MONROE - Farm reporters and county agriculture agents reporting to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from across Wisconsin say their areas need rain.
According to Mark Mayer, Green County's agent, local area crops are "doing fairly well" despite how dry soil conditions have become - but more moisture would be welcomed.
"We were really saved by the rain - unfortunately for the (Green County Ag Chest) dairy breakfast - that came May 26," Mayer said. "That was a several-million-dollar rain for farmers in our county."
The three-quarter inch of rain not only saved the alfalfa for a second crop but also got corn and soybeans moving along. "Without that, we'd be in pretty dire straits," Mayer added.
The weather forecast calls for possible thunderstorms today Wednesday. (See Page A6 for details.)
According to weekly USDA crop progress reports for Wisconsin, the amount of land with adequate amounts of moisture dropped from 74 percent to 43 percent Monday, June 4 to Monday, June 11. The 33-percent surplus of soil moisture, reported on Monday, May 7, has dried up to 1 percent this week.
The remaining ground, about 56 percent, was short or very short of moisture last week, limiting crop growth in spite of the heat, the USDA reported. Crops in light soils were showing signs of stress, while weeds and insects were on the rise.
"To get a little shower this past weekend also helped as we head into this and next week where we're getting temperatures into the upper-80s," Mayer said.
Last week, average temperatures were above normal by 4 degrees in Madison and Milwaukee and by 6 degrees in Eau Claire, and the weekend rainfall was measured in the mere hundredths of an inch. So far this year, the Madison area has had 11.12 inches of rainfall, about 1.37 inches below normal for the year, and about 1 inch below normal for the month of June.
In northwest and northeast Illinois last week, precipitation was reported about 0.7 to 0.83 inches below normal, and temperatures are 1 to 3 degrees above average.
The diminishing moisture can be seen in some quickly deteriorating crop conditions around the state, even in just one week.
In Green County, "the first cutting yields were down anywhere from ten to twenty percent," Mayer said. "Part of that was obviously the dry weather, but a big part was the alfalfa weevil caused a quality issue, because they eat a lot of the leaves where a lot of the protein is."
Mayer said the second crop of alfalfa is "coming back pretty well," and he predicts the losses could be made up if the area gets adequate rainfall the rest of the year.
"We're probably looking at taking in potentially five, maybe even six, cuttings in some places versus the normal four to five that we have, because of the early growing season," he said.
The southcentral region leads the state in finishing its first hay cutting, with the southwest region close behind at 98 percent done. The state average is about 92 percent.
The USDA Wisconsin crop progress report for Sunday, June 10 showed nearly all the corn emerged now, and its condition are matching last year's national averages. Wisconsin corn is in good (58 percent) or fair (21 percent) condition, with 13 percent in excellent shape. Those state numbers are just 2-3 points down from last week.
Corn height in the southern third of the state started out this week between 12 and 16 inches. The five-year average is about 6 inches.
Soybeans were still doing well and ahead of schedule. About 81 percent of the crop is in fair to good condition, off by 6 points from the week before. Another 10 percent is excellent.
Soybeans in the state jumped up last week, now at 83 percent emergence compared to 60 percent last week. Last year, the state averaged only 56 percent emerged by this time. The five-year state average is 72 percent. The southwest and southcentral regions are at an 87-89 percent emergence rate.
Also, according to the report, the majority of Wisconsin oats, 68 percent, is in good or excellent condition, with 41 percent of the crop already headed. That's down from 80 percent in good or excellent condition when only 14 percent was in head last week. Only 6 percent is in poor or very poor condition, but that number has doubled since Monday, June 4. Oats stands in selected states across the country show similar conditions this week.
Last year at this time, only 3 percent of the oat crop was headed, and the five-year average is 12 percent.
The southern regions of the state are way ahead of the state average. In the southwest, 73 percent of the oats have headed, and the south central region leads the state with about 86 percent headed.
One of the early indicators of low moisture conditions is pastureland, which is often placed on poor or rocky land which can support grasslands, but is not useful for tillage.
About 15 percent of Wisconsin pastures and ranges is reported to be in poor or very poor grazing condition this week. Only 6 percent was reported in the same conditions on Monday June 4. Fifty percent is still in good shape, down from 61 percent the previous week, and pasture lands in excellent condition slipped from 12 to 7 percent over the course of last week.
South of the border in Illinois, 43 percent is in fair and 32 percent in good condition, each slipping only about 3-4 points from last week, but 21 percent is in poor and very poor, up from 12 percent the week before.
According to Mark Mayer, Green County's agent, local area crops are "doing fairly well" despite how dry soil conditions have become - but more moisture would be welcomed.
"We were really saved by the rain - unfortunately for the (Green County Ag Chest) dairy breakfast - that came May 26," