MGGA Weekly Crop Condition Survey

 

 

July 31, 2018

Robert Bold - Fergus County
We were in winter wheat harvest swing Wednesday. There are a lot of acres harvested in the Triangle. Here, just getting started and going good. The winter wheat reports are 63 pound, 11.5% moisture, 11.5% protein and 60+bushels/acre. Barley harvest for us will be this weekend. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .25 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the ripe growth stage. Spring wheat is poor in the soft dough growth stage. Barley is excellent in the ripe growth stage.

Mitch Konen - Teton County
Crops are maturing along nicely here on the Greenfields bench. Winter wheat is still hanging on with a little green remaining. Barley is turning quickly with the heat. Spring wheat is also beginning to fill and turn. Still have one pivot making its' last pass on the late seeded spring wheat. Have been dodging the storms here, luckily. Sounds like around the Choteau area and north that there is fairly severe hail damage. The storm tracked along Hwy 89 from Heart Butte until it got just south of Choteau where it split and went around me. We did get a little rain and some wind. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .25-.75 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the hard dough growth stage with an expected 80 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Barley is excellent in the soft dough growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Dryland winter wheat is getting tested with the combines. Spray planes have been applying another shot of fungicide on the chickpeas. Peas are rapidly turning with the heat. Canola is laying down under its own weight as it looks to be a good crop as the pods fill. Second cut alfalfa is growing well and will get another shot of irrigation soon. Problems in the field are mosquitoes, deer flies, cereal leaf beetle damage, wild oats, kochia, lambsquarter and milk weed. Will begin harvest August 10th.

Terry Angvick - Sheridan County
After the last update, more storms brought hail and high winds to the area. A lot of damage and flattened crops. Thousands of acres. We were spared most of the hail, but winds and heavy rain flattened peas and lentils. We finished peas with about a 30 bushel crop. No complaints, as a lot better than last year! Lentils are next desiccating now. Ready in a week. Moisture conditions are good receiving varied from a few tenths to over an inch and a half in other areas of precipitation in the past week. Spring wheat is good in the turning growth stage with an expected 30 (bu/A). Pea harvest in full swing. All over board with yield. Problems in the field are kochia, marestail, green foxtail, some head blight in durum, as well as aschochyta in chickpeas and lentils. Scattered. Will finish harvesting peas and lentils next week. Durum still a few weeks off.

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
It has been a nice cool week with rain on 3 days and temps in the 70s and low 80s. Grain is turning slowly and starting to lodge. Looks like there will be no stopping between crops as it is turning evenly. Have not seen any crop that looks like it will cut till the end of next week but the next week look out as combines should be rolling then. Going to spray the sf again this week with a little volunteer crop, prickly lettuce, russian thistle, kochia and buck wheat coming. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .48 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the soft dough growth stage with an expected 80 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A). Barley is excellent in the soft dough growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A).

July 24, 2018

Mitch Konen - Teton County
Has been a busy season of crop production. The dryland hay really produced with the ample rains of 6.88" from April 1 to June 30. The .1" of rain on the 3 of July did not slow down the haying season which has lasted most of the last three weeks, with no rain since. Irrigation chores were light the first go round due to the rain but have been the main priority for the last week or so to insure crop fill. Ditches are being filled in some fields indicating that the irrigation season is coming to a close for now. Got to go to the Augusta rodeo yesterday and took a trip up to Gibson reservoir to check the water supply and all reservoirs are near full yet. We should be able to do some fall irrigating this year. All crops on the Greenfields bench are maturing rapidly. Combines are sitting in yards getting prepped for what should be a pretty decent year. Moisture conditions are good receiving 0 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the turning growth stage with an expected 80 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 90 (bu/A). Barley is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Neighboring crops of peas are turning, chickpeas are filling, corn is tall but could not tell you what stage it is in, cranberry beans are finally taking off - about a foot tall now. Irrigated first cut hay is up and being irrigated again. Canola is filling with very few flowers remaining due to heat. Problems in the field are cereal leaf beetles, mosquitoes, deer and horse flies, wild oats, kochia and lambsquarter. Will begin harvest August 10th.

Terry Angvick - Sheridan County
Sorry I missed last week. Needless to say that a lot has happened! City of Plentywood and surrounding area has quite the excitement. Microburst and small tornado rained hell with the town causing quite a bit of damage. No one hurt, but a lot of property damage. High winds, rain and hail all combined to shake things up. Extensive hail across the county damaged large areas. The rain was welcome as we were getting quite short. Have had approximately 1-2.5 inches the past 10-14 days. Moisture conditions are good receiving varied, but ranges from .4-1.5 precipitation in the past week. Spring wheat is good in the filling growth stage with an expected 30 (bu/A). Peas, lentils and chickpeas look good. Peas are turning fast with some fields harvested thus far. Yields in the 30s. Lentils look to be a week or so off. Wind and rain flattened some fields so should make harvest fun. Spraying for aschochyta on the chickpeas. Problems in the field are kochia, prickly lettuce in pulse crops, scattered Hawksbeard, Aschochyta in chickpeas and some are spraying durum to prevent head blight. Have harvested some early greed peas. Quality good, with yields in the mid-30s. This was done before rains and wind and some hail. Now we will see what the rest looks like!

