MGGA Weekly Crop Condition Survey
JULY 28, 2020
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Most, but not all, on Lonesome Prairie have begun winterwheat harvest. Edwardsfarm is picking up swaths. Quality is good, with test weight around 62 and protein in the 12-13 range. Yields so far in the 50s, and if that held across the farm, I would consider it a big gift- given the dry year. Yields may be higher to the south, and lower to my north. That’s speculation, as it’s impolite to ask farmers what their yields are, and you can’t trust all of them to tell you the truth anyway. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 0" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Problems showing up are sawfly and locusts; weeds are done.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Was looking at going over our chem fallow for the 3rd pass before harvest. On Tuesday a week ago, one of our neighbors saw a "rain cloud" in this area on his weather app. Another neighbor saw the "swarm" in the air--hoppers. Like a signal from the navigator, they quit flying and just dropped to the ground. According to him, on his pickup roof, it sounded like hail. Each one of the little bastards came equipped with Green Seeker technology as standard equipment. Saturday & Sunday we sprayed and were one of the fortunate to get ahold of a contact with a systemic insecticide. Most people are stuck with only a contact. We had to spray every spring crop acre as we had some spring wheat had all the leaves stripped and some barley with only half heads. This was all since Tuesday afternoon. But we definitely interrupted their pilgrimage to Grass Hopper Glacier for quite a few. I counted up to 28 dead hoppers in a square foot. Probably averaged about 9 over all. The winter wheat is too close to harvest as per harvest restrictions. On yeah. The pre harvest chem fallow. Don't have to do it. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 0" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and grasshoppers. This weekend we will be cutting winter wheat.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
We are getting close to harvesting our winter wheat. About a week away. Keldin looks the best. Spring wheat is turning fast as well. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 0.3" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Problems showing up are grasshoppers and wild oats.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
We started cutting winter wheat on Friday. The sawfly started before us, and two nights of high wind showed us just how much work they can do even in solid stem wheat. I'm glad it's mostly the outside rounds. We cut for a day and a half and switched over to peas as they finally got ripe. As of this morning we have about 100 acres left that are too green so we are going back to winter wheat. Pretty quiet in the country, but it won't be for long. A few going in some peas and early winter wheat along with crews picking up swaths. With the projected heat I think this is the week that the chaos in the country will begin. Great harvest weather is upon us. The grasshoppers are getting thick in areas. They obviously love peas because the grasshopper yield in them was high. Now they will probably move into the Spring wheat. We couldn't find any damage yet, but we plan on continuing our monitoring. A few guys in the country have had planes spraying for them. It must be warranted but I kind of wonder if part of it is the power of advertising with ads playing on the radio. Stay safe everyone and enjoy harvest. Moisture conditions are poor receiving 0" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Problems showing up are grasshoppers and King kochia.
Judith Basin County - Greg Mathews
Still at least 2 weeks from harvesting. Some in the north of Moore will try it this week and at Moccasin. Time to do a little summer fallowing spraying and haul some grain to the elevator. Haying is about finished in the area and it was a good crop with a lot of bales still in the fields. Barley is turning fast and looks great but could use another shot of rain. Moisture conditions are good receiving 0.04" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and barley. Will begin harvest August 11.
Liberty County - Craig Henke
See a few combines rolling, but by weekend things will be busy. With the 90's things are turning fast. Already see blackbirds flocking up, hope not a sign of early snow. Still irrigating spring wheat, it is using moisture up fast. See more hoppers every day, don't need another pest for fall. Have a safe harvest. Moisture conditions are good. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, peas, lentils and mustard. A problem showing up is grasshoppers.
