Released: August 2, 2004 -- 3:00 pm CST For Week ending August 1, 2004 SD-CW3104 Volume 53 Issue 31

AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY:    Soil moisture conditions continue to decline under warm temperatures and limited rainfall, according to USDA's South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Stock water supplies also fell with the lack of rainfall. The warm, dry weather allowed more progress on the winter wheat harvest. Spring-seeded small grain harvest is underway, but is slightly behind as some fields are slow to ripen. Producers are beginning the third cutting of alfalfa, scouting for insects, and maintaining livestock. Statewide, 6.3 days were 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:   Typical summertime weather occurred across the state last week. High temperatures ranged from the mid 80's to mid 90's, with Philip and Long Valley recording the week's high of 101 degrees. Rainfall totals were generally light as scattered showers and thunderstorms rumbled across the central and east during the week. Onida accumulated 1.16 inches of rain for last week's precipitation high.

SOIL CONDITION:    More eastern South Dakota counties are reporting shortages in both top and subsoil moisture, as adequacy ratings declined for the second week in a row. Fifty-two percent of topsoil is rated adequate for moisture, down from last week's 62 percent and 73 percent adequate two weeks ago. Subsoil moisture conditions declined from 55 percent adequate to 49 percent adequate.

FIELD CROPS REPORT:    Last week's generally warm, dry conditions kept winter wheat harvest on track, but stressed field crops in areas with declining soil moisture. Winter wheat is estimated 85 percent harvested, which is ahead of the five-year average of 84 percent. Spring-seeded small grain ripening and harvest progressed last week, but remains behind last year and the five-year average. Corn and soybeans are rated in primarily good to excellent condition, with corn tasseling and soybean blooming estimated at 81 percent complete.

LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT:    Another warm, dry week caused stock water supplies to decline; however, livestock remain in generally good to excellent condition. Forty-five percent of the state is estimated adequate for stock water, which is down from last week's estimate of 52 percent and 62 percent adequate two weeks ago. Producers are beginning on the third cutting of alfalfa, with 8 percent estimated as harvested.

         FEED AND WATER SUPPLIES COMPARISON
                 AS OF August 1, 2004 

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

                       Percent
Very
 Short     10     3     9     24     20   15
Short      20    19    15     29     27   16
Adeq.      63    75    52     45     51   44
Surplus     7     3     4      2      2    5
 

         SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON
                  AS OF August 1, 2004 

               TOPSOIL         SUBSOIL
         This   Last  Last  This   Last  Last
RATING   Week   Week  Year  Week   Week  Year
                       Percent
Very 
 Short     14    12    19     20     21    23
Short      31    23    40     29     22    26
Adeq.      52    62    40     49     55    50
Surplus     3     3     1      2      2     1


             

           CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS
               AS OF August 1, 2004 

ITEM       V POOR   POOR   FAIR   GOOD   EXCEL
                         Percent
Spring Wheat   6       4     21      42     27
Barley        10       8     17      47     18
Oats           6       6     18      49     21
Corn           0       4     18      54     24
Soybeans       0       4     17      57     22
Sorghum        2       5     39      47      7
Sunflower     22       4     28      37      9
Alfalfa       11      12     21      41     15
Cattle         0       3     16      60     21
Sheep          0       7      9      61     23
Range &                                        
  Pasture      9      18     31     34       8                          



          CROP PROGRESS AS OF August 1, 2004  1/
                                                      
                    This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM                Week   Week   Year    Ave
  
                         Percent
Barley     
 turning color       97     90     95      95
 ripe                60     30     61      71
 harvested           17      2     29      31
Spring wheat 
 turning color       98     91     99      97
 ripe                55     26     79      76
 harvested           29      3     46      36
Oats        
 turning color       97     89     99      97
 ripe                70     41     85      82
 harvested           37     13     61      54
Corn        
 tasseling           81     51     84      85
 silked              47     26     59      63
 dough                2      0      5      13
Sorghum     
 headed              44     25     51      41
 coloring             3      2     12      13
Soybeans    
 blooming            81     65     87      85
 setting pods        28     13     39      42
 dropping leaves      0      0      1       0
Sunflower   
 blooming            20      4     22      25
 ray flowers dry      2      0      1       2
 bracts yellow        0      0      0       1
Winter wheat
 ripe                96     87     99      98
 harvested           85     56     93      84
Alfalfa     
 2nd cutting         78     56     85      74
 3rd cutting          8      1      9      12
Other hay   
 cut                 82     75     91      84
 

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

  
   

                                                     
            TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, AND GROWING DEGREE DAYS
                        WEEK ENDING August 1, 2004
                                     
