MGGA Weekly Crop Condition Survey
MAY 31, 2022
Blaine/Phillips County - Raymond Keller
Crops are all up and growing. They look fine but the hoppers are starting to show up. Finished spraying some winter wheat last week and will start chefallow this week. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Hoppers are showing up.
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
It has stayed somewhat cool with frequent showers. Got 1.25” over the Memorial Day weekend. Trying to catch up on fallow spraying and top dressing some 32-0-0, expecting a bit higher potential. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 1.25" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. Cutworms in chickpeas and finding glyphosate resistant cheatgrass is a problem.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
I finally got the drill in the field barley and canola are planted. Three quarters of the durum is in as well but it rained again last night, which was Saturday. Sprayed thousand acres of ww, lots more to go but the frost last week really laid it down so didn’t want to stress it more so decided to wait. Fields are extremely wet, six hundred horse tractor needs to be about eight hundred to pull the drill at the speed at which they say it could go. Branded calves on Saturday, only eighty left to go. Finished just in time as we were eating it started raining. Sounds like more rain tomorrow on Memorial Day, hopefully we get wet pulling CDRs out of replacement heifers. Grass hay is looking fairly decent, we might have to get swather out this year with any luck. Worst case the last two fields will be sorghum which will keep the cowboys happy. Moisture conditions are good receiving .5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola and hay.
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Crops in the Big Sandy area are building character, and root systems may be larger than what's above ground. Sawfly, grasshopper and winterwheat heads were all emerging this Memorial Day weekend, and all are coexisting within a foot of the soil. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .0005" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Sawfly and hoppers showing up, a few kochia and drought disease. Harvest may begin June 30, 1pm, 2022, or we may have to wait til July 18, 2023.
Chouteau County - Nathan Keane
Extremely dry. Flax is stalled out. Barley is looking blue. Winter wheat has ran out of moisture. Hemp seems to be holding on and growing. Chickpeas are looking decent. Alfalfa is extremely short. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, garbanzos, flax, hemp and hay. Lots of grasshoppers. Expect to begin harvest early.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Well, the news is we missed that storm. The bad news is it was a well predicted good rain storm. The grain crops are looking good so far. What has been baling us out on this drought is the cool temperatures unlike other droughts--85, 88 92 for starter--where we got August heat in May. The long sunlight hours is giving the crops good growth. The native range is about all it is going to produce this year. The native grasses are heading out--early--and about half of normal production. I see thousands of acres of winter wheat being rolled. You know what that means. Those acres are not going to contribute check off dollars this year if it stays dry. Oh well, I guess it is a form of drought management. I hear there are some drought relief coming. A up to 20% bump on your 20 or 21 crop insurance. ARC is slated to pay out for 21 and more than likely for 22 crop. We are staring to spray spring wheat this week. The warm season weeds--kochia, oats and buckwheat. Moisture conditions are fair. As far a rain in the past week--got the sidewalk wet twice. So much for the big crop saving predicted rain. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Flathead County - Tryg Koch
Things are finally warming up and with the nice shot of rain we got over the long weekend the crops have perked up. Guys are spraying and top dressing wheat and canola fields. Canola stands took a beating from the cold temps so yields are definitely going to be lower on that front! Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, lentils, canola and hay.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
We put one more week of no rain in the books. We have gone 287 days since our last big rain event (last August with 1”), and we currently sit at .28 inches for the entire year of 22. Boy, it’s dry. It’s so dry I went to milk old Bessie and she gave me evaporated milk. I was over at a farmer friend's place the other day and his lawn was dried to a crisp. I sent him a get well soon card. Even at church this Sunday they were asking to turn wine back into water. Living in the golden rain shadow, er, I mean golden triangle, might be steering a guy down the crazy road this year. Crops are stalled or declining. Or haven’t emerged yet. Those above ground had yet another set back last week with a touch of frost for a few nights. Yellowed leaves and slightly wilted, but hanging in there. Somehow. So now the winter wheat looks blue and gold. Go Bobcat! Finished up on the chemfallow that needed it this week. You know it’s dry when the cheatgrass is 2” tall and headed out. A few grasshoppers showing up. Prairie grass has gone to non existent status. Herds being moved, culled or sold entirely. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
Dismal report of moisture totaling .06 Thursday in a flash in the pan rain event. The goose has been cooked in this area. Bobcat HRW showing us its grit on the field but it's plant to punt on the second down this season. Game over and moving onto 2023. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .06" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, lentils and mustard.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
Things look as if it is about the tenth of May as the ground is still cold and crops are slow to grow. A lot of top dressing was seen last week as the weatherman predicted a good amount of moisture for the weekend that really missed their forecast. Here is what I
received .02 Fri, .08 Sat, and .16 Sun. Far from the one to two inches forecasted for Memorial Weekend and to the north and east got less. Total for the month 1.09, far behind last year's total of 2.09. The last of seeding looked to be finished up before the weekend, only some grass and alfalfa or something for the livestock to graze left. Cheat is starting to head out this last week, well behind normal, grass trying to get some height, alfalfa from ten inches tall to just coming out of the ground, why I do not know. The only thing that looks great is the summer fallow winter wheat. The spring seeded crops are behind normal growth. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .26" of precipitation in the past week.
