Released: October 4, 2004 -- 3:00 pm CST For Week ending October 3, 2004 SD-CW4004 Volume 53 Issue 40

AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY:    Scattered rains and slightly below-normal temperatures improved soil moisture levels; however, harvest was delayed for several areas across the state, according to USDA's South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Row crop development remains behind normal, while winter wheat development benefitted from recent rains. Major farm activities included preparing for fall harvest, combining soybeans and corn, harvesting silage, cutting hay, fall tillage, planting fall crops, fixing fence, and caring for livestock. Statewide, 4.7 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:   Temperatures were slightly below the average for the state last week. Precipitation was recorded at 34 of the 43 reporting weather stations. Chamberlain and Pierre, at 85 degrees, had the highest temperature for the week, while Aberdeen, at 20 degrees, had the low for the week. Chamberlain received the most precipitation last week, with 2.09 inches reported.

SOIL CONDITION:    Last week's rains contributed to soil moisture levels. Currently topsoil moisture is rated at 80 percent adequate to surplus, the same as the previous week. Subsoil moisture is rated at 67 percent adequate to surplus, which shows improvement over the previous week's 63 percent.

FIELD CROPS REPORT:    Crop progress lags behind last year due to wet, cool conditions. The corn crop is 96 percent dented, and corn matured, at 52 percent, increased 23 points from last week. Corn being combined was 3 percent complete. Soybeans mature rose 34 points from the previous week to 54 percent. Soybeans are 10 percent harvested, 30 points behind last year. Silage harvest is still underway, with corn silage 77 percent and sorghum silage 64 percent harvested. Both are behind last year and the five-year average. Sorghum was 55 percent mature and 5 percent harvested for grain. Sunflower were 31 percent mature, with 4 percent harvested. Winter wheat was 68 percent planted, with 34 percent emerged.

LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT:    Last week's rains were beneficial to range and pastures, with the current condition rated at 70 percent fair to excellent, 7 points above the previous week. Cattle and sheep remain in mostly good to excellent condition. Alfalfa third cutting harvest is 88 percent complete.

         FEED AND WATER SUPPLIES COMPARISON
                AS OF OCTOBER 3, 2004 
           FEED SUPPLIES      STOCK WATER
         This  Last 5-Yr.   This  Last  5-Yr.
RATING   Week  Year  Ave.   Week  Year   Ave.
                       Percent
Very 
 Short      8     8     8     17     34   19
Short      21    28    20     23     28   21
Adeq.      65    62    50     58     37   38
Surplus     6     2     3      2      1    2
                                     
          SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON
                 AS OF OCTOBER 3, 2004 
               TOPSOIL         SUBSOIL
         This   Last  Last  This   Last  Last
RATING   Week   Week  Year  Week   Week  Year
                       Percent
Very 
 Short      5     7    37     14     15    44
Short      15    13    36     19     22    35
Adeq.      72    69    27     64     59    21
Surplus     8    11     0      3      4     0
                    

             CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS
                 AS OF OCTOBER 3, 2004 
ITEM       V POOR   POOR   FAIR   GOOD   EXCEL
                          Percent
Corn           3       9     25      47     16
Soybeans       2       9     27      50     12
Sorghum       11      21     38      27      3
Sunflower      9      12     37      36      6
Alfalfa       10      12     35      34      9
Cattle         0       2     17      66     15
Sheep          0       2     12      70     16
Range &                                        
Pasture       10      20     36      29      5
     
                         
       CROP PROGRESS AS OF OCTOBER 3, 2004  1/ 
                                                                                        

                    This   Last   Last   5-Yr.
ITEM                Week   Week   Year    Ave
  
                         Percent
Corn        
 dented              96     88    100     100
 mature              52     29     91      87
 grain harvested      3      1     16      15
 silage harvested    77     56     97      94
Sorghum     
 coloring            98     93    100      99
 mature              55     36     85      76
 grain harvested      5      4     32      25
 silage harvested    64     53     95      75
Soybeans    
 dropping leaves     95     82     99      97
 mature              54     20     89      82
 harvested           10      1     40      33
Sunflower   
 ray flowers dry     96     92     99      99
 bracts yellow       85     76     89      91
 mature              31     18     73      69
 harvested            4      1     27      20
Winter wheat
 seeded              68     49     79      76
 emerged             34     17     28      36
Alfalfa     
 3rd cutting         88     82     90      86



