MGGA Weekly Crop Condition Survey
JUNE 28, 2022
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
Conditions have been close to ideal. Winter wheat is mid heading stage. Spring wheat is not far behind. Winter canola has probably 10 more days of flowering. Chickpeas are going to start flowering soon. We are about to spray herbicide on our flax. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .8" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. Expect to begin harvest August 5th.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
This is the first week since April that we haven’t gotten any moisture. But that made it a good week to get the durum, canola, and millet sprayed. Willow creek is waist high and still not even headed. Rest of the winter wheat is starting to fill heads so hopefully we stay cool like we have been and get them filled all the way to the top. Started haying as well, there will be lots of hay bales down in our corner. Few more timely rains for the spring crops and they will be something great as long, as the white gleaner doesn’t make an appearance the bins should get full. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola, hay and proso millet. Neighbors have grasshoppers showing up, but I can’t find any down here in the gumbo. No idea in expecting to begin harvest.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
What a beautiful week last week! The air smelled so nice every evening with the winter wheat flowering. The spring wheat needs a drink! Spring wheat is all in the boot and half is headed. Had to spray hoppers on edges on all the spring wheat and some of the fields in total. Russian Olives are the latest nightly smells. Even though they are not considered a noxious weed, they smell nice, crop spray does not kill them and they produce some of the prettiest hard wood. In the newspaper, it was stated that 2021 calendar year was the driest on record for Lewistown. 2022 is very much the same with 60% + of normal precipitation to date. Only this year the days have been cool instead in the high 80s and 90s. Haying is in full swing. With the dry 2021, dry fall, dry winter, dry spring and late spring frost, the windrows look really small. Even after raking. Hay prices will be a premium (and straw) price just like last year. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .15" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Hoppers in the tender spring crop, but winter wheat is far enough along.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
Crops are still looking ok here but will need some rain soon to sustain the stand. Grasshoppers have shown up in a big way and some growers are looking to spray for them. Winter wheat is half filled and the spring wheat is heading. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .31" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Grasshoppers are a problem.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
A week of no rain, warm temps, and some windy days makes for a quick reminder that we had only a short reprieve from the drought in our area. Grass crunches under my feet again. Crops continue to progress towards the goal. The winter wheat has started its color shifting journey. Grain fill at its furthest is at milk stage. Some spring wheat crops are fully headed while others are not there yet. Everything needs some rain soon. Forecasted weather over the next few days is going to highlight the lack of soil moisture these crops have available. After the 4th is usually when we turn hot and dry, so it might be a quick trip to harvest if no moisture shows up or these relatively mild temps go to blast furnace mode. Grasshoppers continue to show up and grow up. Maybe the spring wheat can outrun them in size and maturity before their destructive appetite presents itself. Overall crops look ok but are going to need some help soon or it’s all going to go downhill rather quickly. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Grasshoppers are a problem, as well as kochia, thistle, mustard, wild lettuce and so on and drought. Expect to begin harvest July 24th.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
Crops are holding on as the area received .31 this week. The rains really varied on amounts and areas. On Wednesday a few swathers started and it looks like about 40% of normal. Spraying SF for the second time. Waiting to see the forecast for Tuesday and if it looks dry will start haying this week. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .31" of precipitation in the past week. NO hoppers yet, but prickly lettuce, fan weed and kochia are problems.
McCone/Dawson County - Trevor Schock
Overall things are looking very good in this area. We have kept on receiving some very timely rains which have been quite a boon for the spring crops. Very early spring wheat has nearly caught up to winter wheat as the ww is now fully headed and some spring wheat is in the 80-90% range. Mustard and pulses have hit full bloom now and seem to be filling out nicely. The temps have stayed below the mid 90s to allow continued blooming. The most concerning issue that we are currently seeing is the return of last year's grasshopper infestation. Many fields in the area, especially those near grass, have been losing 10-100' on the edges are now completely gone. Many people have already been spraying for them in crop but it seems as though there are new hatches almost weekly and they will continue to eat and destroy more as the days get warmer into summer. Moisture conditions are good receiving .6" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are spring wheat, peas and mustard. Grasshoppers are a problem, as well as pigeon grass. No diseases. Expect to begin harvest August 8th.
Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
Another good weather week - some scattered showers last weekend. Swathers are finally really getting rolling. Early reports are disappointing yields. We didn’t expect a great crop - but even less than expected. The damage from 2021 and limited moisture until April was too hard on perennial crops. In brighter news - cereal grains look really great. Tons of fungicide went on last week. Lots of tan spot and depending on who you ask septoria (agronomists don’t really agree on that one). Regardless lots of acres covered. Cool weather continues to push back harvest estimates but the overall growing conditions are great. Moisture conditions are good. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, safflower and hay. Tan spot is a problem. Expect to begin harvest August 1ish.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Crops are progressing better now that we have some heat and moisture. Irrigation is in full swing here on the Greenfields Bench, with water being circulated between growers in a timely fashion as to not cause a high demand or rationing of water. Center pivots and end guns fill the horizon with a layer of moisture that provide early morning and late evening vistas to amaze your viewing pleasure. Winter wheat is headed or heading out while the drier barley corners are beer can high and starting to awn. Under the pivots the barley is stooling and tillering quite well at the 3-4 leaf. A lot of the bare spots now have emerging barley and wheat from last week's rains and irrigation. So this should be a good year with 2-3 crops all within the same year. Too bad it won't all be ready to harvest at the same time. We may be having to rely on the swather again to even this crop out come harvest time. Hay in the country is starting to be windrowed. Prairie grass starting to green up from rain but will be short lived. Glad we have the irrigated grass or the cows would be gone by now, and with the dryland grass hay non-existent, the cows will be a memory sooner than later. For being such a droughty year the mosquitoes have survived quite well and beginning to be a pest while in the fields. Moisture conditions are poor receiving 1.43" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay. Mosquitoes are a problem, as well as wild oats and Canadian thistle. Leaf blotch starting to show.
JUNE 21, 2022
Blaine/Phillips County - Raymond Keller
Winter wheat is heading and spring wheat is in pre-boot stage. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .5-1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Grasshoppers and gophers are problems.
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
Winter wheat is at the beginning of heading stage. Winter canola is in full bloom. Spring wheat and Chickpeas just got sprayed, only a bit of flax left to spray. Finally got some heat in the last couple of days but along with fairly high winds so moisture is going up fast. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. Cheat grass showing up and a bit of tan spot in wheat.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Brawl winter wheat is fully headed out, Matlock is just starting to poke out, 406 is looking like an early stand of thinly seeded spring wheat. Going to start spraying spring crops this next week. Hauled the rainy day fund of winter wheat to the elevator this past week as I was waiting for the mud puddles to go away in fields. Glad it’s worth as much as it is because filling the semi up with fuel is quite depressing, almost six dollar fuel down here. Moisture conditions are good receiving .75" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola, hay and proso millet.
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Lonesome Prairie winterwheat is trying to fill, and my springwheat is trying to head. Two tenths of rain over the weekend, but the big news was .54 last Tuesday, which didn't reach the WW roots but perked up the spring grains for a few days. This was our first beneficial rain in over 10 months. WW doesn't have a lot of foliage to support, so hopes remain that some of the seed fill will be fat enough to save in the combine. Time will tell! With continued cold weather, I'm pushing harvest date out a week, but the timing of this drought is outside my experience and I really don't have a clue when, what, and maybe even why. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .74" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Sawfly and hoppers are problems, as well as drought disease. Expect to begin harvest July 7.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
Just a couple of days of hot weather then cool temperatures again. Been missing the big predicted storms--just thankful for the showers. Make the weather man give his meteorological diploma back. The cool weather is what has been helping us along. Went to my 50th in Bozeman over the weekend. What a mess the Yellowstone River is in. Rumor has it--that is nothing compared to other rivers and damage. Floods are like an accident--droughts are like a cancer. There is a little hay on the ground. Windrows are better than last year but much below average. Moisture conditions are good receiving .55" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Hoppers an field edges are showing up.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
Crops are still looking good. The heat and wind last week took its toll. Winter wheat is heading and spring wheat is putting out the flag leaf. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .3" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Flathead County - Tryg Koch
Things are growing well, but flooding is upon us. We have a full profile of soil moisture where it is not under water. Guys are probably going to start cutting hay this week once it stops raining. Winter wheat is starting to head out. Early seeded canola that did not freeze back is just starting to flower. What doesn't flood will definitely produce this year as long as the big white combine doesn't get it first. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving too damn much!!! precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, lentils, canola and hay.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
