Weekly Update

Greetings,

Never a normal year in this area. What looked like a promising wheat crop was the poorest in memory. Hail was not even a factor. A few people had average yields, but the majority was poor to worse. In our area September 15 brought an early freeze. It did not get as cold as predicted in Forman, my thermometer only got to 30.6, and damage varied. One side of a corm plot is white, the other side barely touched. It was interesting that in the morning, the beans did not look like they were hit very bad. Only the top leaves looked affected, at noon, about 1/2 the plant was looking wilted. By evening, most of the plant was looking poor. How much of a yield loss? Hard to say, but I am sure there is some.

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/cropnews/2011/09/soybean-yield-loss-estimates-f.html

Click on the above link to read a good article on estimated frost loss in soybeans.

http://www.fielderschoicedirect.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/AgALERT-Late-Season-Frost-Damage-to-Corn.pdf

The above discusses frost damage to corn.

We just finished planting winter wheat, which went very well. I think this is the driest conditions I have planted winter wheat in while farm manager. It doest not appear that the weather patterns have changed all that much as the northern part of the state just received heavy rains. The fall planted alfalfa is looking very nice. Late planted cover crops need some rain.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/RFC_Precip/index.php?site=fgf&lat=47.5&lon=-97&zoom=3

The above is a website from NOAA that shows estimated precipitation over various time periods. If you are like me, the information is fascinating. By looking at this, parts of North Dakota have received as much rain as anywhere in the rest of the county, except some of the latest hurricane struck parts. On the flip side, areas in the corn belt appear to be exceptionally dry. It's always fun to make plans when facing extremes. Of course last fall we had and extended dry period as well, except we had alot of rain in September. By the time soybean harvest rolled around things were dry, and bean harvest went directly to com harvest. A sharp contrast from 2009. Our hail damaged row crops will prove challenging. On the plots much of the corn is broken over, but has goose necked back up with brace roots from upper nodes that were able to make a half way decent ear. I don't think a combine will be able to get this, unless you use a soybean head. It looks like an opportunity for grazing.