MGGA Weekly Crop Condition Survey

 

 

May 28, 2019

Tryg Koch - Flathead County
Well drills are parked, and sprayers are rolling!! Crops look good, things are starting to get a little dry around here, so the pivots are starting their work week off with a bang!! We did receive about .25 inch of much needed moisture over the weekend so crops are happy for the mean time. Moisture conditions are good receiving .25 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 5-leaf growth stage with an expected 90 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good in the 3-leaf growth stage with an expected 70 (bu/A). Canola is starting to row up and the winter canola that was seeded in the area is blooming!!

Boyd Heilig - Fergus County
Finished spraying the winter wheat this week. Looks healthy and is has a nice start. Had the coop top dress our spring wheat this week. Hope to get a nice rain to put that down. Moisture conditions are good receiving .4 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent and jointing with an expected 50 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good in the 3-leaf growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A).

Trevor Wolery - Hill County
Dry conditions still even after receiving .73 two weeks ago and an additional.13 this past Sunday. Winter wheat is holding but about out of gas. Spring wheat that hadn’t emerged has now emerged with this last precipitation. Finished fallow acres, working on wheat acres this week. Hoping for more rain.

Craig Henke - Liberty County
Another wet weekend, rain stated Saturday evening and rained till Sunday night. With another inch things are getting wet, now ready for some sun. Most finished with ww spraying and first trip over chem fallow. No irrigating yet, mother nature sure helps out. Tiber will be full soon, with wall of water coming from mountains. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 1.0 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent and jointing with an expected 100 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the 5-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Lentils, chickpeas look great. Might have earlier hay season, as alfalfa is growing fast. Mustard still very small yet, but will change with heat and moisture.

Mitch Konen - Teton County
Everything is saturated after nearly another inch of rain in the last week. The front received 3" of rain or more along with the snow melt and has caused flooding on the Teton and Sun river systems. Elk Creek also flooded Augusta on its way to the Sun River. Reservoirs are being managed well to minimize flooding as they are all at full pool. The crops and the grass are enjoying the moisture and a welcome beginning to the new crop year, but our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the flooding. A few acres remain to be seeded in the area, but for the most part crops are emerging well, as are the weeds. Spray season will be fast and furious when it dries enough to get into the fields. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .9 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent and tillering with an expected 100 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the 2-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Barley is excellent and emerging with an expected 100 (bu/A). Dryland grass/ alfalfa hay excellent. Problems in the field are wild oats, tansy mustard and kochia.

Robert Bold - Fergus County
What a weekend!! A real wet one! Good standard Memorial Day rain. Our ground is now saturated. Creeks are running again. But don't worry, in the dryland business there is never a rain you can't use. The year is off to a good start. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 1.25 to 1.5 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 4-leaf growth stage. Spring wheat is good in the 1-leaf growth stage. Barley is good in the 2-leaf growth stage. Lots of weeds.

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
What a week for the fertilizer company, over 1000 ton going out in 2 days and now out of fertilizer, but should catch up with the rain delays. Cannot get any more trucks to help out. Got the rest of the barley top dressed in time for the rain to hit. Have respray some of the summerfallow as the prickle lettuce did not kill all of it. Cattle have been moved out to summer pastures except for the high elevation. Hay is looking nice and the winter wheat finally as the ground covered. Hope everyone has a great Memorial weekend. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .44 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the 4-leaf growth stage. Barley is excellent and emerging.

May 21, 2019

Craig Henke - Liberty County
Welcome rains, saved us from starting irrigation season. Most crops seeded and a rush to get ww sprayed. Got done with streaming nitrogen on ww before rain, so should do some good. Early seeded sw might catch up with some ww. Lentils and chickpeas look great. Irrigated alfalfa sure enjoyed the warm weather last week. Should have lots of water, Tiber filling up fast. Moisture conditions are good receiving 1.0 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the 5-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent in the 3-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). A problem in the field is tansy mustard.

Mitch Konen - Teton County
Crops are progressing slowly but welcomed the rain. The vast majority of the acres are planted on the Greenfields bench. The last two weeks saw a lot of commotion in the fields. Winter wheat was top dressed just in time before the rains hit as well. The rains have helped bring on emergence, nothing a good rain can't fix. Water has been delivered into the irrigation system and canals were flushed last week, with Monday the first day for deliveries. Was a good rain with measurements close to a full inch. I finished Wednesday night with special thanks to a seed company for an after-hours load out, just in time for the rain. Fertilizer company was on task as well keeping things covered in front of everyone's field work. The whole system was on point to get this year's crop in. Thanks to all the supply and support business's and their employees for their hard work as well. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 1.05 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the 3-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent and emerging with an expected 100 (bu/A). Barley is excellent and germinating with an expected 100 (bu/A). Dryland alfalfa/grass hay is coming big guns. Waiting for some sunshine. Problems in the field are wild oats.

