Released: August 11, 2003 -- 3:00 pm CST For Week ending August 10, 2003 SD-CW3203 Volume 52 Issue 32

AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY:    Farmers and ranchers in several areas of the state received welcomed rains, while other areas were passed over and continue to deal with dry 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 caring for livestock. 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 welcomed last week, with only 7 of the 43 reporting weather stations receiving no rainfall. Armour received the most rainfall, at 1.94 inches. Temperatures varied from above normal to below normal last week. Milesville and Oelrichs, at 101 degrees, had the high for the week, while Custer had the low of 53 degrees.

SOIL CONDITION:    With scattered showers across the state, topsoil moisture conditions improved last week, while subsoil moisture fell slightly. Topsoil is currently rated at 23 percent very short, 33 percent short, 43 percent adequate, and 1 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture is rated 22 percent very short, 32 percent short, 45 percent adequate, and 1 percent surplus.

FIELD CROPS REPORT:    Small grain harvest continues with barley 73 percent, oats 90 percent, and spring wheat 82 percent harvested; all behind last year's progress. Row crop conditions made no significant changes during last week. Corn tasseled and silked are in line with the five-year average, with 98 percent tasseled and 90 percent silked. Corn in the dough stage is rated at 18 percent, behind last year and the five-year average. Soybeans blooming are rated at 96 percent, with 70 percent setting pods, both in line with the five- year average of 94 percent blooming and 70 percent setting pods. Sorghum is 84 percent headed, ahead of last year's pace with 16 percent turning color. Sunflower are 59 percent in bloom, with 2 percent of the ray flowers dry. Silage harvest is underway, with 1 percent of both corn and sorghum harvested.

LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT:    With scattered precipitation, range and pasture condition still declined slightly last week. Cattle and sheep remain in mostly good to excellent condition, with approximately half of the state having short to very short stock water supplies. Alfalfa is rated at 45 percent good to excellent, with second cutting alfalfa 91 percent harvested and third cutting 17 percent complete. Other hay is 94 percent harvested. The livestock feed and water supply comparison table was added to show current conditions.

           SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON
                  AS OF August 10, 2003 

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

                       Percent
Very 
 Short     23    22    38     22     25    48
Short      33    43    33     32     27    31
Adeq.      43    34    29     45     47    21
Surplus     1     1     0      1      1     0




           CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS
                  AS OF August 10, 2003 

ITEM       V POOR   POOR   FAIR   GOOD   EXCEL

                          Percent
Barley         1      11     34      43     11
Corn           2       6     20      46     26
Alfalfa        9      15     31      37      8
Sorghum       15      17     23      41      4
Soybeans       1       4     20      54     21
Sunflower      5      13     42      37      3
Cattle         1       4     21      58     16
Sheep          0      16     14      53     17
Range &                                       
   Pasture    14      16     34      31      5



                   CROP PROGRESS 
               AS OF August 10, 2003  1/
                                                      
                                                                       
                    This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM                Week   Week   Year    Ave
  
                         Percent
Barley        
 ripe                95     66     98      95
 harvested           73     36     83      73 
Spring wheat 
 ripe                98     87    100      95
 harvested           82     57     88      73 
Oats        
 ripe                99     90    100      96
 harvested           90     71     92      81
Corn        
 tasseling           98     91     99      98
 silked              90     71     90      90
 dough               18      7     36      39
 dented               0      0     10       8
 silage harvested     1      0      3       1
Sorghum     
 headed              84     57     64      59
 coloring            16     13     23      18
 silage harvested     1      0      4       1 
Soybeans    
 blooming            96     90     98      94
 setting pods        70     45     76      70
 dropping leaves      3      1      4       2
Sunflower   
 blooming            59     26     65      67
 ray flowers dry      2      1     20      17
 bracts yellow        0      0      7      10
Winter wheat
 harvested          100     98    100      97
Winter rye  
 harvested           98     76     94      88
Alfalfa     
 2nd cutting         91     89     81      82
 3rd cutting         17     12     32      24
Other hay   
 cut                 94     92     92      86