Started off the week last week with .5 to .8 inches of rain in our area. It came down parallel to the earth with 30-60mph winds. I suspect we would have gotten more but most of it blew by us. When it ran into the Bears Paw mountains they ended up with some flooding after reports of 6” of rain. Our sandy ground dried off quick and by the end of the week got over some chemfallow ground. Took a tour through the state to Billings over the weekend and it was an enjoyable drive. Green acres around Billings! We have also greened up a lot with our timely rains. The winter wheat has kernels half filled and is growing out the uneven areas making things look better every day. The spring wheat is starting to head out and just getting its legs under it ready to jump. Had some showers roll through the last two days and squeaked out .4 at my house. More or less in areas depending on what cloud you happened to get under. One storm blew up yesterday evening up north and sat in one spot dumping around 4” of rain. Looks like sun is going to shine and wind is going to blow going forward. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .9-1.2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Seeing lots of little tiny grass hoppers. All the weeds are showing up with the moisture. Expect to begin harvest July 17.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
Spotty showers through the area again this week, which brings a bit of hope to the outskirts of Goldstone. A few of our fields of mustard are in full bloom with the remaining fields just emerging. Harvest will be late due to the drought delay at the beginning of the kick off around here. HRW is still a mystery as to what to expect for yields due to the stress it has had to endure. Lentils have yet to flower but at least they are short. Chem fallow application No.2 will begin as soon as the winds pick up this week. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .48" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, lentils and mustard. Flea beetle, Russian thistle and kochia are showing up.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
The hay started to show the stress from the heat last week. The grain crops are about to next without a lot of moisture. Received .28 Sunday and early Monday morning. Not the inch plus forecasted. East of me in the Roy, Billings area they had an inch plus over the weekend. Some are talking about starting to hay this week because they didn't receive enough moisture to hold off. Going to be a short crop except the irrigated. Spring crops look good but need a lot more moisture and no more high 80's temps. Hopefully the rain continues and would like to see a general rain that covers the whole state for a week. Good luck to all. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .28" of precipitation in the past week.
McCone/Dawson County - Kurt Voss
Most crops are looking good at this time but are later in maturity than normal. Early seeded crops are probably the poorest crop this year. Will need additional moisture to continue for crops to reach their potential. Moisture conditions are good receiving 1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are spring wheat, barley, corn, peas, hay, lentils and oats. Some grasshoppers in places, but not too bad yet. Some producers are seeing significant grasshopper problems. Typical weeds with no significant problems. Limited disease issues at this time. Expect to begin harvest in August.
Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
Well yesterday was the best day we’ve seen in 2 years. 2” of rain fell. The two days last week in the mid-nineties with a hot wind showed us just how close we still were to a serious drought - this 2” certainly puts quite a bit of distance between us and drought conditions. We had about 100 acres of hay on the ground - our worst 2 fields that we cut because it wasn’t surviving the heat - those were worth the sacrifice though. Winter wheat is almost fully headed across the board and the rain is well timed. I’ll now call the WW conditions excellent. Barley is moving along and looks great. Haying season will kick into full swing now as soon as things dry out. Some of the alfalfa and grass that is behind will definitely benefit from this rain. Moisture conditions are good receiving 2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, safflower and hay.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Crops are progressing slowly and still waiting for emergence in some areas like the flood irrigated corners. Finished spraying and ditching and started pivots again as well as flood irrigating corners and fields. We are getting some rain since the weekend. Typing this report from Fargo, ND at a National Barley Growers Association. Really green here and wet with a lot of rain. Very stark difference from home. Moisture conditions are poor receiving 1.4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay. Wild oats, mustards and Canadian thistle are problems.
Toole County - Klayton Lohr
Finally getting rolling now with some moisture. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 1.7" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are durum, garbanzos and mustard. Kochia showing up. Expect to begin harvest possibly mid August, 2022.
JUNE 14, 2022
Broadwater County - Franck Groeneweg
Crops look very decent in this area. Got all wheat herbicide applications done and about to spray grasses on chickpeas. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .35" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, garbanzos, canola and flax. Expect to begin harvest August 3rd.
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Spring crops are all up and doing well. Winter wheat has come around and is looking amazing compared to a month ago. Most is at flag leaf and almost knee high. Rained everyday except last Wednesday and Thursday. Hay fields are also looking good, should get to sit in the baler some in July, hope we can remember how. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 1.5 to 2 inches depending on which part of the place. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola, hay and proso millet.
