Weather- By reading the weather report for this week, one can probably guess what the crop report will be like. The best two words to describe this week's weather are wet and cold. We have received some rainfall just about every day of the week so far and, up until today, temperatures have been on the colder side, low to mid-50's. Things are supposed to turn around by the end of this week with warmer temps and less precipitation and it looks like next week will be better too.
Crops- Not much has happened as far as harvest is concerned. Some silage was taken off earlier in the week but by the middle of the week field conditions were too bad in most of the county to continue cutting.
Some winter wheat has been planted but I do not believe there is too much of it in the ground and we are starting to get on the late side for this. If you go by the Montana State Unversity Extension's wheat production guide, it recommends that winter wheat be planted early enough to allow for 4-6 weeks of growth before going dormant. I am not a predictor of weather so I cannot tell you exactly when the dormant season will begin but if you look at the calendar 4-6 weeks from today will put us at the end of October/beginning of November. I wouldn't want to wait much longer if I were putting winter wheat into the ground. There is potential to do a dormant seeding of winter wheat but I do not know what the success rate of that practice is for this area.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Crop/Weather report for week of September 12
Harvest- Harvest continues to creep along. I still feel that we are a but further along than what the Montana state averages are, but maybe not as far along as I had initially thought. Weather conditions the past couple of weeks have not been conducive to getting many acres combined. When it is fit, farmers have been out and some of our safflower crop is starting to come off but we just have not had a string of acceptable days to be able to make much more progress in harvesting our crops.
Corn silage has began in earnest and silage is being put up as quickly as trucks can get it from the field to the storage structure. Second cutting hay has all but wrapped up and third cutting has started but weather conditions have all but stopped it for the time being.
Sugarbeets- Hail storms late last week did cause some damage to some sugarbeet acres in the valley. Fortunately, the damage was fairly minimal and should not cause too much loss in tonnage.
Weather- As I am typing this on Friday, September 17, the temperatures are in the high 30's to low 40's and snow has fallen a good portion of the day. As I highlighted above conditions all this week have not been all that great as we have seen colder temperatures and rain showers most of the week.
Planting- As far as I know, there has not been any winter wheat planted yet. Ground has been worked and my assumption is that much of the intended winter wheat acreage is ready to be planted, we are just waiting on the fields to dry out some.
Corn silage has began in earnest and silage is being put up as quickly as trucks can get it from the field to the storage structure. Second cutting hay has all but wrapped up and third cutting has started but weather conditions have all but stopped it for the time being.
Sugarbeets- Hail storms late last week did cause some damage to some sugarbeet acres in the valley. Fortunately, the damage was fairly minimal and should not cause too much loss in tonnage.
Weather- As I am typing this on Friday, September 17, the temperatures are in the high 30's to low 40's and snow has fallen a good portion of the day. As I highlighted above conditions all this week have not been all that great as we have seen colder temperatures and rain showers most of the week.
Planting- As far as I know, there has not been any winter wheat planted yet. Ground has been worked and my assumption is that much of the intended winter wheat acreage is ready to be planted, we are just waiting on the fields to dry out some.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Crop/Weather report for week of September 5
Harvest- In my opinion, and from what I've seen, Richland County seems to be ahead of the state averages for crop harvest. According to the report published by the USDA last week (for the week ending September 5), barley was only 58% harvested, spring wheat was 38% completed, and durum wheat was 22% finished.
I feel that we are more in line with the 5 year average which is 81% of the barley harvested, 82% of the spring wheat harvested, and 68% of the durum crop out of the field. We probably have not reached the 82% of our spring wheat being harvested but we are closer to that number than we are to the state average of 38%
Sugarbeets- Our sugarbeet crop continues to look very good. Over the past couple of weeks aerial applicators have been kept busy with what I am assuming are fungicide applications. A fairly significant storm blew through last night and brought with it some hail but I don't know that it will have a lasting effect on the crop.
Corn- We are fast approaching the optimum time for chopping corn for silage. I believe that some producers have started already but have not seen any chopping being done yet. For those trying to determine when to chop, I would suggest reading this article.
Weather- As I mentioned above much of the county got hit with a fairly substantial storm just last night. As much as 2 inches of rain was reported in the Sidney area,but like all storms in this area, some spots did not receive much rain at all. This whole week has been fairly cool and wet so not much has been happening agriculturally.