Judith Basin County - Bing Von Bergen
My early maturing winter wheat has the flag leaf out and the rest of the wheat is not far behind. There is some real good looking winter wheat in this area and the late seeded winter wheat is even starting to look like wheat. My barley is tillering and the spring wheat is in the two to three leaf stage and looks good. We sure could have used the 2.5 inches of rain they were predicting but we are thankful that we got what we did. Top-dressed the spring wheat right before the rain so we were nervous waiting for the rain to start. Hope everyone got some rain and hoping it stays cool and we keep getting showers. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, peas and hay.
Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
Really timely rain this week - as usual, wish it was more. Original forecast was for 2-3” but we’ll take whatever we can get. Could be a lot worse. Winter wheat looks good - not ready to call it excellent, but certainly good. Spring crops are all seeded and on their way. The cooler weather definitely slowing down growth - which is fine. We’ll also take that. Haying season is still a few weeks out. Now that the cutworms have been sprayed - not a lot of insect issues. Minimal weed issues. Fingers crossed for more rain next week. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 1ish inches of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, safflower and hay.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Crops are progressing slowly due to the cooler temps of late. I am glad to say that by the end of the week I will have received 3" of rain, under all my pivots. The only measurable moisture that can be accounted for this year. Even the wild oats have filed a lawsuit for negligence due to lack of moisture. This should quash that. Now the corners and a few little fields are feeling the full effect of lack of moisture and I am forced to flood irrigate them up. Not a very good practice agronomically, but got to get something out of them acres. Crops are slowly growing, 2-3 leaf stage maybe, and in dire need of some heat units and am afraid to ask too loud for that if it comes in like last year. I said a few prayers over the dryland winter wheat as I destroyed what little was there to prep for another go at it this fall. Missed last week's crop report as I was busy reseeding the irrigated unpopulated winter wheat to spring wheat, then hauled the last of the '21 barley crop to town. Irrigated pastures are starting to come on to good green grass now, but the prairie grass is all but dormant yet. A tint of green in a few draws is about all there is for color. The dryland grass hay was green a month ago but has since collected itself and gone dormant as well. Thanks to the foresight of my predecessors that created this irrigation project, and the invention of mechanized irrigation, I may still come out of this year with the shirt on my back. The snowpack is in great condition and hasn't released yet to the point of filling the reservoirs in excess to allow spill water down the river. Hopefully it will hold for a full season as it is being drug out with these cool temps. I am going to say we are a couple weeks behind normal for crop stage. Weeds are beginning to come on strong with the tansy mustard flowering and the cheat grass is headed out. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .02" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay. Tansy mustard, wild oats and cheat grass showing up. Expect to begin harvest sometime after Lochy.
Toole County - Klayton Lohr
In a 90% cropping system, nothing I have seeded in the last 3 weeks has emerged. Cooler than normal temperatures for this time of year, so we are progressing slowly. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are durum, garbanzos and mustard. Kochia, Russian thistle, cheat grass, and tansy mustard showing up. Expect to begin harvest August 1st, 2023.
MAY 24, 2022
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
Winter wheat is recovering from fairly strong cutworm infestation. 15% of the acres will be lost with a bit of spring wheat interseeding in worst patches. Even finding some damage in spring wheat. Winter canola is finally showing that it survived winter for the most part and is in early bud stage. Chickpeas emerging slowly. Keep getting 0.1” showers every few days. Finding out some cheatgrass that is not dying from glyphosate the way it should. Quite concerning. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .33" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. Cheatgrass a problem.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Started seeding Monday, May 23, was ready to go on Thursday and we got three days of snow and rain showers that didn’t amount to much but still kept the wheels from turning. Plenty wet still, transmission of truck was almost left in pieces out in pasture when trying to fill. Froze three nights in a row so that didn’t do the already struggling winter wheat any good. Finally got to quit feeding the majority of the cows as the grass really started growing. Going to start spraying winter wheat this week. Moisture conditions are good receiving .25" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola and hay.
Cascade County - Steve Sheffels
With the moisture we've received in the last few weeks most of the bare patches that we've had are filling in with WW. The stand in these areas is generally poor to very poor. However, if it manages to grow for a few more weeks it should keep the soil from blowing. Plans for re-seeding have gone from 100-200 acres to 3-4 acres. Overall stand is below average - average. The barley has all come up and is looking good. So far the barley is looking good to excellent. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .3" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and barley. 10-20% of the WW received some frost damage Wednesay, May 11th. 2-3 leaves turned brown at the top of some plants.