             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       73  -1  96  45| 0.00   8.45   6.47  -3.74  -3.70|  1340   -96
Buffalo     71  -2  96  46| 0.26   5.64   5.23  -4.20  -3.39|  1323   -40
Dupree      72  -3  98  43| 0.20  11.01   9.46  -1.01  -0.82|  1418  -170
Mc Intosh   71  -3  95  45| 0.76   8.74   7.31  -2.68  -2.59|  1312  -180
Newell      70  -5  98  46| 0.09   9.65   8.19  -1.01  -0.93|  1278  -154
Timber Lake 71  -3  93  45| 0.07   9.03   6.84  -3.26  -3.44|  1335  -197
Aberdeen    69  -5  85  48| 0.30  14.92  12.43  +2.34  +2.09|  1276  -278
Eureka      71  -2  91  47| 0.24  10.24   8.85  -1.30  -1.06|  1368   -69
Faulkton    69  -5  90  48| 0.62  17.28  14.69  +4.74  +4.31|  1308  -213
Mobridge    72  -4  96  44| 0.01   8.30   7.27  -3.50  -2.57|  1387  -184
Roscoe      67  -7  87  47| 0.12  14.71  11.61  +1.58  +0.46|  1118  -395
Britton     70  -4  85  50| 0.12  13.86  12.32  +1.31  +1.52|  1428  -155
Clear Lake  67  -7  85  50| 0.66  15.14  13.17  -0.43  +0.57|  1162  -379
Sisseton    68  -6  83  53| 0.96  13.22  11.52  -0.39  +0.40|  1287  -341
Webster     69  -5  84  54| 0.85  13.90  10.97  +0.19  -0.40|  1227  -303
Watertown   68  -5  86  52| 0.87  13.47  12.10  -1.03  +0.19|  1241  -295
Faith       71  -4  94  46| 0.22  11.57  10.85  -0.61  +0.53|  1333  -244
Milesville  74  -3  98  47| 0.30  12.53  10.54  -0.04  -0.06|  1527  -162
Long Valley 74  -2 101  47| 0.17   9.18   7.20  -3.83  -3.88|  1656    -9
Philip      73  -4 101  45| 0.07   7.90   7.09  -3.67  -2.80|  1622  -114
Rapid City  72  -2  98  47| 0.30   8.99   7.05  -2.74  -2.69|  1434   +26
Spearfish   72  +0  99  50| 0.22  10.80   8.38  -4.67  -4.23|  1390   +44
Chamberlain 73  -6  96  51| 0.50  14.08  10.86  +1.78  +0.38|  1594  -256
Highmore    71  -5  92  47| 0.85  14.88  12.61  +1.33  +1.20|  1521  -140
Huron       71  -5  92  49| 0.29  16.40  13.24  +2.53  +2.18|  1519  -144
Onida       74  -3  97  47| 1.16  11.43   8.69  -1.37  -1.72|  1517  -199
Pierre      73  -5  98  49| 0.28   9.85   7.49  -3.41  -3.68|  1620  -136
Brookings   67  -5  89  47| 0.27  16.92  15.11  +2.10  +2.33|  1231  -173
Madison     67  -7  90  50| 0.57  17.62  15.72  +2.30  +3.58|  1311  -220
Mitchell    69  -7  92  51| 0.56  18.68  15.72  +4.12  +3.86|  1421  -386
Sioux Falls 69  -6  90  48| 0.05  20.43  16.86  +5.85  +5.14|  1530  -159
Custer      63  -5  86  42| 0.40   7.80   6.32  -5.70  -5.26|   805  -112
Hot Springs 70  -5  98  45| 0.20   6.68   4.52  -4.80  -5.43|  1478   -97
Oelrichs    72  -5 100  46| 0.46   6.43   4.59  -5.66  -5.53|  1548   -89
Porcupine   71  -5  97  41| 0.42   8.69   6.07  -2.99  -4.09|  1480  -119
Murdo       73  -3  98  50| 0.01   9.66   7.21  -3.36  -3.49|  1534  -122
Winner      76  -3 100  54| 0.16  15.53  11.95  -1.00  -1.69|  1864   -86
Armour      73  -4  97  50| 0.06  14.63  11.26  -0.93  -1.35|  1707  -165
Centerville 68  -6  88  48| 0.45  16.53  12.30  +0.24  -1.15|  1550  -176
Marion      68  -7  90  50| 0.53  20.84  17.44  +5.36  +5.03|  1413  -273
Pickstown   70  -7  98  52| 0.71  13.48  10.86  -1.18  -1.24|  1621  -194
Vermillion  70  -7  89  51| 0.03  19.95  15.14  +3.94  +1.82|  1823  -154
Yankton     70  -6 100  50| 0.05  19.85  14.60  +4.33  +1.64|  1621  -181


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