Northern Yellowstone, Eastern Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
The grasshoppers have amassed enough numbers (and then some) to be called an infestation. The edges have been sprayed on most fields and planes have been scheduled to spray a lot of spring crops. In some scattered cases they’re clipping the heads off the winter wheat. If there were any plans for 2nd cutting alfalfa it had better have been done - the grasshoppers have eaten it all. It’ll be a miracle if my perennials around the house survive...despite being sprayed multiple times. Harvest is just starting on the winter wheat. Several continuous crop fields have been cut in the area - we’re going to try to cut ours on Monday (the 27th). The rest appears to be borderline on the moisture side, but we’ll try it. That’s why we have air bins. The early quality reports are excellent. 63lbs, 14pro, good yields. Despite the grasshopper invasion the spring crops look excellent. We’ll spray fungicide on our safflower later this week. A successful haying season mostly wrapped up last week. A few are left racing to wrap up 2nd cutting before it’s lost. Summer fallow has mostly all been sprayed a 2nd time or will be wrapped up before harvest. Happy Harvest All! Moisture conditions are good receiving 0" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, safflower, and hay. A problem showing up is grasshoppers. Will begin harvest Monday.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
The itch is beginning here on the bench. Combines are being pulled from their slumber along with other harvest equipment for pre-harvest maintenance. Most of the irrigating is done except for those with hay ground and pastures and late seeded canola. I will be giving the canola one more shot of water in a week or so. Most of the hay in the area is getting gathered and looks to have been a good crop. Neighboring feedlot has started green chopping feed barley to fill the bunker. Already has the 1st alfalfa chop laid in. Short grass prairie is beginning to brown down as are the road side ditches and canals. We did get a gully washer of a rain storm last week that settled the dust for a few days and a lightening strike took out the neighbors pivot pump panel. Blackbirds are swarming up and making waves across fields looking for nourishment. The harvest season will soon be upon us, so everyone have a safe and prosperous one. Just wish we could get these markets to levels that will support us. Moisture conditions are good receiving .45" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, canola and hay. Problems showing up are grasshoppers on the fringes of fields; kochia and wild oats. Will begin harvest Aug 15.
JULY 21, 2020
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
A few early combines will be rolling sometime this week in the BS area. We finished swathing our earliest wheat on the 20th, and the first of the swaths should be good to harvest on the 21st. However, cool (relatively) and quiet (relatively) days may lengthen the curing time to the 22nd or 23rd. This would be good, as dry years like this one make for uneven ripening, and those big green spots need mild weather to ripen nicely in the swath. For swather people, there is an angst and tension between swathing too green and letting the sawfly have its way. I erred on the side of caution on Sunday, and paid for that with some nasty sawfly cutting on Monday after a brief but vigorous dry thunderstorm blew hard Sunday evening. No lessons learned; it will be dejavu all over again next year. Spring wheat will beat the HRW again this year on Edwardsfarm. It will beg for rain, and likely be denied. Cutting weather is forecast to begin on the 21st, so let the good times roll! Moisture conditions are poor receiving .05" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Problems showing up are sawfly and locusts; cheat and mustards; and drought disease. Will begin harvest July 21, 4pm.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Got our 2 hail storms adjusted. The stripper storm was worse than the traditional beat-the-crap out of everything storm. This year's winter wheat we have a lot--not all--heads filling 4 in a mesh and even 3 in a mesh at the top. Maybe it's the farmer in me. Or maybe the spots have been on too long. At night when the humidity comes up and the air cools off, the smell in the night air of the flowering and filling grain heads to me is just like smelling a bunch of flowers. It just makes me thankful where I am at and what I do. Moisture conditions are good receiving 0" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and barley. Problems showing up are lots of hoppers. Got a brand new hatch. I think the crops are far enough along, therefore, it appears at this time we will not be spraying. Will begin harvest in 10 days.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
The dog days of summer are upon us and harvest is almost here. Crops have changed in the blink of an eye, and with this week's heat we should be putting combines in the field by the weekend. And we won't be alone. Lots of wheat on the ground, either in swaths or at the wrong end of a sawfly. And we are just on the verge of ripe, so I suspect more to fall as time goes by. We knew that was coming. Custom swathers and cutters have set up shop in empty lots in every little town on the Hiline. There is a steady pace to the country. Everyone is prepping for harvest; equipment getting staged, sprayers making their next time over, and bins being emptied or cleaned. It's looking like our peas and winter wheat will be ripe simultaneously, so we will start with the peas and go from there. Getting excited and anxious for the grand finale. Winter wheat yields will be slightly disappointing but the spring wheat that looks to be there will boost our farmer spirit. Hopefully. We got our hail damaged winter wheat adjusted today, so there's that in the back of all our minds of what could still play out. Lots of small hoppers in the spring wheat and others showing up now that crops are drying down. Good luck to everyone in your harvest endevours and have fun! Moisture conditions are fair receiving .05" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Problems showing up are hoppers and King kochia. Will begin harvest July 26.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
Swathing ww begins today due to the miserable sawfly. Planted a solid stem variety last fall in hopes of combatting the fly. The sawfly won again. Ww is a fair crop but has a thin stand and will ripen unevenly. Received .59 of precipitation last night with hard wind which was hard on sawfly weakened straw. Spring crops and Kochia look great. Everyone stay safe in the field. Moisture conditions are good receiving .59" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and lentils. Problems showing up are sawfly, sawfly and sawfly. Harvest begins before I will be ready.