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
May has been our wettest month since August; I'm liking the trendline! Three widely-spaced one-tenth rains did no good, but smelled nice. Winterwheat is starting to throw out a flag leaf, maybe the white flag of surrender. Spring wheat is 3-4 anemic leaves. Cold weather has me pushing harvest forward to July 5, but only if the winterwheat decides to drop all tillers and just shoot one head. Interesting that the drought monitor has gone from D4 mid-winter, down to D3, and D2 is creeping up to the southern border of Edwardsfarm- all without ANY beneficial moisture since August! WTH! But hey, It's alright; I'll just drag my crop's sorry booty across this desert and live to fight another year. I have a good deal of empathy for our younger farmers who have not seen this (at least from the driver's seat) before. It'll be fine; sometimes you have to just shoot the horse, and walk. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .09" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Insects dead, weeds dead, drought disease. Expect to begin harvest July 5, 1pm.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Over half done spraying winter wheat. The crop is uneven on the lighter ground but fairly even on the heavier ground. Some the fall emerged winter wheat is getting into the joint stage where the basic yield is already determined. I kind of watch my indicator native grasses like cheat June Grass and Garrison Creeping Foxtail. They are heading--a sign of stress at some point. Probably start spraying the early seeded spring wheat in a week or so. The spring wheat stand is very even. Had another trip through North Dakota. The western part of the state is about all seeded. The eastern half plus is very wet. 600% of normal. However, the pot holes are shrinking fast. The ground, unlike a couple of years ago, is not saturated and this moisture will go into the sub soil. Either way, they are going to have a good crop, whatever they seed (us Wheaties) or plant (the Row Croppers). Talk is that corn maybe getting too late. But they will plant bean or seed spring wheat even if it is a little late. Never saw a single tractor suck in the mud in the eastern part of the state. They are all still in the yard. However, when they can go, the crop will get in the ground fast. Thanks to technology and producer capital investments. With GPS and light bars that light up the night and make it look like a space ship, it will not take very many days to get the crop in. Another thing I noticed is all the hay stacks that are going to be carried over--every where. I thought last year was supposed to be a poor hay crop with limited availability. These are big stacks with a lot of tons. It reminds me of the Great American Toilet Paper Hoarding Shortage. Oh well, I guess we all lived through it and survived. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .45" of rain & snow which dried up quickly and did not help sub moisture. But we are very thankful. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
It’s been freezing over the weekend so things haven’t been growing very well. Trying to finish the winter wheat spraying. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .45" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Haven't seen any hoppers yet. Weeds showing up are kochia and wild oats. Expect to begin harvest in August.
Flathead County - Tryg Koch
Seeding is all wrapped up in the valley with the exception of some hay fields. Frost came in last week and really dinged the canola and winter wheat stands, as of now no one is reseeding any yet. It is very cold and crops are just not growing very well at all, but hopefully the 70 degree temps forecasted for next week will change that. Moisture conditions are good receiving .5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, lentils, canola and hay. Lots of weeds!!!
Hill County - Eric Hanson
We finally got rain in 2022. Measurable rain. We got .15 here, but it varied a lot around the area. I wish the decimal was moved to a different spot in that number. That would have helped immensely. Needless to say, we are still in the same situation we have been in all spring. Dry. We had hard winds for two days with gusts from 50-60mph. It was not a good day for this country. Crops are slowly declining. The winter wheat is hurting for moisture very badly. And so it goes. Chemfallow has been top of the list this week. Looks like wind in the latter half so progress will come to a slow down. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .15" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
I am ecstatic to report a rain event here beginning Thursday evening totaling .29 of precipitation. This will at least allow the remaining mustard to sprout, but we have a long ways to harvest yet with all crops in this area being severely stressed from dry and windy conditions. Sunday morning temp was a low of 20 degrees and will add to some continuing crop stress. Hold the faith and continue to find the passion in doing what we do in this business of production agriculture. Moisture conditions poor receiving .29" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, lentils and mustard.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
Had a little of everything this week - wind, rain, snow, sun, cold and some warm and cold temps. Got .20 for the week bringing the monthly total to .73, far behind last year. North and east of me got more. Winifred .40, south of Moore .40 to a inch, Stanford .50. The alfalfa is still not looking very good as some has not come out of the ground and fan weed is now coming like gang busters. Nothing to help those fields and big holes of no growth yet in some of mine and others, do not know what to do. The grass really took off with the warm temps. WW needs to be sprayed ASAP but had to wait for the cold to pass. Will spray some SF fields this week and wait on some fields as there is nothing coming yet. Moisture conditions are between poor and good. Barley is all out of the ground as well as the SW. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay.
Judith Basin County - Bing Von Bergen
The winter wheat in the Moccasin area is all over the board. Depending on whether you seeded early or late, too shallow, seeded recrop wheat, or if your land got a little more rain. All the winter wheat has holes in it with various stages of growth in the same field, with some of the wheat tall and in the joint stage and some looking like spring wheat was seeded with the winter wheat. We sprayed all our winter wheat last week as it was approaching the joint stage. My barley is in the two leaf stage and my spring wheat is in the one leaf. We have been very blessed in this area with rain and snow showers that made seeding difficult and now we need to get our Memorial Day storm and rains in June. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .4-.5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, garbanzos and hay.
