -2  72  37| 0.26   5.73   3.31  +1.17  +0.25|   132    +5
Timber Lake 55  -2  71  31| 0.37   5.67   3.56  +0.05  -0.10|   155    -2
Aberdeen    55  -2  74  33| 0.22   4.87   3.87  -0.56  +0.62|   164    -7
Eureka      56  +1  70  32| 1.17   7.78   7.24  +3.00  +4.04|   169   +33
Faulkton    54  -3  73  32| 0.85   8.82   6.60  +3.15  +3.03|   163   +16
Mobridge    56  -2  71  30| 0.49   5.57   4.95  +0.14  +1.42|   204   +46
Roscoe      54  -4  71  32| 1.33   9.93   8.25  +4.29  +4.53|   101   -54
Britton     58  +1  75  34| 0.40   6.13   5.64  +1.17  +2.39|   205   +24
Clear Lake  55  -3  74  38| 0.56   6.50   4.37  -0.30  +0.48|   147   -16
Sisseton    55  -4  78  34| 1.27   5.92   5.60  -0.39  +1.72|   169   -21
Webster     57  +0  75  36| 0.38   5.61   4.59  -0.05  +1.22|   168    +4
Watertown   55  -3  74  34| 0.49   4.95   3.97  -1.42  +0.13|   164   +10
Faith       55  -2  73  35| 0.24   3.69   2.77  -1.72  -0.83|   170   +11
Milesville  57  +0  78  34| 0.40   6.55   3.56  +0.94  -0.13|   184    -4
Long Valley 58  +1  76  34| 0.31   8.52   5.88  +3.02  +2.25|   207   +33
Philip      57  -2  79  33| 0.62   5.71   4.07  +0.82  +0.82|   215   +27
Rapid City  56  +2  75  33| 0.00   4.85   3.25  -0.44  -0.10|   174   +51
Spearfish   56  +2  77  34| 0.00   6.87   2.77  -0.68  -1.99|   153   +37
Chamberlain 55  -4  78  35| 0.16   8.13   6.09  +2.71  +2.44|   197   -23
Highmore    58  +0  73  33| 0.35   6.17   4.93  +0.22  +1.05|   213   +34
Huron       56  -2  77  33| 0.31   5.16   3.96  -1.23  +0.32|   231   +53
Onida       57  -2  74  33| 1.12   8.76   6.64  +2.93  +3.14|   169   -18
Pierre      56  -2  77  34| 0.70   7.12   5.98  +1.46  +2.36|   229   +39
Brookings   55  -1  75  37| 0.23   5.35   4.54  -0.20  +0.97|   152   +21
Madison     54  -4  74  35| 0.30   6.37   5.36  -0.72  +1.38|   155    -6
Mitchell    55  -5  76  36| 0.41   7.66   5.55  +0.89  +1.41|   172   -46
Sioux Falls 55  -4  76  36| 0.48   7.15   6.00  +0.16  +1.80|   203   +15
Custer      50  +2  70  28| 0.02   6.95   3.92  +1.50  +0.35|    44    -4
Hot Springs 57  +1  80  32| 0.36   7.76   4.70  +3.09  +1.52|   141   -35
Oelrichs    56  -1  82  35| 0.00   6.96   4.43  +1.41  +0.80|   164   -10
Porcupine   57  +2  80  35| 0.42   7.79   4.56  +3.11  +1.36|   177   +30
Murdo       56  -2  77  38| 0.40   8.43   6.21  +2.45  +2.49|   208   +46
Winner      61  +1  81  39| 0.00   7.84   5.81  +0.18  +0.98|   305   +48
Armour      58  -3  77  37| 0.22   7.67   6.31  +0.74  +2.26|   261   +14
Centerville 55  -5  75  37| 0.66   6.83   5.01  -0.05  +0.91|   230   +20
Marion      55  -4  76  37| 0.46   7.29   5.56  +0.03  +1.29|   175   -13
Pickstown   57  -3  79  36| 0.37   7.96   6.09  +1.56  +2.18|   254   +41
Vermillion  57  -5  78  35| 0.26   8.23   5.11  +1.25  +0.76|   300    +6
Yankton     56  -4  78  38| 0.20   8.69   5.51  +2.16  +1.49|   231    +8

Source: National Weather Service, provided by AWIS, Inc.
Growing Degree Day values calculated using standard corn formula with no temperature caps.