Richland County Crop/Weather report for the week of October 24

Except for corn for grain, soybeans, and some safflower here and there, harvest is complete!! For the most part, producers enjoyed a very timely and productive harvest, thanks to everything falling in line for a great year.

I believe that all of our winter wheat is in the ground now and a majority of that has emerged and is off to a good start. Moisture to get the wheat plant started was not an issue but the cold weather we received earlier this week may have caused some damage to emerging seedlings, time will tell.

Weather-The first measurable amount of snowfall fell earlier in the week. However, the snow fell before we experienced our coldest temperatures (lows around 0 in some parts) so hopefully it provided some insulation.

NOAA Releases Winter Weather predictions

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration"s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center has just released their Winter Outlook for the 2010-2011 winter season. To sum up the report, the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Plains regions of the U.S. are expected to see a colder and wetter winter this year.

To read the report in it's entirety, visit http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20101021_winteroutlook.html

Crop/Weather report for the week of October 17

Harvest- Although I am not prepared to say that we are completely finished with our small grains harvest at this point, I would say that we are about as close as can be. For the most part, farmers have completed their harvest but there is still a patch here and there that needs to be taken in. While it is still preliminary and purely word-of-mouth, what I have heard are reports of above average yields with below average protein levels. Although, as can be said about most years, there are also reports of below average yields and higher protein levels.

Sugarbeet harvest is also in the wrap-up stages. This being the first year for me actually seeing sugarbeet harvest I have nothing to compare it to. With that being said though, there are several people who have mentioned that this year's harvest has been tremendous.

Safflower harvest is probably over the 75% mark, corn harvest for grain is just in the beginning stages, and I have not seen any soybeans that have been combined yet.

Weather- Conditions this week have been just about ideal once again for harvest and any other field work activities (fall tillage, herbicide applications, etc...) that are underway. Over night temperatures in the 20's and 30's have led to daytime highs in the 50's and 60's. It does not appear like this will be the pattern for long, though as highs next week are only predicted to be in the 40's.

Tips to help ensure that what you take out of your bin is similar to what you put in it!

A few people have inquired about options for temporary storage and while this does not deal with that issue it does bring up a point that, if people are looking for temporary storage structures then their permanent structures must be full. So the question becomes how do you manage the grain in your bins so that, when you go to pull it out next year, it's as close to the same condition that it was when you put it in there this year.

To help with answering these questions, here are a few links to some web sites with some very useful information.

The first is from the Montana Department of Agriculture and can be found at http://www.pesticides.montana.edu/Reference/FumSeed.pdf

The second is from the Extension Service out of the University of Minnesota and is located at
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC5947.html

Crop/Weather report for the week of October 10

Harvest- We have had another great week of harvest. Crops are continuing to come off as quickly as possible. With the excellent grain prices, most people are not too concerned with storing grain and are taking their crops to the elevators as fast as they will let them.

Sugarbeets- Beet harvest continues to run fairly smoothly as well. Just like last week there have been days where harvest had to be halted due to warm temperatures but, for the most part beet harvest is running smooth and I would guess that we are over the half way point at this time.

Planting- There are still some folks who are getting their winter wheat seeded. According to the Montana National Ag Statistics Service, (http://www.nass.usda.gov/mt) winter wheat planting is about 88% completed in our region. For those who got their wheat in early, conditions have been just about ideal for emergence and establishment and it does not look like this trend will end anytime soon.

Weather-Cold(er) overnight lows followed by days in the 60's and 70's have been about the norm. Most of the county did receive measurable rain on Friday night/Saturday morning and another shot Monday night/Tuesday morning. The rain that fell certainly helped to get winter wheat up and going but was not enough to be too much of a burden on harvest and planting.

Crop/Weather report for the week of October 3

Harvest- With the recent string of nice days, crops have been coming out of the fields at quite the fast pace. Producers are definitely in the "winding down" phases of harvesting small grains, if not completely finished. To date, I have not seen any corn taken off for grain and the little amount of soybeans that are out are still fairly green.

Sugarbeet harvest has started in earnest and my guess is that we are about 35% complete with that. The issue for our beet growers has been unfavorable weather conditions in that it has been too warm. To help prevent spoilage, the sugar plant has stopped harvest in the early afternoon just about every day this week. Producers that are capable of doing so, are starting in the wee hours of the morning and harvesting until it gets too warm. The next couple of days are not forecasted to be too warm so my guess is that a large quantity of beets will be pulled out of the ground the remainder of this week and into next.

Weather- As I type this post, it is a comfortable 65 degrees outside with a little bit of rain drizzle. Not at all indicative of what this week has been like. Highs this week have been in the high 70's to low 80's without any rain. While this has helped our wheat, durum, barley, and oat guys get a considerable amount of crop harvested, as I mentioned above, it has not been beneficial to our beet growers.

Crop/Weather report for the week of September 26

Harvest- With the tremendous weather conditions we have experienced this week, harvest has ramped back up. I would hate to even guess how many acres of crops came off so far this week and how many more will by the end of the week. Barley, oats, and durum wheat are all but finished. Safflower harvest has started in earnest and there has been a huge gain in spring wheat harvest. If conditions stay as they are, we should be wrapping up spring wheat harvest by this time next week. Issues with the wheat crop continue to be that the crop is yielding very well but protein levels are still fairly low.

Sugarbeet harvest has started as well. We are just in the infant stages, but there will be a considerable amount of tonnage harvested in the coming weeks. The crop continues to look really good and expectations are still very high for the sugar harvest season.

Corn silage and hay continue to be cut but these practices are wrapping up as well. There was a better-than-average alfalfa harvest this year as many people were able to get 3 cuttings without using much in the way of irrigation to do it.

Weather- As I stated above, weather conditions have been tremendous. Highs in the mid-to-high 70's and low 80's have been the norm this week with no rainfall. There is a slight chance for some rain next week but we will have to wait and see if this plays out.