Nebraska Weather and Crop Report

Agricultural Summary: For the week ending September 11, 2011, crops were turning fall colors during a mostly dry week with below normal temperatures, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office. Producers were beginning to pick up pipe as irrigation was ending. Corn silage, high moisture corn, and seed corn harvests picked up momentum. Dry bean and proso millet harvests are underway in the west. Almost a quarter of the winter wheat crop was seeded. Flooded land that neighbored rivers has begun to reappear.

Weather Summary: Temperatures for the week averaged 3 degrees below normal. Highs were mainly in the mid to upper 80’s. Lows were recorded in the 40’s but dipped into the upper 30’s in isolated locations. Only small amounts of rain were recorded in the extreme southwest and western Panhandle counties. The majority of the state received no precipitation.

Field Crops Report: Corn condition rated 2 percent very poor, 5 poor, 17 fair, 57 good, and 19 excellent, below 83 percent good to excellent last year but near 74 average. Irrigated corn conditions rated 81 percent good to excellent and dryland corn rated 70. Corn in dent or beyond was 90 percent, near 91 last year and 87 average. Corn mature was 9 percent, well behind 23 last year and 20 average. Corn harvest was at 1 percent with seed corn and high moisture fields being taken.

Soybean condition rated 1 percent very poor, 3 poor, 14 fair, 59 good, and 23 excellent, near 80 percent good to excellent last year but above 73 average. Soybeans turning color was 39 percent, well behind 63 last year and 59 average. Soybeans dropping leaves was 3 percent, behind 18 last year and 13 average.

Winter Wheat seeded was 23 percent, equal to last year and near 20 average.

Proso Millet harvest was 14 percent, behind 28 last year and 18 average.

Sorghum conditions rated 0 percent very poor, 8 poor, 15 fair, 63 good, and 14 excellent, near last year’s good to excellent rating of 79 percent but above 72 average. Sorghum turning color was 79 percent, behind 90 last year but ahead of 73 average. Sorghum mature was 9 percent, ahead of 3 last year and 5 average.

Dry Beans condition rated 2 percent very poor, 15 poor, 21 fair, 51 good, and 11 excellent, below 75 percent good to excellent last year and 68 average. Dry beans turning color was 83 percent, behind 97 percent last year and 8 average. Dry beans dropping leaves were 59 percent, near last year’s 61 but ahead of 48 average. Dry beans harvested was 10 percent, behind 25 last year and 15 average.

Alfalfa rated 0 percent very poor, 4 poor, 18 fair, 65 good, and 13 excellent, below 80 percent good to excellent last year but well above 64 average. Third cutting of alfalfa was at 95 percent, near 96 last year and average. The fourth cutting of alfalfa was at 33 percent, behind 41 last year but ahead of 30 average.

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report: Pasture and range conditions rated 1 percent very poor, 6 poor, 23 fair, 61 good, and 9 excellent, below last year’s 77 percent good to excellent but above 56 average.