Judith Basin County - Bing Von Bergen
The crops look real good. The spring crops could sure use a good soaking as they are filling and we did have some thunder bumpers roll through on Friday but they didn't produce much rain. The winter wheat is still two to three weeks from harvest and is filling nicely and looks great. The spring crops are filling and are a third to half full so we'll see how they handle the heat this week. They are rooted down fairly well so I think they will be okay and we will have some very good spring wheat and barley. Haying is wrapping up with my hay being an average crop. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay.
Liberty County - Craig Henke
Harvest is a week away, will start with peas, best crop we have seen for years. Lentils are changing fast, they will be next. Pivots are going non stop, been a excellent year for irrigating, no high temperatures yet. Some winter wheat got swathed last week, so might see combines going this week. All crops look great. Have a safe harvest. Moisture conditions are good receiving .2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, peas, lentils and mustard. Problems showing up are a few hoppers.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Bring on the heat! And just like that we are in full blown summer mode. Most of the irrigating of spring crops is finished now. A little bit of canola will need to be watered again in a couple weeks. Haying is in full swing around here as well. I finished gathering my bales last weekend on the dryland as the crew was flood irrigating, and now I am on pivot watch full time. Whoever tells you that pivots are easy must have someone else watching them. Between rising and lowering water levels in the ditch the screen cleaners need to be checked regularly, then there are flat tires, bad micro-switches, drivelines, drive motors, gearboxes, contactors, oh, and stuck at the far end of the field, plugged end guns, one can stay fairly busy all day. Crops are looking great these days with head fill starting to fan the awns. The added weight is starting to aid in a little lodging under the pivot rain as well. Fertilizer overlaps are the first to fall. A few more days of running water is all that is left. Early seeded canola bloom is waning fast with the added heat, while my late seeded canola is at about a 30% bloom stage and hoping the heat doesn't blast the blooms. Peas are losing their bloom power as well and filling pods. Winter wheat is turning and spring wheat is filling while the tillers are blooming. Starting to see some harvest equipment being pulled out of their slumbering cover to get prepped for the big show. Had a pretty good light show a few nights ago with lightning all around on the horizon with none here. Hopefully everyone was spared any wicked storms and are ready for a socially isolated safe and bountiful harvest. Moisture conditions are good receiving .01" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, canola and hay. Problems showing up are mosquitoes; weeds-you name it, it is here. Will begin harvest Aug 15.
JULY 14, 2020
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Heat units have not been plentiful, but age is unavoidable. Winterwheat is turning fast on Lonesome Prairie, and we are beginning swathing the hollow stem varieties, starting Tuesday noon. That puts harvest start at July 21, 4pm. Spring crops continue to do well, and I’d guess they would enjoy a rain in a week or so. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .21" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Problems showing up are sawfly and locusts; cheat and mustards. Will begin harvest July 21.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Winter wheat turning. Early seeded spring wheat flowering. Barley is filling. Last week we got some of Mother Nature's recycled moisture. It was evaporation from the ground, elevated into the atmosphere, condensed, frozen, then hurled back to earth in the form of little white ice. It really dinged our winter wheat. It really never broke off any heads, just stripped them. Damage will be adjusted next week. This is the second hail this year. Both were very small in scope and acres. Moisture conditions are good receiving .45" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and barley. Problems showing up are hoppers. Where they were sprayed, very good control. Where the hoppers were not sprayed, thick. A neighbor of mine has reported that in case of hail, his plants are protected by all the hoppers on them. So far so good after we sprayed spring crop edges. Will begin harvest in 2 weeks.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
Last Tuesday we ended up getting a wild storm with high wind and 3/10-1/2 rain but were spared the hail. Snapped off a tree and a bunch of branches but no damage to the crops. Lucky. A decent rain on Friday morning was another unexpected but always welcome addition. Lucky. Then in the afternoon a cloud rolled over our Kremlin farm and dropped hail and 1.1" of rain in 30-40 mins! You wouldn't believe it without seeing the pictures of hail piled against the house. The kids thought it was really something. It came straight down and small in size, which saved us from what could have been flat crops. The winter wheat got beat up but somehow the spring wheat was largely unscathed. Lucky. Our May and June rains are finally showing up. And cool temps have been a blessing. Crops still look good. Lucky. Not much to report, other than I can feel summer starting to slip away just as my farmers tan is coming into prime. As always, Mother Nature is dictating the pace; crops maturing as time marches on. We are a couple weeks from the main event. Peas are starting to make their turn. Winter wheat is getting more gold everyday. Even the spring wheat is starting to show some change. Slowly checking off chemfallow fields as they come due. Should finish our 2nd time over journey before harvest, which will be perfect. Hard to believe we are this close to harvest already. It will be ready before we are, as usual. A few custom cutters starting to trickle equipment into the country. Another week in the books, healthy and happy. Lucky. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .5-1.4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Problems showing up are hoppers and King kochia. Will begin harvest July 26.
