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Dry week helps crops dry down, harvest advance
South Dakota A mostly dry week, with frost, allowed crops to dry-down and harvest to advance during the week ending Nov. 11, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, South Dakota Field Office, Nov. 13. Statewide, 6.7 days were suitable for fieldwork. Major farm activities included harvesting row crops and fertilizing for next year's crops. South Dakota experienced another very dry and warm week, according to the State Climate Office of South Dakota. Several cold fronts passed during the week. But, none had enough moisture to produce more than a few hundredths of an inch of precipitation. The far western part of the state experienced some light snow during the weekend. The most precipitation reported was Newell's 0.08 of an inch, while nearly all locations remained dry. All locations were above average in temperature for the week, ranging from a few degrees above average in the east to ten degrees above in the far west. The northwest part of the state continues to be the driest location, as deviations from average precipitation since October 1 have reached over an inch in Timber Lake, Bison, and Faith. Soil temperatures have held steady with the warmer air temperatures. Four-inch soil temperatures are still above 40 F except for the far eastern part of the state (Beresford 39 F and South Shore 37 F). Soil temperatures have fallen enough for some producers to do autumn fertilizing. Statewide soil moisture in good condition for the winter and into the spring. Topsoil moisture is rated at 84 percent adequate to surplus, down from 88 percent last week, but well above the average for this time of year, of 57 percent. Subsoil moisture was rated at 80 percent adequate to surplus, also above the average of 46 percent. The western third of the state is the biggest concern for soil moisture. Continued overnight frost and dry conditions have allowed row crop harvest to advance quickly. Corn harvest is now rated at 87 percent complete, placing it back on schedule, only slightly behind last year's 89 percent, but ahead of the five-year average of 82 percent. Soybean harvest is complete. Sorghum harvest is rated at 95 percent complete, ahead of both last year's 93 percent and the normal, also at 93 percent. Sunflower harvest rounds out the row crops with harvest rated at 78 percent, behind last year's 87 percent and behind the five-year average of 86 percent. Winter wheat condition was rated at 68 percent good to excellent, which is an improvement over the five-year average of 55 percent. Stock water supplies were rated at 75 percent adequate to surplus, which is better than the five-year average of 51 percent. Cattle condition was rated as 88 percent good to excellent. Also, sheep were rated at 89 percent good to excellent. Many producers are moving cattle and feed supplies in preparation for winter. Date: 11/14/07
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