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Lonesome Prairie remains parched. A good tenth of moisture this week was divided up into 3 different days, and with cool weather made for some pleasant days. Winterwheat is in bloom, but a fill is doubtful, as the flag leaf and all leaves are curling up to die. Spring wheat appears to be destined for the same fate. Crops in the area that are very young would still have potential if it rains. Grasshoppers are small and numerous, and within a month will have to pack a lunch. I expect them to keep my summerfallow clean in July, August and most of September. I love this country, but learned long ago, this will be unrequited. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .13" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Sawfly and hoppers are problems, as well as drought disease. Expect to begin harvest June 29, 1pm.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
The winter wheat is heading out on last fall's emergence plants but the later emergence wheat is flag leaf on up. Some of the spring wheat is flag leaf. Done spraying spring crop. Weeds were healthy. Elk are healthy. Elk = yield reduction. Some are looking at starting to hay early next week. The new hay stands will have more production than last year. The older stands will not. Range conditions are not good. The dry fall and winter is not giving pasture conditions very much production. I see fuel prices going higher. But it is a necessary part of our operation. Supposedly 1 gallon of diesel replaces 550 man hours of farm labor. I will take the diesel option. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
Winter wheat is starting to head out and is looking good so far. Spring wheat is catching up to normal progress. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
The wind has returned. Looks like we are going to have it for a few days. But I’m hoping the rain comes with it. Crops and grass has really perked up and jumped in the last week. The warmer temps coupled with the moisture we received last week has brought some green back into our life. Everything looks a shade or two better. Winter wheat is mostly headed. There is a lot of unevenness yet in areas. From feeks 9 all the way up to feeks 10.5.1. It did gain a few inches as well, but we’ll still be wishing gramps picked more rock once the headers get in the field. A fair amount of frost damage showing since heads duly emerged. Half heads hanging here and there, as well as some drought/frost touches of brown. The spring wheat is making a hard push as well. We will see if we get any rain before the heat that’s coming at the end of this week. That will be pretty rough on everything that is still hanging on the edge of this infliction of drought. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .1" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Grasshoppers are showing up. Expect to begin harvest July 17th.
Hill County - Trevor Wolery
Spotty showers in our area last week with .51 being our total along with an additional .29 yesterday morning. Moisture is welcome but honestly it’s too late for the ww. Mustard is in several stages from flowering to emerging and all happening in the same furrow! Lentils are shorter then normal. Kochia and thistle are reinvigorated with this new moisture. Getting ready for 2023. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .8" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, lentils and mustard.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
The crops are looking pretty good considering what moisture was received. WW is starting to head out and seeing some cheat in some fields around the area. The only saving grace has been the cool temps. Cheat came late in some spring seeded crops and there was nothing people could do, some sprayed the SW with chemical to take care of the cheat. All WW is sprayed and most of the spring crop. Grass hay is going to be short along with the alfalfa. Seen some hay already moving down the highway. The weatherman really missed their forecast this last week, only received .03. Areas to the north are seeing hoppers show up - Denton, Winifred, Moccasin. Have not seen any here. Gophers are showing up thick and plentiful, thought they should have starved last year, but no luck there. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .16" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley and hay. Cheat, weeds, wild oats, kochia and Russian thistle are problems.
Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
Another pretty decent week of growing conditions. We continue to survive rain storm to rain storm and on cooler weather — which is fine. Winter wheat continues to look good. Most is starting to head if not almost fully headed out. Got one really good rain storm east of Broadview on Saturday - a little more scattered in nature west of town. All the spring crops were sprayed last week and look good. Fallow ground has been sprayed and looks good. Haying season should kick off later this week. Hay certainly is better than last year. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .2-.7" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, safflower and hay. Some tan spot showing up.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Another week of no rain and lots of wind. Did have a good day without the wind Sunday, so spent the day in the sprayer thinking about God, instead of going to church and thinking about spraying. Crops are progressing slowly, mostly due to the cooler weather and lack of moisture. The pivot irrigated areas are fairing much better with the 3" I put on them earlier, but the flooded corners haven't received anything yet and are mostly bare. Will start running water over these corners soon. The wild oats are living up to their name, and the broadleaves are waiting for some heat units, except for the Canadian thistles, which are are just as wild as the oats. Water on the bench seems to be moving around fairly fluidly between farmers and not putting a big strain on the system yet. Was pulling some ditches and it is dry as deep as the ditcher was pulling dirt. The irrigated pastures are growing well after being irrigated, but the native prairie grass is dormant and bare. Moisture conditions are poor receiving no precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay. Tansy mustard, wild oats, cheat grass and Canadian thistle are problems.