Judith Basin County - Greg Mathews
WW is starting to turn and harvest is still out at least 3 weeks. Barley is filling, will finish haying the start of next week. No rain for the last week but the cool weather and nights have been nice and a big help to the spring crops. Big hail storm hit the south side of the Snowy Mountains last week and took almost everything, one neighbor lost a hopper bin and another a fabric building from the horrific wind and hail. Hope everyone has a great harvest and misses the white combine. Moisture conditions are good receiving 0" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and barley. Problems showing up are oats in WW. Quite unusual.
Northern Yellowstone, Eastern Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
We’ve had some beautiful summer days around here the last few weeks. We avoided severe storms last Monday that went just to the north and eventually east. A lot of damage in the Ryegate area I’ve heard. Haying season is moving along. We’re into the grass/alfalfa now and hopefully will be wrapped up by the weekend. Winter wheat is turning fast. Still looking at harvest starting on 7/27. Spring wheat, barley and safflower look excellent. The late June rains were perfectly timed for those crops. We still have an abundance of grasshoppers. A lot of guys are spraying edges to cut down on them - especially on fields bordering range land. We’ll start spraying summer fallow again this week. We will also likely be applying a fungicide to safflower in the next few weeks as well. Moisture conditions are good receiving 0" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, safflower, corn and hay. A problem showing up is grasshoppers. Will begin harvest July 27.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Crops are coming along well here on the bench. Winter wheat is starting to turn color telling us that maturity is setting in just like the hair on my head. Irrigation has been pushing hard this last week along with the haying chores so that water can be transferred to hay ground when cleared. Finished my dryland hay late Sunday night and am very pleased with the yield. I believe the quality should be good as well. Barley and spring wheat is starting the filling process. A few are applying N with the pivots to get a protein boost. Canola is in full bloom for some spectacular views from the road. My canola was rather late to the party and is just starting the bloom stages coming out of bolting. As with all growing seasons the weeds are always an unwelcome guest and some need to be dealt with, others are going to have to be tolerated for now. A bright spot in haying at night is the clear skies and all the stars, and to my surprise was the Neowise comet. I can see a little bit of snow way up high in the back country of the Rockies. Sure helps looking at that when the temps are pushing over 80. Everyone stay safe and have a bountiful harvest. Moisture conditions are good receiving .1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, canola and hay. Problems showing up are pale western cutworm and mosquitoes; wild mustard, wild oats, tansy mustard and curly dock. Will begin harvest Aug 5.