McCone/Dawson County - Trevor Schock
It's been a good week for farm work. Warmer weather has started getting early crops like wheat that was planted before the blizzards and peas are really starting to stretch out now. The 2- 3" of rain last weekend has also helped many things, including weeds, such as buckwheat and Russian thistles are appearing now. We are now currently about 70% completed with planting. I think many in the area will be wrapping up their plantings in the next week. Currently as I write this we are receiving a mix of snow and rain. Excessively windy conditions have made it difficult to apply pre-plant chemical applications most days of this last week with loose soils blowing into the air yesterday (Friday). Even with the late start it looks like we should be still on track wrapping up the spring season. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are spring wheat, peas and mustard. No insects yet. Expect to begin harvest in August.
Prairie County - Dustin Mathiason
We are about 2/3 done seeding. I am finishing planting corn as I write this. It has been a struggle to get the crops in this spring but we are very appreciative of the moisture we have been receiving. We have gotten over 3 inches of rain in the last two weeks. Spring wheat and barley have emerged and look great with excellent stands. It's been unseasonably cool here. It was 27 degrees this morning on 5-22-22. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are spring wheat, barley, lentils, canola, corn and hay. No insects yet. Expect to begin harvest in early August.
Sheridan County - Terry Angvick
We finished seeding on our operation yesterday. Overall, there has been considerable progress this past week. My best guess is that most pulse crops are in, and the durum/spring wheat plantings are about 60% complete. Soil conditions are a bit wet in the topsoil, but guys are pushing it to make progress. Subsoil moisture is nonexistent. Just east of us in North Dakota the planting progress is dismal. Between the snow storm a few weeks back and the rain, they have major planting delays. 10-20% seeded. Same thing across the border. Moisture conditions are fair receiving traces of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are durum, peas and hay. No insects yet. Weeds showing up are winter annuals and isolated Hawksbeard wild oats. No diseases. Expect to begin harvest first to middle of August.
Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
Another decent week of growing conditions - albeit a little chilly. Most/all of the spring seeding is wrapped up down here. Caught a couple small storms - and a little snow on the 20th. Sprayed a lot of cutworms out of alfalfa fields in the last few weeks. Didn’t seem to touch much wheat except stuff seeded into old CRP. The scattered rains have been steady enough to keep us in relatively good shape (really good shape considering the alternative conditions around the state). Cool weather is also definitely helping. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, safflower and hay. Cutworms are a problem.
MAY 17, 2022
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
Done seeding. Spring wheat at 2-3 leaves, chick peas about to emerge, winter canola greening up. Found cutworms in winter wheat and starting to spray them. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .3" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. Cutworms showing up.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Winter wheat is still looking thin even with all the moisture, it was just too late for it to do anything it appears. Still haven’t gotten started, so far since the first of April we have had 40 inches of snow and about six inches of rain, the gumbo just won’t dry out. Starting to get somewhat nervous about getting any planting done, but I guess beats last year of having it in and it not growing. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola and hay.
Cascade County - Steve Sheffels
Spraying the WW crop for broad leaf weeds. There aren't many weeds coming because it has been so cool. The crop is 2-leaf to jointing depending on if it came out of the ground last fall. Many patches are filling in with late emerging wheat. Overall stand is poor to below average. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and barley. Weeds showing up are mostly prickly lettuce, a little bit of brome. Diseases are some powdery mildew, but it's not affecting upper leaves.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Done seeding and reseeding. Not much sub moisture--unlike North Dakota with 600% of normal precipitation in the eastern part. At this time it appears that we will not have a big crop due to lack of moisture. BUT our monsoon season is coming--May 20th to June 12th. Spraying winter wheat for both grass and broadleaf weeds. Surprising what you can find in the field with a couple of high 60 and low 70 degree days. Love this wheat market!! Moisture conditions are fair receiving .31" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Weeds showing up are broadleaves, buck wheat, kochia, cheat grass and wild oats. Now you can see why Corteva is here every year with their test plots for new and old herbicides.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
Finished spraying the fallow winter wheat and about to start the recrop that is trying to fill in. Not the best stand but isn’t bad enough to reseed. Spring crop is growing good and looks descent. Wish we had some wheat left to sell. This market is still wild. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .48" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Typical annual weeds showing up.
Flathead County - Tryg Koch
Very good crops so far, some canola got some frost damage. We are behind in growing degree days but are in good shape for moisture. Moisture conditions are good receiving .4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, lentils, canola and hay.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
Another week has gone by, and as if some cruel joke were still at play, we again have received no precipitation. A few stray showers moved through the area, but did very little for the cause even to the select few who were blessed. Today we are hovering around 80 degrees with 20-25mph winds. More wind through the end of the week. The winter wheat was holding on despite no rain, but after today its grip is going to start slipping. It’s starting to drop tillers and go backwards. The spring crops will be next in line. The ditch and prairie grass has turned brown for the most part and looks to have gone dormant again. It’s a sad state of affairs. Hard decisions are being made in this part of the country. It’s quite disheartening. I expect a mass exodus soon as everyone I talk to said they are getting out of dodge as theres no use sticking around to watch it play out. It’s going to be a long summer. Hope rain and a better outlook has found most of you. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Drought disease. Probably won't be harvesting in 2022.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
Antelope have applied for a water permit from Goldstone City Council. Zero precip, unrelenting wind and diminishing hope is this week's sentiment. I am patching HRW field ends as I write this with hopes of it providing cover and weed suppression at some point this growing season. Winter wheat is showing stress with a decision soon whether a herbicide application is even warranted. Mustard is slowly emerging and lentils are running out of gas. Bummer production year with exciting markets. Moisture conditions poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, lentils and mustard.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
Woke up to snow on Monday and everything was white, by noon only the higher elevation was white. Did get .39 for the week but the wind has taken it away about as fast as it came. Some alfalfa is very slow to start and has not grew much, less than a inch, newer seeding is looking very good for now. Some are starting to turn their cattle out because they are out of hay or trying to save what little hay is left. Moisture this last week was vey spotty with some getting very little to none and others getting .10 to .40. Roy area over a inch, Jordan about 1.25 Denton .05 to .25. The only constant was the wind and everyone had some. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .39" of precipitation in the past week.