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
Haying should be done this coming week. It was a very good hay crop. Most alfalfa ground went between 2.25 to 2.75 tons heard of some over 3 ton per acre. WW is turning slowly as the first should start about August 1. Going to work some ruts out of the SF this week and some wet ground. Spring crop could use a nice drink soon. Quite a few Custom cutters going north. Moisture conditions are good. Winter wheat is excellent in the soft dough growth stage. Spring wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage. Barley is good in the filling growth stage. Will begin harvest by the end of the first week of August???

July 17, 2018

Trevor Wolery - Hill County
Winter wheat swathing begins today, will plan on wind and rain within in the next seven days. Last rain event July 3 totaling .41, was a very localized shower ranging from 1/2 mile radius of yard. Spring wheat showing signs of stress due to heat and lack of moisture. Lentils are beginning to turn. Patiently waiting for funding to build a wall around my Kochia. Wishing everyone success at harvest and Be Safe! Interesting fun fact for the day, in 2017 April 1 to July 17 precipitation total was 3.7” and currently in 2018 April 1 to July 17 precipitation total is 3.9”.

Craig Henke - Liberty County
Summer heat not good for late seeded crops. Most winter wheat a couple weeks from harvest. Re crop spring wheat is showing stress. Pulse crops hanging on good. Pivots never turn off, trying to keep up with crops need. Chickpeas under irrigation look super, no disease yet. Saturday's north wind reminded us of fall weather, will be here soon. Quite a job to kill those weeds in chem fallow, so have resorted to the old cultivator on some ground. Moisture conditions are fair. Winter wheat is good in the soft dough growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Spring wheat is fair in the filling growth stage with an expected 30 (bu/A).

Robert Bold - Fergus County
Winter wheat and barley are turning fast. So far it looks like one of those record crops. However, one must remember that it only takes 20 minutes to change all that. The protein for wheat should be high this year. Probably the same for malt barley. Oh well. So much for Bud & Coors Light. May have to go for Micros for a year. Moisture conditions are good receiving no precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the hard dough growth stage. Spring wheat is good in the soft dough growth stage. Barley is good in the hard dough growth stage. Problems in the field are starting to see a few grasshoppers. Will begin harvest middle of next week.

Todd Hansen - Hill County
No rain since before 4th. Hope we’ll have enough bushels to handle all the protein. Harvest will be around end of next week. Hrw looks good. So do lentils. Holes showing up in some spring wheat. Barley also has holes, from thrips. Fallow seams 2922 only thing working unfortunately. Winter wheat has an expected 50 (bu/A). Spring wheat has an expected 30 (bu/A). Barley has an expected 40 (bu/A). Problems in the field are weeds, can kill.

Alex Smith - Big Horn County
No rain the last couple of weeks and hot temperatures. Winter wheat is turning but still bit slower than I thought it would due to adequate sub moisture. Barley is filling. Alfalfa haying is complete with great tonnage, around 3 tons/ac dryland. My winter wheat is excellent but I rate it good overall for the area due to wet fields this spring. Some irrigated fields are just poor and that includes malt barley. Moisture conditions are good receiving no precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the soft dough growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Barley is good in the filling growth stage. Triticale seed is headed. Some hoppers showing up but not a problem. Will begin harvest end of the month.

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
What a hot and cold week! Highs of 92 to a low of 61 for the highs this last week. Been nice that it cools off every night and sure help the spring crops. WW is starting to just turn and looks like about 3 weeks to harvest. Only got .07 last week in a small storm that crossed thru the area. Haying should be about done this next week except for some wild hay. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .07 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the turning growth stage with an expected 70 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A). Barley is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 70 (bu/A). Will begin harvest 2nd week in August.

Boyd Heilig - Fergus County
Moisture conditions are fair receiving 1/3 inch last Tuesday. Winter wheat is excellent in the turning growth stage with an expected 50 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A). Will begin harvest hopefully by August 1st.
 