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



            TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, AND GROWING DEGREE DAYS
                        WEEK ENDING August 10, 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       78  +6  97  55| 0.09  13.00   9.07  +0.41  -1.56|  1717   +98
Buffalo     79  +8 100  57| 0.00   6.79   4.67  -3.36  -4.30|  1795  +256
Dupree      77  +3  96  55| 0.52   9.60   7.31  -2.82  -3.42|  1856   +71
Mc Intosh   74  +2  93  56| 1.19  10.90   9.80  -1.00  -0.63|  1623   -53
Newell      77  +5  96  57| 0.40   8.87   6.45  -2.19  -3.11|  1763  +148
Timber Lake 74  +2  92  56| 0.50  11.00   8.89  -1.83  -1.98|  1699   -18
Aberdeen    71  -3  85  56| 1.58  15.32  14.32  +2.18  +3.36|  1639   -99
Eureka      74  +3  89  58| 0.99  15.71  15.17  +3.61  +4.65|  1745  +132
Faulkton    73  +1  89  55| 0.13  15.92  13.70  +2.75  +2.63|  1714   +13
Mobridge    76  +3  92  56| 0.19  10.35   9.73  -1.93  -0.65|  1815   +54
Roscoe      71  -3  86  56| 0.47  15.72  14.04  +2.03  +2.27|  1501  -195
Britton     73  +0  87  60| 1.13  18.14  17.65  +5.03  +6.25|  1807   +38
Clear Lake  69  -3  82  57| 0.72  13.94  11.81  -2.47  -1.69|  1530  -186
Sisseton    71  -3  85  56| 0.68  15.81  15.49  +1.56  +3.67|  1652  -163
Webster     71  -2  84  61| 1.62  17.22  16.20  +2.71  +3.98|  1615   -92
Watertown   70  -3  84  55| 1.26  13.23  12.25  -1.99  -0.44|  1587  -129
Faith       78  +5  99  54| 0.00   6.77   5.85  -5.81  -4.92|  1851   +78
Milesville  79  +4 101  57| 0.00   9.93   6.94  -3.20  -4.27|  1950   +56
Long Valley 79  +5  98  55| 0.00  15.17  12.53  +1.63  +0.86|  1956   +90
Philip      81  +5 100  58| 0.01   8.98   7.34  -3.05  -3.05|  2027   +80
Rapid City  78  +6  96  55| 0.26   8.19   6.59  -4.02  -3.68|  1830  +240
Spearfish   77  +6  96  58| 0.00  14.73  10.63  -1.18  -2.49|  1789  +268
Chamberlain 76  -2  97  59| 1.27  16.83  14.79  +3.97  +3.70|  1873  -191
Highmore    74  -2  92  58| 1.23  13.22  11.98  -0.96  -0.13|  1904   +44
Huron       75  +1  89  59| 1.35  12.22  11.02  -2.21  -0.66|  1876   +18
Onida       75  +0  93  57| 0.53  14.45  12.33  +1.08  +1.29|  1812  -107
Pierre      78  +3  98  59| 0.16  10.55   9.41  -3.19  -2.29|  1950   -17
Brookings   69  -2  81  54| 1.51  13.34  12.53  -2.20  -1.03|  1512   -53
Madison     71  -1  84  57| 1.10  13.00  11.99  -3.11  -1.01|  1608   -96
Mitchell    73  -3  89  57| 1.26  17.13  15.02  +2.01  +2.53|  1727  -279
Sioux Falls 73  -2  85  56| 0.44  13.12  11.97  -2.15  -0.51|  1790   -89
Custer      70  +5  87  53| 0.47  14.05  11.02  -0.05  -1.20|  1090   +45
Hot Springs 78  +5  95  57| 0.31  13.32  10.26  +1.45  -0.12|  1771    +5
Oelrichs    80  +6 101  60| 0.00  12.70  10.17  +0.18  -0.43|  1828   -12
Porcupine   78  +5  98  55| 0.14  10.66   7.43  -1.43  -3.18|  1804   +10
Murdo       78  +5  99  59| 0.00  11.11   8.89  -2.39  -2.35|  1931   +79
Winner      79  +3 100  62| 0.97  14.39  12.36  -2.82  -2.02|  2168    +2
Armour      74  -2  91  61| 1.94  18.98  17.62  +2.86  +4.38|  1966  -112
Centerville 72  -1  86  57| 1.01  18.80  16.98  +1.71  +2.67|  1829   -80
Marion      72  -2  86  56| 1.21  17.38  15.65  +1.26  +2.52|  1698  -173
Pickstown   75  +0  95  58| 0.44  14.53  12.66  -0.69  -0.07|  1941   -81
Vermillion  73  -3  86  59| 0.91  15.95  12.83  -0.87  -1.36|  2034  -147
Yankton     73  -2  89  57| 1.76  21.30  18.12  +5.05  +4.38|  1858  -140
 

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