I feel that we are more in line with the 5 year average which is 81% of the barley harvested, 82% of the spring wheat harvested, and 68% of the durum crop out of the field. We probably have not reached the 82% of our spring wheat being harvested but we are closer to that number than we are to the state average of 38%
Sugarbeets- Our sugarbeet crop continues to look very good. Over the past couple of weeks aerial applicators have been kept busy with what I am assuming are fungicide applications. A fairly significant storm blew through last night and brought with it some hail but I don't know that it will have a lasting effect on the crop.
Corn- We are fast approaching the optimum time for chopping corn for silage. I believe that some producers have started already but have not seen any chopping being done yet. For those trying to determine when to chop, I would suggest reading this article.
Weather- As I mentioned above much of the county got hit with a fairly substantial storm just last night. As much as 2 inches of rain was reported in the Sidney area,but like all storms in this area, some spots did not receive much rain at all. This whole week has been fairly cool and wet so not much has been happening agriculturally.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Time running out to register for Eastern Montana Waste Pesticide Disposal Program
Friday, September 3rd is the final day to register with the Montana Department of Agriculture, for their waste pesticide disposal program. The form can be downloaded here.
Collection points and dates for the program are:
Collection points and dates for the program are:
- Chinook-September 14
- Plentywood-September 15
- Miles City-September 16
- Billings-September 17
Optimum Time for Fall Weed Control
This article was taken from the most recent NDSU Crop and Pest Report.
Now is the time to begin applying herbicides for the control of winter annual weeds, simple perennials such as curly dock and dandelion, biennials such as biennial wormwood, and in some cases cool-season perennial weed species. This is especially true for no-tillage fields, but also for those fields receiving tillage other than moldboard plowing. For fields in which tillage is planned, apply herbicides at least 5 days prior to tillage. Herbicides may be applied within a few days of crop harvest or until the soil is frozen. Based upon research across the Midwest, the most consistently effective control of dandelions is obtained with fall herbicide applications. The best way to drastically reduce or stop seed production of winter annual species is with fall herbicide applications or effective fall tillage. It is always better to apply herbicides in the fall under less than ideal conditions, than to wait until spring to achieve marginal control of these types of weed species, especially dandelion.
Now is the time to begin applying herbicides for the control of winter annual weeds, simple perennials such as curly dock and dandelion, biennials such as biennial wormwood, and in some cases cool-season perennial weed species. This is especially true for no-tillage fields, but also for those fields receiving tillage other than moldboard plowing. For fields in which tillage is planned, apply herbicides at least 5 days prior to tillage. Herbicides may be applied within a few days of crop harvest or until the soil is frozen. Based upon research across the Midwest, the most consistently effective control of dandelions is obtained with fall herbicide applications. The best way to drastically reduce or stop seed production of winter annual species is with fall herbicide applications or effective fall tillage. It is always better to apply herbicides in the fall under less than ideal conditions, than to wait until spring to achieve marginal control of these types of weed species, especially dandelion.
The most effective fall herbicide treatment with the most cropping flexibility next spring is an application of glyphosate at 0.75 pound acid equivalent/acre (lb ae/A) [Roundup at 22 ounce/acre {oz/A} or glyphosate products containing 3.0 lb ae/gallon at 32 oz/A] plus 2,4-D ester at 0.5 lb ai/A. The addition of 2,4-D is most important for dandelion control and will antagonize glyphosate's activity on Canada thistle and perennial grass species. Another herbicide option, would be the addition of Valor at 2 to 3 oz/A to the glyphosate plus 2,4-D mixture. Fall applications including Valor will be most beneficial west of the Red River Valley where spring rains are not consistent enough to properly activate Valor. Activation of Valor is almost certain with fall applications in the drier areas of the state. Preliminary studies with fall-applied Valor have shown potential to control or suppress weeds such as kochia, seedling dandelion, canola, and chamomile. However, NDSU and Valent are conducting additional research to determine proper timing of application of Valor and efficacy on spring-emerging weeds. Valor should only be applied in no-tillage fields and any substantial soil movement next spring during planting will reduce the effectiveness of Valor on spring emerging weed species. Read the Valor label and follow the crop rotation guidelines when applying Valor in the fall. Only certain crops can be planted in the spring following fall-applied Valor.
Jeff M. Stachler
Assistant Professor - Sugarbeet Weed Science
NDSU and University of Minnesota
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