McCone/Dawson County - Kurt Voss
Very cold, spring crops and seeding are behind normal but just about complete. Early seeded wheat took 27 days to emerge. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 2" of rain the last couple days, which hopefully will start to improve things as we were very dry. Crops being grown are spring wheat, barley, corn, peas, hay, lentils and oats. No insects yet. Expect to begin harvest in August.
Sheridan County - Terry Angvick
Had a great general rain that covered a large area here in the NE corner. Anywhere from 1.5-2.5” came last Thursday night and most of Friday. Was a gentle, steady rain. Haven’t seen a rain like that for years this time of year. Was very welcome and timely. Replenished topsoil and into second door of soil. Need more, but a good start. Down side is that it will again delay planting. As of this writing I would say planting progress is well behind normal. Most pulse crops are seeded, but still a few acres left. I do not think that 25-30% of the spring wheat and durum are seeded at this time. Could be a little more, but not much. Moisture conditions are good receiving 1.5-2.5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are durum, peas and hay. No insects thus far. Weeds showing up are winter annuals, some volunteer grasses and a few wild oats. Too early for disease. Expect to begin harvest first to middle of August.
Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
The weather service released the current water year stats for moisture. Billings is just under an inch above average for the water year. We’ve gotten less than they have - but still trending in a positive direction. Decent rains over the last few weeks. Winter wheat is in good shape. Barley is emerging and same with the safflower. Hay looks decent - except where the cutworms ravaged it. Finished spraying them ahead of the last storm. Will definitely need rain to continue to maintain pasture/hay...we’re not really eating into the deficit so much as surviving. But we’ll take survival. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .7" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, safflower and hay. Cutworms are showing up.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Finished seeding barley weekend before this last and reseeded some wheat this past week. Surprisingly the barley is emerging uniformly. The last seeded ain't quite out yet, but another day or so it will be. A lot of rain makers going since the water got to the bench in the canal system. Flood irrigation of hay and pastures is in full swing. I don't think they can get anymore water in the canal. Pretty heavy demand for a start. Hopefully this forecasted storm leaves us something other than wind blown dust clouds. Hauling in the last of last year's barley this week. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .04" in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay. Wild oats showing up.
MAY 10, 2022
Blaine County - Adam Billmayer
Warmed up some, still remarkably wind and dry! Moisture conditions are poor with very spotty showers here and there. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, lentils, canola and mustard. Weeds showing up: Button kochia, Russian thistle, cheat grass, Foxtail barley.
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
95% done spring seeding. Winter wheat is still struggling some. Winter canola is patchy. Spring wheat is at 1 leaf. Moisture conditions are fair- we have had a 6 or 7 small showers in the last 2 weeks but they added up to 1.3”. 0.5” of that in the last week. Top soil conditions are good but subsoil is still dry. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. I heard of some cut worms in the area so we will be checking.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Slow, was just about ready to start and it rained yesterday. Was hoping the moisture would bring the winter wheat out of the ground but it must’ve been too late. The grass is really growing though so that is a good thing. Moisture conditions are good receiving .25" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola and hay.