JUNE 7, 2022
Carter County - Michael Hansen
Finished seeding on the third of June. Field was extremely wet, rain was in forecast so I decided to work it with the degelman. As soon as I finished, the clouds came and it’s rained everyday since. Everything is up and going. Finished spraying the winter wheat as well last week, it’s looking better all the time. The new variety I tried still looks horrible (406) I think it's what it was called. Supposed to be a Montana variety but I must not live in Montana because it didn’t survive my winter. Cows are all to pasture and now dad wants to build a fence. Thought maybe we did enough of that last year in the drought but I guess not. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 1.5" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, durum, barley, canola, hay and millet. Few hoppers showing up, as well as fanweed, yellow mustard, wild oat and kochia.
Cascade County - Steve Sheffels
WW looking ready to head out. Barley canopied this weekend. Barley is good to excellent. WW is maybe average. 1/4" to 1/2" of rain each week to 10 days has kept the crops coming along. Moisture conditions are good receiving .4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and barley. Some grasshoppers showing up.
Chouteau County - Lochiel Edwards
Our biggest shot of moisture since August 17, with 3 tenths of light spit. This perked up the spring crops and will not affect the winterwheat. Big Sandy and parts southeast picked up an inch or more, along with Hingham, Laredo, and Havre. Lonesome Prairie all the way to the Rockies mostly missed this one. Still unknown whether we will have a winterwheat harvest, but if we do, we will be leveling the badger mounds. Late-planted WW and spring crops' fate will depend on future rains. All that said, a little damp weather is balm for the soul! Moisture conditions are poor receiving .31" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Sawfly and hoppers showing up. Scattered kochia and mustards and drought disease are problems. Expect to begin harvest June 28, 1pm.
Chouteau County - Nathan Keane
We received .2 of moisture this last Saturday and another .2 on Monday. It will help, but doesn’t get us out of the current extreme drought we are in. Our winter wheat is headed out and it is way too early for that. Where the winter wheat got frost damage a couple of weeks ago it is now brown and dying. Our barley is struggling and looking very blue. Our chickpeas are behind for this time of year, our hemp is behind as well and I don’t think we will be getting a cutting of alfalfa this year, it’s average height is only 3-4” tall. This is a tough year for sure! Moisture conditions are poor receiving .4" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, garbanzos, flax, hemp and hay. Grasshoppers, kochia, tansy, cheat grass, Russian thistle and drought are all problems. Expect to begin harvest early July.
Fergus County - Robert Bold
FINALLY!! Got some good rain. This is the first real growing season moisture since our good rain the end of August last year. We have been getting some showers in May but nothing soil profile building. We got 1/3 of normal rain for May. This past winter, the Lewistown newspaper had an article of just how dry 2021 was. From Jan 1 to Jan 1, 2021 was the driest on record for Lewistown. For 2022, the first 5 months are drier than the first 5 months of 2021. What is making this year as good as it is is the cool weather. Last year at this time we were getting August heat in early June. This year's hay crop looks smaller than last year's hay crop. Our winter wheat is poking out the flag leaf. One does not have to go very far north of here to see some really bad winter wheat. Some of it already trying to head out. The spring crop looks really good. But it will need a lot more rain to make a crop. We are about half done spraying spring wheat. The rain was more important to the crop than timely spraying. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .75" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat.
Fergus County - Boyd Heilig
Winter wheat looks good. In the boot. Spring wheat is behind schedule but also looks good. Was great to see everyone at the summer golf tournament. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 1.25" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. No insects yet but I’m sure the hoppers will be showing up soon. expect to begin harvest in August.
Garfield County - Scott Glasscock
The crops in our area are very slow this year. We’ve been pretty cool and have missed all the big rain events. We’ve had decent moisture, but we are below average for this time of year. The winter wheat is in the flag leaf stage and most of it has nice color. There is some big yellow spots that might be freeze damage from a late May freeze we got. We are done spraying the winter wheat and spring wheat. We have peas and lentils to spray, and then we should be caught up on the spraying. I don’t know how much hay we will cut. It’s short and a little thin. We will get more than last year, but that’s not saying much. Fortunately, I haven’t seen very many hoppers yet. Last year at this time they were thick. So we are better than last year. It looks more normal, but we just went into this year so far behind it’s going to take timely rains, and cool weather to keep us going. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .3" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, peas, lentils, corn, hay and sorghum. Tansy mustard showing up. Expect to begin harvest early August.
