MGGA Weekly Crop Condition Survey

 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 - Final Crop Survey

Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
The 20 crop is a wrap at Edwardsfarm, and we are on the verge of seeding for 2021 harvest. This year was a testament to no-till summerfallow, as yields were good while precipitation was scant. Two passes on this summer’s fallow turned out to be plenty, saving time and expense on that front. All-in-all, a successful year. Some on my prairie began seeding a week ago, but we won’t be rolling until Thursday or Friday, while we wait for cheatgrass and grasshoppers. This business is a 3-D chessboard, with a myriad of decisions with long-term consequence. That’s what keeps it interesting! Moisture conditions are fair receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat and spring wheat. Problems are sawfly and locusts. Will begin harvest July 18, 2021, 1pm.

Fergus County - Robert Bold
Getting ready to seed winter wheat. Of course, being a farmer, weather and conditions are never up to total expectations. You know how it is--could always be better. With the cool nights and Labor Day rain, hoppers are less active but are still a major concern. The centers of the fields are not nearly as bad as are the edges. The soil moisture is not as expected, but still good in the fallow ground. Anything that is being considered for recrop is marginal. Weeds are just starting to show up. A spray job as to today would not get all as more are just ready to emerge. Waiting a few more days would be good weed management decision. Soil temperature is coming down nicely for fall seeding and germination conditions. Received no precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat.

Judith Basin County - Greg Mathews
The big question is when are you going to start seeding?? Some conventional sf seeded as the last rain helped them but for cc ww is the big question, a neighbor tried seeding and is breaking points off the airseeder. Still hoppers around and hungry an NO cheat coming yet. Chem fallow is hard as a brick and I am waiting for another rain. Do not know when that will be. Hardly any drills moving yet as I went to Choteau and saw only 4 or 5 fields seeded or being seeded. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .56" of precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat, barley and hay. Problems are hoppers and prickly lettuce and kochia in the stubble.

Northern Yellowstone, Eastern Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
And suddenly the 2021 crop is underway...we started seeding winter wheat on Thursday. So far conditions for seeding look better than expected - the overnight lows early last week dropped below freezing, slowing down the grasshoppers. We’re also using a targeted seed treat for grasshoppers as well. The fall harvests for safflower and corn should be coming up in the next several weeks. No weed issues - grasshoppers eat them all as they come up. We did get 0.6-0.8” of rain over Labor Day which was a beautiful rain - slowed down the fires in the area and set up good seeding conditions. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .6-.8" of precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat, barley, safflower, corn and hay.

    

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
A dusting of snow on the top of the Bear Paws, Highwoods, and Sweet Grass Hills this morning sets the mood at Edwardsfarm for fall work. We were blessed Monday with a cold 3/4 inch rain, which should percolate down to the existing summerfallow moisture, setting us up to seed some winterwheat beginning September 17 or 18. Cheatgrass should be up by that date, and experience from the 70's and 80's is that, with a 9/20 seeding date, by the time the wheat emerges grasshopper activity has diminished considerably. Hoppers ate the caraganas first, then worked on fireweed and the garden. When they started on my house paint and blue spruce, I resorted to some yard spraying. My father said they reduced the wood fenceposts to half the diameter in the 30's, and ate all the paint off the buildings. This too shall pass, and the Prairie lives on. Moisture conditions are good receiving .75" of precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat and spring wheat. Problems are sawfly and locusts.

Fergus County - Robert Bold
Harvest in this area is about fully completed. A few acres of Memorial Day seeded spring wheat and low lying areas of canola is about all that is left standing. After several thousand acres of fire last week to our south and west, the rain and cooler temperatures will put some kind of a cap on fire danger. The fire to our south and west was a combine fire on a hot day with lots of wind. The weekend rain and frost is putting a cap on our hoppers. We were noticing a lot of them dying before the rain and frost. Hopefully they were not like spawning Salmon and die after they lay their eggs. Winter wheat seeding is now possibly in the picture. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .75-.9" of precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat, spring wheat and barley.

Hill County - Eric Hanson
We had another hot and dry week that culminated last Wednesday with high winds. It was a day that looked and felt a bit apocalyptic. I was very happy to have the sun set with no fires in our area. The winds were high, but still weren't high enough to blow the grasshoppers away. Either that or the winds blew in as many as they blew away. Finally had some rain show up on Sunday night. Recieved 8/10-1". What a blessing. Seeding winter wheat looks 150% better than it did just a few days ago. We did not freeze here like they were calling for, so again, the hoppers will continue to be an issue when it warms up again later this week. I suspect seeding in the area will start at the end of this week and into next. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .8-1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Hoppers are still a problem.

Northern Yellowstone, Eastern Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
Woke up to 40s and rain this morning - and it’s a beautiful development. After a record setting scorching weekend and fires running rampant - a record setting cold day and overnight lows are welcome. We do expect to freeze tonight - with a forecast low of 30 - the corn and safflower are far enough along that it shouldn’t matter. We raced ahead of the rain to lay down pre-plant residual aimed at cheatgrass and rattail fescue. Despite the grasshoppers we had planned to start seeding 9/8 - but this rain will hopefully delay that. We plan to use a targeted seed treat to control grasshopper damage (with fingers crossed it works - we’ve never used it). We are lucky to have fairly good moisture conditions - the surface is dry and the rangeland is in terrible shape due to the heat and grasshoppers - but moisture is only down about an inch in the field (especially summer fallow - we won’t see any continuous crop WW without a big fall rain event). We’re emerging from a fairly slow few weeks into the busy fall season. Hay has already started to move - and we could seep our entire inventory 3x more based on the calls - safflower harvest isn’t far away. Moisture conditions are fair. Crops are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, safflower, corn and hay.