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



            TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, AND GROWING DEGREE DAYS
                        WEEK ENDING October 3, 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       55  +2  75  24| 0.00  11.86   9.88  -3.20  -3.16|  2235  -116
Buffalo     52  -1  84  23| 0.00   8.48   8.07  -3.91  -3.10|  2207   -22
Dupree      54  -2  78  28| 0.00  16.09  14.54  +1.29  +1.48|  2362  -231
Mc Intosh   53  -1  75  21| 0.00  12.25  10.82  -2.52  -2.43|  2195  -195
Newell      55  +2  84  27| 0.00  10.80   9.34  -2.50  -2.42|  2149  -188
Timber Lake 53  -2  75  26| 0.00  13.70  11.51  -1.98  -2.16|  2216  -225
Aberdeen    53  -2  81  20| 0.06  19.45  16.96  +2.82  +2.57|  2126  -333
Eureka      53  +0  75  22| 0.11  14.65  13.26  -0.43  -0.19|  2294    +0
Faulkton    52  -3  83  26| 0.01  23.90  21.31  +7.32  +6.89|  2180  -239
Mobridge    53  -2  82  21| 0.00  12.54  11.51  -2.48  -1.55|  2361  -155
Roscoe      51  -4  83  26| 0.00  20.85  17.75  +4.11  +2.99|  1882  -534
Britton     54  -1  73  29| 0.69  19.67  18.13  +2.98  +3.19|  2366  -151
Clear Lake  52  -3  79  27| 0.90  30.13  28.16  +9.18 +10.18|  1939  -493
Sisseton    56  +1  82  34| 1.25  21.09  19.39  +2.71  +3.50|  2169  -406
Webster     51  -3  71  29| 0.80  21.19  18.26  +2.61  +2.02|  2050  -350
Watertown   54  +0  80  26| 1.23  22.05  20.68  +2.79  +4.01|  2129  -304
Faith       54  -2  81  30| 0.00  16.12  15.40  +1.29  +2.43|  2235  -345
Milesville  55  -2  77  28| 0.05  18.51  16.52  +2.51  +2.49|  2525  -228
Long Valley 55  -3  77  29| 1.13  15.73  13.75  -0.40  -0.45|  2698   -37
Philip      55  -2  84  26| 0.01  13.15  12.34  -1.15  -0.28|  2669  -168
Rapid City  57  +3  83  30| 0.03  11.86   9.92  -2.81  -2.76|  2427   +92
Spearfish   58  +5  78  29| 0.02  13.19  10.77  -5.93  -5.49|  2348  +124
Chamberlain 56  -2  85  29| 2.09  22.46  19.24  +6.82  +5.42|  2692  -305
Highmore    54  -3  76  26| 1.40  22.79  20.52  +5.25  +5.12|  2565  -131
Huron       55  +1  83  28| 1.10  25.66  22.50  +8.02  +7.67|  2544   -96
Onida       55  -2  76  25| 0.43  17.23  14.49  +0.98  +0.63|  2532  -241
Pierre      56  +0  85  27| 0.39  16.60  14.24  +0.02  -0.25|  2735  -111
Brookings   52  -1  80  24| 0.17  24.35  22.54  +3.98  +4.21|  2032  -165
Madison     53  -2  80  26| 0.12  26.26  24.36  +5.54  +6.82|  2146  -269
Mitchell    54  -3  82  28| 0.89  28.55  25.59  +9.26  +9.00|  2388  -467
Sioux Falls 58  +4  80  28| 0.50  29.64  26.07  +9.04  +8.33|  2567   -90
Custer      50  +0  74  30| 0.18  11.17   9.69  -5.91  -5.47|  1376  -160
Hot Springs 55  -2  80  29| 0.15  10.81   8.65  -3.41  -4.04|  2417  -170
Oelrichs    54  -3  80  29| 0.22  10.56   8.72  -4.42  -4.29|  2528  -179
Porcupine   53  -2  82  27| 0.04  12.93  10.31  -1.33  -2.43|  2381  -203
Murdo       54  -2  82  31| 1.15  16.20  13.75  +0.31  +0.18|  2566  -109
Winner      59  +0  82  31| 0.42  20.53  16.95  -0.46  -1.15|  3083   -51
Armour      57  -1  83  26| 0.72  22.24  18.87  +2.03  +1.61|  2829  -143
Centerville 55  -1  80  23| 0.23  25.68  21.45  +3.74  +2.35|  2557  -124
Marion      54  -1  81  27| 0.56  30.81  27.41  +9.54  +9.21|  2366  -259
Pickstown   58  +1  84  28| 0.88  19.66  17.07  +0.13  +0.10|  2774  -136
Vermillion  59  +2  82  26| 0.25  26.31  21.50  +4.84  +2.72|  2953  -146
Yankton     56  -1  82  24| 0.64  29.41  24.16  +8.78  +6.09|  2690  -153

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