July 10, 2018

Matt Flikkema - Gallatin County
Crops are looking really nice for the most part, winter wheat is starting to fill, spring wheat is flowering and the barley is all headed. We are starting to see some damage from the June 12 frost. Some sterile heads, beards and heads misshapen-ed. Just an interesting almanac, the airport in Belgrade for only the 3rd time since 1942 reordered no freezing temps in May, but upper 20's on June 12 and some frost again in the valley on the morning of July 4. Moisture conditions are good receiving no precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the filling growth stage with an expected 50 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the heading growth stage with an expected 90 (bu/A). Barley is excellent in the heading growth stage with an expected 80 (bu/A). Problems in the field are kochia.

Robert Bold - Fergus County
Crops really look great this year. Winter wheat is short in height due in large to the snow pack. However, barley looks really good-probably the best ever. A lot of barley acres this year. Probably the most ever. No pulse crops to speak of this year. 100% tariff from India, no contracts and late spring. A good number of winter wheat acres were tore up and reseeded to spring wheat. To date the spring wheat decision looks to be a smart move. Spring wheat crop really looks like probably one of the best yields ever. But one also needs to remember it only take 20 minutes to completely change things. Moisture conditions are good receiving no real measurable precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the soft dough growth stage. Spring wheat is good in the heading growth stage. Barley is good in the filling growth stage. Will begin harvest in August some time.

Dan Works -  Chouteau County
Hot and dry week! Winter wheat is turning, but not as fast I thought it would with the heat. We will start swathing the winter wheat this weekend. Sawfly have been plentiful here again this year. The spring wheat in the area is in all stages, from fully headed and filling to tillering is some cases. We finished spraying fallow the second time last week. Kill appears to be less than optimal, so will need to come back with paraquat soon. Moisture conditions are good receiving 0 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the soft dough growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A). Chickpeas look good and are podding. Problems in the field are bulletproof kochia and Russian thistle.

Kurt Voss - McCone/Dawson County
Crops are in good to excellent condition. Received another inch of rain in the past week. Early crops are filling and later crops are just starting to head. Hay Barley is the best we've ever raised. Pulse crops are going very well as is early seeded spring wheat. No disease pressure yet. Recent string of very hot days is putting some stress on crops. Moisture conditions are good receiving 1.1 precipitation in the past week. Spring wheat is excellent in the heading growth stage. Barley is excellent in the filling growth stage. Will begin harvest end of July with pulse.

Terry Angvick - Sheridan County
No appreciable rain in past week. High temps are putting stress on crops. With very little subsoil moisture, yield estimates are dropping every day. Moisture conditions are poor receiving minimal precipitation in the past week. Spring wheat is fair in the heading growth stage with an expected 20 (bu/A). Peas look the best of the pulse crops, as they are podding and filling. Harvest estimate is in two to three weeks for the early planted fields. Lentils are flowering and in early pod stage. Chickpeas vary according to seeding date. Early fields are flowering. Again, yield potentials are dropping with the lack of moisture and heat. Hawksbeard is very present in a lot of fields, especially pulse crops and fields that weren’t fall sprayed. Will begin harvest of peas in 2-3 weeks. Lentils and durum the middle of August.

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
Haying is in full swing this last week. Got .28 on Tuesday and the heat hit on Friday. Hay is better than average. Grain is looking very good as spring crops are heading out. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 0.28 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 80 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the heading growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A). Barley is excellent in the heading growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A).
 

July 3, 2018 

Alex Smith - Big Horn County
Just organizing and maintenance this last week. Also some of that terrible paper work. Will start swathing alfalfa today, it looks great. One of the latest times I can remember due to continuing rain. Crops in the area look good except for some water logged irrigated fields that are suffering. Most all of the spring crops were late seeded. Forecast is for a drying week. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 0.5 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the filling growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Barley is good in the heading growth stage with an expected 50 (bu/A). Triticale looking good and thick.

Terry Angvick - Sheridan County
Had good general rain of .4-1.4 across county. Some areas still pretty short of posture, but the rain was timely. Crops were getting pretty stressed. Still have little subsoil moisture, but surface looks pretty good. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 0.4-1.4 precipitation in the past week. Spring wheat is good in the booting growth stage with an expected 30 (bu/A). Peas and lentils look pretty good. Peas are flowering and podding. Lentils are just beginning to flower. Problems in the field are some kochia and Russian thistle escapes starting to show. Seeing a lot of Hawksbeard in fields, especially along roadsides. Going to be a huge problem in the future. Nothing showing yet for diseases. Drier conditions have limited diseases thus far. Will begin harvest three weeks for the peas. Later for the lentils and durum.

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
I got .70 rain on four days last week and the big rains were on Saturday as some dumpers went through the area. A lot of hay is still in the windrows and did not get baled. To the north they did not get the rain earlier in the week. The crops are looking great as the spring crops are heading out. Hope everybody has a great 4th and be safe. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 0.7 precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the filling growth stage with an expected 80 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the heading growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A). Barley is excellent in the heading growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Will begin harvest the last week of July.