JULY 7, 2020
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Beautiful summer days with less wind and moderate temps make for good filling weather for the spring wheat. Winterwheat is in the dough and turning more each day. Second pass on chemfallow is partly done, but most farmers aren't rushing it. Some are spraying for grasshoppers, which are doing some damage and getting bigger every day. All in all, crops are better than average in my area. Moisture conditions are good receiving .2-.4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Problems showing up are sawfly and locusts; cheat and mustards; some ceph and tanspot. Will begin harvest July 24, 2pm.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Had a good 4th at Lakeside. Makes us appreciate having our type of traffic on highways 87, 191, 236 instead of highways 2, 35, 82, 83. Got some hail on our very west end Friday night. Won't combine it. Winter wheat getting its gold color. Spring wheat flowering. Moisture conditions are good with .7" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and barley. Problems showing up are hoppers. So far so good after we sprayed spring crop edges. Will begin harvest in less than a month.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
Some of our winter wheat has taken on a whole new shade of gold/green, and I can feel the anticipation and stress starting to build. We are on the path to harvest. Crops continue to look better every day from the rain a week ago. The winter wheat is filling nicely and starting to turn, the spring wheat is finalizing flowering and growing taller, and the peas are finishing the few straggler blooms while filling all the new pods. The perfect time to stop and enjoy snacking on some fresh peas! The waves of weeds are never ending but we are surfing along and continuing the fight. Crops aren't the only thing that like rain. We have sprayed roughly half the chemfallow the 2nd time over with the rest still holding strong. The yard is drying down but is full of mid summer aromas, my favorite being the Russian olives in bloom, and the garden is starting to bolt and show it's worth. Big toads have been underfoot this past week almost daily, and I had my first encounter of the year today with our friend the prairie rattler. This may be the latest in the year that this has taken place, which I must say is quite welcome. Starting to dig into the pile of pre harvest prep which will go up until the day the combines start chomping, which might be closer to my previous prediction than my latest. I'm really hoping we get to make it to harvest with the weatherman predicting a good chance of some severe weather tomorrow afternoon in our area. Will be a busy day if you sell insurance. Anytime they put 2"+ on the hail size, I wager a bet the phone never stops ringing! Moisture conditions are fair with .01" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Will begin harvest July 26.
Judith Basin County - Greg Mathews
Looking very good with 1.5 inches for the Fourth of July week and .32 of rain on the 6th and rain called for today the 7th. Been a cool start to July with the crops progessing slowly but looking great. Haying is starting all around but got wet this week, but so far looks good for the next two weeks. Will have to spray SF in the next week. Found some late coming kochia and prickly lettuce coming in some ww and have to see how bad. Poor growing condtions for the wheat as it was cold and growth was slow. Hope every one misses the big white combine. Have a great summer. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 1.5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay.
Judith Basin County - Bing Von Bergen
The crops look great. There were showers all around most nights last week with some areas getting downpours. There was hail in the Stanford area but not around my farm. Predictions are for severe storms in central Montana this evening so hopefully we will just get rain and no hail. The winter wheat is filling and is looking very good. The spring wheat is outstanding but needs another rain. Barley is very good. A lot of hay is being knocked down. Moisture conditions are good receiving .2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay. A probelm showing up is hay weevil.
Northern Yellowstone, Eastern Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
Since I missed last week - the last week of June brought us 3-4” of rain. Effectively paused haying season around here but perfect timing for all the other crops. Since then we’ve seen several more scattered storms that range from 0.4-0.6. The winter wheat looks excellent. Spring crops look the best they ever have. We have sprayed several later hay fields for weevils and grasshoppers. Continuing to monitor grasshoppers as they’re still fairly thick. Will likely not start harvest now until the last week of July. Rain and cooler weather has slowed down maturity. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .4-.6" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, safflower, corn and hay. A problem showing up is grasshoppers. Will begin harvest July 27.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Crops are coming along nicely with the more prevalent sunshine as opposed to cloud cover. The wheat is headed out and flowering and the barley is close behind it and heading as well. Peas and canola are in full flower mode and make for some pretty spectacular views as you drive around. My late canola is just now starting to bolt and should be in full flower mode within a week. Second round of irrigating is started as some guys are putting some nitrogen down with the pivots on wheat to boost nitrogen. By the end of the week most will start the irrigation with a big push. Haying season is in full swing with a lot of acres on the ground in the windrow. Good drying weather is the want for now as we watch big t-storms skirt around us and sometimes over us. Did receive a little rain and hail on the 4th while swathing hay, and that is the only place it hit. That is what I get for working on a holiday I guess. But it has been full hay mode since. A lot of activities have been cancelled due to Covid, but that hasn't slowed some people down. We are no longer a Covid-free county. Hiding out on the farm has been a way of life that hopefully keeps us free of this illness. Let us stay vigilant and hopefully a cure will soon be acquired. Seeing some damage from the Pale western cutworm in the winter wheat but have been disease free so far. Moisture conditions are good receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, canola and hay. Problems showing up are pale western cutworm and mosquitoes; wild mustard, wild oats, tansy mustard and curly dock. Will begin harvest Aug 5.