Chouteau County - Nathan Keane
We are staying dry. With high winds and low moisture, our crops are holding on for dear life. We caught a bit of a sprinkle recently. I am praying it’s enough to get our oil crops up and going. Moisture conditions are poor with 0.06 precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, garbanzos, flax, hemp and hay. No insects at this time. Cheat grass is showing up.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
One more field and we are done seeding this spring. Have some winter wheat spot seeding to do yet. The first seeding is up very even and growing rapidly as long it quits freezing at night. Had a trip to southern Minnesota over the week end. Corn going in the ground fast. Probably 25% seeded there. North Dakota is a different story. Western ND had some seeding done before the big storms. Up but looking quite peaked due to the nutrients moving down with the moisture. Some were trying to seed around the snow drifts in the low areas. But it rained even them out Sunday night. The eastern 2/3 of ND is super wet and a lot of standing water in the fields. No field work at all. Many are thinking it will be too late for corn. Beans and spring wheat are the next consideration. Maybe more spring wheat acres than already predicted. However, with only 20 days left in May, I think there is going to be a lot of prevented plant claims. Montana is pretty well seeded east of here. What is up is looking good. Moisture conditions are fair with 2 inches of soft pease sized hail in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Winter annual broad leaf weeds beginning to show up.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
I hate to sound as though I’m a pessimistic fellow, but this drought we are in is not good. Honestly, it’s as bad as we’ve seen for at least 35 years. And it pains my soul. The saga just seems to drag on here in the north country. We are yet to receive a blessing in the form of rain or snow, so in patience we wait. Last Wednesday and Thursday brought breezy and hot temperatures, hitting a high of 83. Friday brought us horrendous winds that ravaged the country. This poor country. It was a hard day to watch with plenty of dirt in the air. My thanks go out to modern practice or we would be entering dust bowl times around here. We are all growing weary of these conditions. Around 3/4 of our spring plantings have emerged. The winter wheat still looks good, but is soon to find itself in dire straights unless we get some moisture. The prairie grass has begun to lose its green already. It’s going to take something of great significance and timing to turn things around. I hope by next week I can report with a different outlook on this crop season. Moisture conditions are poor and no precipitation to report in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Weeds showing up are Kochia, mustard and cheatgrass.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
Rudyard NOAA M8 weather station totaled .72 since January 1, with the largest precip event being .15 in the first week of March. Finished spring planting Saturday night with mustard. 90% of my mustard will not sprout till it does rain. First sowed lentils on 4-12 are beginning to emerge but will run out of moisture soon. HRW is beginning to show stress with the green tint of hope that it had displayed turning to the blue color of despair. I am still holding onto the faith that this country can turn itself around yet but reality is setting in. Moisture conditions poor with .07 last night in a small isolated area. Crops being grown are winter wheat and lentils. Harvest is going to be sooner than expected.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
Just about done seeding with 180 acres left. Did not take long for the ground to dry out. Seeding really took off this last week. The grass and alfalfa started to green up finally and some of the WW is finely starting to sprout and grow, but behind the WW that started last fall. The spring crops that are up are very slow to grow because of all the cold temps. The weather person is calling for more moisture this weekend and hope all get some. Reports that the hiline is extremely dry with last fall fertilizer still looking like it was when seeded last fall this spring. Moisture conditions are poor- .22 of rain for the first of the week of May and another .20 last nite of May 7. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay.
Sheridan County - Terry Angvick
Greetings from NE Montana! There was a little spring seeding done a few weeks back, but cold weather and snow delayed any major push. The heavy snow was just east of us starting at the ND line. A lot of broke off power poles and power shortage for many of the major towns and rural area across the line. Our area had some outages, but nothing like our neighbors to the east. Seeding really kicked in the middle of last week and is going full steam now. This is later than usual, and I would say that about 20-25% of the area is seeded. Major crops are durum, peas and lentils. Canola acres have been picking up the past few years. Some flax as well. Overall, our surface moisture is pretty good, but subsoil moisture nonexistent. One constant we can count in is wind. Starting to lean a little! Good luck to all. Moisture conditions are poor and no ne to several drops of precipitation to report in the past week. Crops being grown are Durum, Peas and Hay. Too soon for insects, but do expect grasshopper issue. Some winter annual weeds. Disease is too soon. Hope to know more in a few weeks as to when to expect harvest.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Seeding is nearing the end for me here on The Bench. The first ground I started seeding on is beginning to emerge, although some of the seeds have not sprouted yet as the ground is dry. What seemed like good moisture when I started two weeks ago, has since disappeared rapidly as I finish up seeding chores. A lot of cloudiness in the last couple weeks hasn't left behind anything for moisture. Water has been released from Pishkun Reservoir into the Greenfields Irrigation canal on Sunday and the water should be here tonight. Folks are talking about making rain with sprinkler systems as soon as we can in order to insure equal staging in the crop, at least under the pivot areas. Temps have been cool enough that growth of grass and alfalfa have been hindered a little. My dryland grass hay was greening up quite nicely but has since retreated to more of a chalky blue color due to lack of moisture. Along side it, my winter wheat is non-existent and has been adjusted by insurance and will be prepped for this fall to go back into winter wheat, hopefully with the addition of soil moisture. Most of the seeding on the bench is being wrapped up for the year and should be completed by the end of the week. A few pivots on winter wheat that draw from drains have been started on what appears fairly decent crops. Irrigated pastures will get some much needed water soon as we are still feeding cows hay due to the lack of growth on these acres as well due to dryness and cool temps. It is a rough start but I believe we will persevere. Stay safe. Moisture conditions are poor and received .04 in the past week. Crops being grown are spring wheat, winter wheat, barley and hay. Only disease here is drought.
MAY 3, 2022
Blaine County - Adam Billmayer
Windy, dry and cold. Moisture conditions are poor with very spotty showers in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, lentils, canola and mustard.