Hill County - Eric Hanson
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. I’ve never seen winter wheat die in the first week of June. Usually, if we burn up, it's in July. Some of our earliest planted winter wheat, that has looked the best all year, started burning up and turning brown in large patches last week. Simply too many requirements to stay alive that weren’t there. No rain all year will do that. In all honesty, it’s been a long time coming. Yet still hard for the eyes to see and the heart to swallow. And then, Saturday evening, the rain showed up. Totals from the area from Saturday to Tuesday morning are anywhere from .60-2”. We had a little over 3/4 of an inch at my house. More to the east in general. Not widespread and even, with some smaller pockets receiving more or less. It’s strange to see puddles in the yard. Almost like bumping into a long lost friend. It will limp us along. It will help. But, you don’t have to dig far to find bone dry dirt. The reality is, a lot of the crop damage from the drought has already been done and is irreversible. But we are also very thankful for the moisture. Maybe it will help keep the dormant grass alive. Help some planted crops now emerge. Keep our spring crops alive for another chance at future moisture. Help with attitudes and morale. Settle the dust and rejuvenate the spirit, even if for just a short time. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .60-2" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat and spring wheat. Grasshoppers and flies showing up as well as kochia, thistle, etc. and more to come with finally receivinf moisture. Drought disease a problem. Expect to begin harvest July 10.
Judith Basin County - Greg Matthews
With what rain the area received this weekend after the MGGA golf tournament, things improved this last week. As I type this survey on Sunday morning I received .82 so far for the month. Which is a lot for now compared to last year's 1.03 for the month of June and hopefully receive some more for the next 3 days as the forecasters are predicting. The rain as been streaky with the north of me receiving less, north of Bing that is. The brome grass is starting to head out along with the blue grass which is way too early. Some of the bare spots in the alfalfa are filling in with the slowest start ever. Even some of the poor looking recrop ww is looking better, spring crop looking good. Weeds are showing up in the spring crop and probably have to spray them next week. Hope the dry areas to the north receive some to a lot of moisture and are given a chance. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .82" of precipitation in the past week.
Judith Basin County - Bing Von Bergen
Winter wheat is starting to head out in the early varieties with the later varieties in the boot. Will spray the barley this week. The spring wheat is in th 3 leaf stage. We received around .70 rain for the week with some ares receiving wee over an inch. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .7" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, garbanzos and hay.
Stillwater County - Michelle Jones
It’s been a pretty good week here - cool temperatures and weekend storms. The winter wheat is still hanging out between good to excellent. A lot of varieties have the flag leaf out now. Spring crops are just getting really rolling but so far they look good. The rain last week and storms this weekend has been really good for the alfalfa. Still concerns on lack of deep water…the drought is largely at bay currently…but we still need a lot of water to catch up what we’ve lost for the range land, pasture, and even GMA mixes. Cooler weather is still helping there. Not a whole lot of complaints given the conditions we started the year off with though. Timely rains is all we need for now. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .75-1.0+ inches of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, barley, safflower and hay. No diseases yet - but a lot of WW scouting going on now with the rain and cooler temps.
Teton County - Mitch Konen
Crops are slowly growing. Seeding progress is 100% done. Reseeding is happening on a few acres here and there. Even on the irrigated ground. Irrigation under pivots has been going strong to get the crop out of the ground. Flood irrigation in certain fields and un-pivoted corners is starting to take place. Just trying to get some moisture in the ground for the crop to germinate. Not an ideal practice, but without the alternative rain we have no other choice. We have the water so we must use it. A lot of the local dryland winter wheat is turning blue and starting to head. Irrigated winter wheat is all over the board. Heading out with some in real good shape and others in very thin stands. Most has been reseeded. My dryland winter wheat is gone along with the dryland grass hay. Moisture conditions are poor receiving .18" of precipitation in the past week. Crops being grown are winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and hay. Tansy mustard, wild oats and cheat grass are problems. There will be no dryland winter wheat harvest or grass hay on my farm.