    

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Fergus County - Robert Bold
Harvest is about wrapped up in this area. There is some green canola and ripe spring wheat left to be harvested. Yields have been good but not record setting. In my opinion, the quality has been record setting. We have 3 days of spring wheat left to harvest. Glad when that is done! Started with full moon, finish with a full moon. There is winter wheat seeding chatter but I will believe it when I see it. The top soil is dry and hoppers are everywhere. It does not take much hopper pressure to ruin a new little stand of winter wheat coming out of the ground. Oh well, there has been a lot of October seeding in this area. Moisture conditions are fair receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat, spring wheat and barley.

Hill County - Eric Hanson
Harvest has come to an end around this area, short of a few pot holes and some flax. The country is quiet and barren. My gauge has not had measurable rain in it for 53 days, and none in sight. The usual excitement to get in a drill is waning, and I hear this sentiment with most everyone I visit with. It's dry. Powdery dry. There was a combine fire up north on Friday. They lost the combine and around 1000 acres of stubble, standing barley, and CRP. One of the last things that was green in the country was turned black. Cool mornings are slowing up the hoppers some, but their numbers are still there once it warms up. First frost outlook is going to be later than normal. Seeding will be late by choice for most in this area. And some talk of no seeding from some farmers if we don't get moisture. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving no precipitation in the past week.

Judith Basin County - Greg Mathews
Finished harvesting on Sunday. Had a round baler burn up with the wind, made for an interesting day. Baler is totaled but they saved the tractor and only burned up a very small amount of stubble and rowed straw thanks to the great neighbors and quick thinking baler man. Yields were average to slightly above for ww, yields were from 60 to the 80s, barley was just fair yields from 45 to 60's with quality in question. Would like to work some ground but that will need a rain as it is brick hard. Still harvesting in the Judith Gap area, but to the north everyone is done or finishing up. Desperately need some rain as haven't had any lately. .51 for the month of August. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat, barley and hay.

Judith Basin County - Bing Von Bergen
Finally harvest is wrapping up. We should be done with the spring wheat today and other than 100 to 150 acres of green spots that will need to be harvested in the next week we will be done. I must be getting old because this last month seemed like two months. It really was a great harvest with only minor breakdowns and minor rain delays. We were very fortunate as we had excellent crop yields with good quality and good protein. We have hoppers but not severe. The cracks in the ground are scary big it is so dry. Seeding will only be on chemical fallow if we don't get a good rain. Moisture conditions are poor. Crops are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay.

Liberty County - Craig Henke
Most done with 2020 harvest. Started fall irrigating pivots, will see how hoppers are in 30 days to seed ww. Yields were great for the moisture we have received, have had about 7.25 so far this year. Don't think hopper pressure is slowing, neighbors have to run pivots to keep hoppers off hemp. Ready for fall and the cooler days. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .1" of precipitation in the past week. Hoppers are a problem.

Northern Yellowstone, Eastern Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
I don't remember my last update...so we'll go with a quick harvest recap: Winter Wheat - excellent yields and quality. Spring Wheat - good yields and disappointing protein (Vida seems to have disappointing proteina area wide). Barley - Good quality...lost an estimated 10BPA to grasshoppers. Clipped the heads off...Variety recap: Four0Six, Incline and Brawl had excellent quality and yields. Monument lagged in yield but quality was good. We're gearing up for the 2021 crop already. We expect to start seeding next week. The grasshoppers are still running rampant - but we plan to use a targeted seed treat. We've been lucky - despite the fairly extreme heat we've caught a few showers of 0.1-0.2 recently that have kept the corn and safflower in decent shape. Range land is in poor shape, largely due to grasshoppers - but water availability and heat haven't helped. The above range land conditions are likely contributing to a fairly robust hay market - almost all (if not all) of our 2020 hay is sold...and we could have sold it all again at least twice based on the calls we've been getting. Moisture conditions are fair. Crops are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, safflower, corn and hay. Grasshoppers are a problem. 

Teton County - Mitch Konen
Harvest is in full swing for most on the bench yet. A few have finished or nearly finished. Spring wheat and canola and late barley are all that remain. The weekend weather brought a fall feel to the air with no measurable moisture, guess they missed that one. Busy hauling in some winter wheat seed and harvest delivery barley that didn't make it in to town during harvest, while I wait for the canola to mature. Probably be a couple weeks before that crop is ready for me. Barley was exceptional this year in both yield and quality. Better than the 115 bu five year average. Quality couldn't be much better. The spring wheat did good but have no quality test yet. Prairie pasture is bone dry. Water is being put on stubble to put it to bed wet. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .02" of precipitation in the past week. Crops are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, canola and hay. Grasshoppers are a problem.