Blaine/Phillips County - Raymond Keller
We started seeding spring wheat April 23. With only wind and cool temps seeding hasn't been interrupted. Haven't had any moisture in the last 10 days or so and very little before that in the form.of snow. Winter wheat survived the winter and if it rains it looks like we should raise a crop. We finished top dressing a few days ago. As I speak April 29th we have 1200 acres of spring wheat seeded and another week to go. Seeding conditions are pretty good actually. Two thirds of our cows are calved out and we will brand May 7th. We had a rough patch during calving with cold Temps and high winds. Made for some long nights. Hope everyone is doing well and that the year can bring some well needed moisture. Moisture conditions are poor with receiving nothing in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
Wheat about to emerge. Chickpeas half seeded. Winter wheat reviving from single digit temps. Winter canola wait and see if it survives low temps. Moisture conditions are FAIR with receiving 3/4" in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax.
Cascade County - Steve Sheffels
Average moisture for April is bringing crop along WW 3-4 leaf. Seeded barley last week into good moisture from 1/2" of rain two weeks ago. WW crop looks average to below average. There is not a great stand and it looks 'patchy'. The WW crop on summer fallow is 4" behind normal moisture. Moisture conditions are fair as we received 1" Thursday to Friday and brought us up to average for month. Crops being grown are winter wheat and barley.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Slow was just about ready to start and it rained yesterday. Was hoping the moisture would bring the winter wheat out of the ground but it must’ve been to late. The grass is really growing though so that is a good thing. Moisture conditions are good- .25 inch of rain in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola and hay.
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Biblical drought deserves a Biblical quote; Ecclesiastes speaks of the rain falling on both the just and the unjust. King Solomon, who may have written this book, was a pretty smart guy, but he omitted a third category. What about those upon whom the rain doesn't fall?
Edwardsfarm hasn't seen a monthly total over a quarter inch since planting winterwheat in late August. And yet, winterwheat looks good and spring wheat is pondering whether to emerge into this environment. Some on Lonesome Prairie have caught beneficial showers; nothing like what Great Falls and Billings have picked up, but certainly appreciated. But farmers are pretty good about not resenting disparity, and I congratulate the just and all you unjust, if you picked up useful moisture recently. Moisture conditions are poor with no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat and peas. Drought disease is present at this time. Todd wants a harvest date. At this point, that's very weather-dependent, but today I predict July 1, at 1pm. With hopes it will last beyond 2pm!
Chouteau County - Nathan Keane
Extremely dry. No measurable precipitation for quite a while. Our winter wheat is turning blue and the leaves are curling due to low moisture. Half our wheat is very poor the other half is stressed. Barley is taking off with the heat we’re getting. Chickpeas are just starting to come out of the ground. Our hemp and flax will need a rain to get it up. Moisture conditions are poor with 0 precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, garbanzos, flax, hemp and hay.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
We were very lucky to catch a couple storms this week. Winter wheat is filling in and the spring crop is finally coming up. The hay crop and pasture in the area is having a slow start. Moisture conditions are fair with 1.1 precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
We are in the midst of spring wheat seeding. All the spring crop in our area is short to very short for sub moisture. The winter wheat has a couple of feet of soil profile moisture. The April rains are welcome even if we get held out of the field for awhile. The seeding conditions are great. No weeds due to the cold soils. We will just have spray post emergence. Winter Wheat stands all over are thin and spotty due to poor emergence last fall because of dry planting conditions. Some talk of taking the winter wheat out. There is also talk of a half stand of winter wheat is better than a good stand of spring wheat. We will see. Moisture conditions are fair with .75 inch of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Flathead County - Tryg Koch
Planting is 3/4 done. The first seeded crops are poking there heads out and grabbing the first rays of sunshine!! Hay fields are greening up and things look good in the flathead. Moisture conditions are good with receiving .2 of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, lentils, canola and hay.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
Wrapped up spring seeding other than some patching left on winter wheat where the hoppers, the wind or the drought took care of. Missed out completely on another round of moisture. No showers in all of April. There won’t be many May flowers if the saying holds true. Nothing in the 15 day forecast but wind and higher temps. Looks like 80 degrees by Thursday. Currently sitting at .06-.28 inches of rain this calendar year. Those are electronic guage stations; my old school gauges have remained dry with measurable rain. Our last rain event that was measurable at my house was an inch of rain on August 17th of 2021. We are currently riding on the small amount of snow moisture we received this winter. It won’t last long. Moisture conditions are poor and no precipitation to report in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Weeds are just now starting to show up. Harvest expected to begin August 2023.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
We have had zero precipitation. Planting plans made over the winter with production goals have now been changed to keeping the lid on and not blowing away. Reduced planted acres and more fallow due to no moisture. I still have hope for HRW but it will need moisture to continue. Been a lot of dirt in the air in my area, sad to see that still happen in today’s day and age. Hold the faith and do what we can to keep the cover. Moisture conditions poor with zero precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, lentils and mustard. Sawfly left to find water and harvest is tbd.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
The area is about 25% done putting spring crop in with some done and others starting or about to start. The earliest seeded has been in a month and just starting to come up slowly. Alfalfa is either dead or still dormant with no to little sign of life along with the grass. Rain or snow this last week was all over the board. Spreading WW with fertilizer is about half done with smaller amounts going on. High prices and left over fertilizer in the ground the reason for this. Spring cheat and weeds were finally coming up the start of the week, no wild oats or darnel yet. Moisture conditions are poor though things are starting to look up as had 0.71 moisture this last week and 1.46 for the month of April. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay. Been to cold for pests to show up just yet. Hope the rain god smiles on everyone and best to all.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
The Bench is a buzz with plows and drills. Seeding is progressing well. Heavy clouds have been going overhead leaving little to nothing behind for moisture. As I creep across the farm with the drill it is getting noticeably drier compared to when I started a week ago. The grasses are trying to grow, but between cooler temps and lack of abundant moisture, stunted growth is all it can muster. Winter wheat is in same condition to worse. A lot of bald ground and lack of moisture is detering the decision to reseed at this time. The town of Fairfield is filling the swimming pool for fire water suppy and have implemented water restrictions as the city wells are at very low levels. Moisture conditions are poor and received .05 in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay. Only disease here is dehydration.