Robert Bold - Fergus County
This is our Monsoon season. Got just short of 6 inch of snow last week in addition to rain. Raining again here this morning. May be done seeding this spring. What an excellent time to have newly planted grass and alfalfa! Was in Omaha last week for graduation of one daughter receiving her Doctorate degree. From the highway, never saw one field planted in all of South Dakota and very few in Nebraska. As rule of thumb, the later the crop is seeding, the smaller the harvest. We'll see. Moisture conditions are good receiving 1.4 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 5-leaf growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good and emerging. Barley is good in the 3-leaf growth stage.

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
What a different week this last one was. Warm and nice to cold and wet with some snow and freezing temps. Saturday woke up to snow, about 2 inches. A high of 40 degrees on Saturday and freezing temps Sat. night. Moisture varies as to where you look, more rain to the west and south and less in the north and east. Got all the summerfallow sprayed and started to top dress some of the barley, but still waiting for the rest to come up. Will have to have some of the winter wheat sprayed with an airplane since it will not dry out. Some areas are still seeding with some areas have a lot to go and others are done. The winter wheat is starting to come out of the frost damage from a couple weeks ago and getting rid of the orange colors. Hope all have a great week. Moisture conditions are good receiving .96 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 3-leaf growth stage. Barley is excellent and germinating. Problems in the field are lots of cheat and fanweed, mustard, wild oats just starting to come.

May 14, 2019

Tryg Koch - Flathead County
We are all finished up with seeding. The valley is 90 percent seeded with just a few acres to go everyones looking forward to the much needed rain that is predicted for this upcoming weekend. Moisture conditions are good with no precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 5-leaf growth stage with an expected 80 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good in the 2-leaf growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Canola is off to a good start.

Mitch Konen - Teton County
I missed last week due to a lot of acres being seeded in a tight window. Seeding is still progressing with a fervor. The early winter wheat is trying to shed the frost damage it sustained the week before. The later, younger winter wheat is fairing a little better and with the flip of the summer switch yesterday both are coming along well. Some of the earlier seeded crops are just emerging. Most of the crops should be in this week, just in time for what sounds like another shot of winter. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .11 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the 4-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Spring wheat is excellent and germinating with an expected 100 (bu/A). Barley is excellent, not seeded yet, but an expected 100 (bu/A).

Trevor Wolery - Hill County
Received .2 of precip last Sunday which is welcomed but not enough to not keep the sawfly from packing around their hydro flasks. Winter wheat is showing some signs of stress from frost. Chem Fallow is at the top of the list for this weeks to do list. Weeds in ww will then be addressed next. Residents of Goldstone MT, are anxiously waiting to use their flood preparedness training. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .2 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 3-leaf growth stage. Spring wheat is good in the 1-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Barley is good and emerging with an expected 100 (bu/A). Problems in the field are tansy and kochia.

Todd Hansen - Hill County
Great weekend. Attended my daughters college graduation. Exciting times. Frosted winter wheat is finally growing and fast. Started spraying Monday hoping to get done before this weekend's weather. Area is 99% seeded. Sprayers running everywhere. Hope you all have a great week. Moisture conditions are good. Winter wheat is good. 

Robert Bold - Fergus County
Looks like we will be finished seeding before our traditional Monsoon Season sets in late Wednesday. Spring wheat and barley are in the ground and emerging. Very few years have I seen this fast of emergence--mosquitos. Spraying winter wheat. Kochia really coming on fast. Moisture conditions are good. Winter wheat is good in the 5-leaf growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good and germinating. Barley is good and germinating.

May 7, 2019

Vince Mattson - Liberty County
It's been extremely cold for the last 2 weeks with temps in the teens overnight. The WW is struggling as a result of the cold temps and dry conditions and heavy winds (20-40mph) every day. Moisture conditions are fair receiving .3 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is fair in the 2-leaf growth stage with an expected 30 (bu/A). Most other crops are just starting to emerge. Got some snow on 5/4 so the moisture is ok at the moment.

Lyle Benjamin - Toole County
Most farmers here in North Toole Co. are wrapping up, with a few at half done. The recent snows on the last two weekends definitely slowed progress. We were out form Saturday to Friday after the first storm. We had drifts over the tops of 2000 gallon fuel tanks, and level with the deck of the water trailer! Moisture conditions are good receiving 1.25 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is fair in the 3-leaf growth stage with an expected 30 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good in the 1-leaf growth stage with an expected 30 (bu/A). Barley is good in the 1-leaf growth stage with an expected 50 (bu/A). Problems in the field are an early flush of Persian Darnel and cheat grass.