APRIL 26, 2022
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
Half done spring seeding. It was warm earlier but has been cold in the last 2 weeks. Moisture conditions are poor with receiving .5" in the past two weeks. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. Pest problems are with cheat grass and dandelions. I only hope we will have a harvest this year!
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Haven’t started seeding. Ten below wind chill and snow last week. Supposed to storm again tonight. Drill is hooked up and ready whenever it quits being winter. Winter wheat is finally starting to green up a little. Moisture conditions are fair with receiving snow bare ground to ten foot drifts. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley and hay.
Chouteau, Liberty & Hill County - Nathan Keane
We are close to finishing our spring seeding. Winter wheat has been slow to grow with the continuing cold temperatures. Half our WW Looks good, half looks poor. Moisture conditions are fair with .68 precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, barbanzos, flax, hemp and hay.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
Fallow winter wheat looks good. Recrop winter wheat is very spotty and is having a hard time. Spring crop has been for quite some time and should come up this week. Moisture conditions are poor with .4 precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Flathead County - Tryg Koch
Just started seeding. Winter wheat looks good along with the hay fields. The last cold spell did not seem to be as hard on the crops as we thought, did have some snow cover so it looks to have insulated very well. Moisture conditions are excellent with receiving 1 inch of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, lentils, canola and hay. The Flathead is struggling with pest problems such as Californians insects, Texans weeds and New Yorkers disease. Apparently its a beautiful place to relocate.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
This is a very difficult start to the 2022 season. There is a small amount of sf ww that looks great and then there is the recrop ww that is all over the board, from looking alright to dismal and some just coming up this last week. Spring seeding is all over the board as some are done and others are waiting to see if the weeds and cheat are finally going to start and some waiting for moisture that is the dryest that many can ever remember. 2 to 5 inches and below that the gravel is dusty and dry. The ground temp is still very cold running from 35 to 39 degrees as it is still freezing on some nights. As i write this we recieved 0.66 Saturday at noon. Best to all and finally the moisture gauges look as they will have a use this year and do not have a hole in them. Moisture conditions are poor with receiving .66 of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
It’s broken record country up here north of highway 2. Wind; it has been high in quantity and intensity. Moisture; it has been minimal in both quantity and form. Our dry fall continued into a dry and open winter. We’ve continued the trend with almost no moisture yet this spring, other than a few light snow events. Soil moisture is adequate for seeding at the moment, but there is little in reserve. Soil temps have continued to be cold, so planting progress in general has been slow or non present for some. It’s really picked up the last few days with warmer temps though. The country is finally alive with sprayers and drills going. The grass and winter wheat have been slow to get going. A 10 degree night last week turned grasses a purple-gray hue in areas. A lot of winter wheat did not fair well around here. Spotty, large patches of winter kill and some that never came up. And then there’s some that looks good. Any unprotected dirt has vacated its current location and found a better neighborhood to reside in. Conditions have been lacking in inspiration. But we haven’t run out of hope yet. Moisture is on its way, we just don’t know yet when it will show up. Maybe end of the week. Moisture conditions are fair with no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. A few weeds, but not too many, its too dry.
Hill County - Todd Hansen
HRW needs a drink and heat. Lentils in and sprouted. Working on mustard. Old Mother Nature has this wind blowing perfected. Hope she can work on the moisture part soon. Stay safe. Moisture conditions are poor. Crops being grown are winter wheat, lentils and mustard. I plan to begin harvest after Locky.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Everyone has been in wait mode here on The Bench. Waiting for warmer, wetter weather. Alot of acres burn last years residue off and the weather has'nt been conducive for this practice. Sunday was first good day to do so. A few others as myself work the stubble in and have been rolling across the fields for a day or so. Surprised at just how much moisture is in the ground. Looks alot better than a month ago having received a few scant snow showers. Plant2022 has begun. Winter wheat is looking real tough after a dry fall and winter and 23⁰ nights lately. Hope it is salvagable. Moisture conditions are good and received .3 in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay.
Toole County - Korey Fauque
This is the slowest start to the grass and seeding due to the cold. The winter wheat isn’t doing much and we have only had 4/10th of moisture since Jan 1. Moisture conditions are poor with .1" in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, peas, canola and flax.