Robert Bold - Fergus County
Another Sunday of snow--2 in a row. Merry Christmas to you all!! One more big day of seeding, we will be done with malt barley, then spring wheat seeding. Drink lots of beer, maybe a little short of high quality spring wheat bread. Had to get a super coulter to dry things out for the drill. Even though the soil temperature is still very cold for this time of the year, not complaining. Just remember to thank a farmer, because without the farmer, you would be hungry, naked and sober. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving 3 more inches of snow and 1/3 inch of rain in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the 4-leaf growth stage with an expected 70 (bu/A). Barley is good. Problems in the field are winter wheat needs to be sprayed for grasses and broadleaves. Will begin harvest just as soon as it is ready.

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
With only 2 short days to get work done it was a short week. It is raining and snowing again this morning, wondering if spring is ever going to come. Will go back to seeding the next dry spell, got one day cultivating left and then will have to wait and see how the wet spots are doing, do not want to get stuck. Last week's cold froze some of the spring wheat that was up and it turned black but looks like it will come out of it, hopefully. A few have turned their cattle out on grass but do not know what the cattle are eating as the grass is only 1 to 3 inches high, doing a lot of running around. Moisture conditions are good receiveing .38 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 3-leaf growth stage.

April 30, 2019

Mitch Konen - Teton County
Spring has been a little fickle about actually arriving here on the Greenfields bench. With snow last weekend and temps in the teens the last few mornings, everything is still moving fairly slow. The winter wheat was getting a good start until the lower temps, which have halted the growth and froze some leaf surface. But it will recover soon. A few acres have been seeded around the bench, but not a real fast pace yet. The ground is saturated where there is stubble. The ground water table is fairly high as well as evidenced by springs and soft spots in county roads that will almost pull the undercarriage out from under a grain trailer. The mountain snowpack has finally hit the 100% of average, with the last report. Sounds like there should be a substantial amount of malt barley on the bench, and a various mix of other crops, some yet to be determined. Another season has begun with renewed anticipation of yet another great cropping season, as well as markets with not much direction, but the belief they will get better with current negotiations of world trade. Everyone have a great year and stay safe. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .15 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat excellent in the 2-leaf growth stage.

Lyle Benjamin - Toole County
The North Toole County area has been seeding for about two weeks. Most are wrapping up. South Toole County is lagging because of moisture they received that did not extend north past 9 Mile highway. What little winter wheat there is, is emerging from dormancy and looks good so far. Moisture conditions are fair receiving 1/2" on 27 April, none prior. Winter wheat is good in the 2-leaf growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good and germinating with an expected 30 (bu/A). Barley is good and germinating with an expected 50 (bu/A).

Trevor Wolery - Hill County
Planting began on 4-12 with 90% of it completed. Conditions are dry. Year to date total precipitation is 1.6 with .2 being received in Saturday/Sunday snow storm (January .41, February .65, March .22, April .32). HRW is growing and with healthy color at this time. Spring planted crops will struggle with emergence given current conditions. Patiently waiting for precipitation.... Moisture conditions are fair receiving .2 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is good in the 2-leaf growth stage with an expected 40 (bu/A).

Todd Hansen - Hill County
Finished seeding on the 26th. Nothing exciting this year. All Gluten, at least we can turn that into cash. As we still have last year's lentils in the bin. Did get stuck once. Operator error. Hope the weekend brought the weather you wanted. Moisture conditions are good. Winter wheat is good in the 4-leaf growth stage with an expected 60 (bu/A). Spring wheat is good and germinating with an expected 100 (bu/A). Problems in the field are lots of weeds still coming with cheat, fanweed and mustards.

Dan Works - Chouteau County
Seeding progressing nicely here. I will guess about 30-40% complete in the area. Seeding conditions have been a little on the wet side, but I am not complaining. With Sunday's storm it will be a few days before returning to the field. We are almost half done seeding, well ahead of last year's 5%. Be safe out there. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving a nice shot with the blizzard. Winter wheat is excellent in the 4-leaf growth stage with an expected 100 (bu/A). Spring wheat is germinating with an expected 100 (bu/A). Chickpeas and lentils are planted. Will begin harvest high noon July 20th. 

Greg Mathews - Judith Basin County
What a slow and cold beginning to the start of the farm year it has been. Top dressing of the winter wheat is about half of normal, seeding is off to slow start with weeds and cheat still coming out of the ground. Little to no winter wheat is sprayed and some is only in the 1-2 leaf stage. No winter kill spots but there are wet spots just about everywhere. Some still cannot cross over yet and looks like may not be able to till later depending on mother nature. Still freezing at night, another reason for the slow start. Hay looks great but not much growth yet as pastures are really slow. Most will have to feed hay till middle to late May. Hope everyone has a great spring. Moisture conditions are excellent receiving .33 of precipitation in the past week. Winter wheat is excellent in the 3-leaf growth stage. Problems in the field are lots of weeds still coming with cheat, fanweed and mustards.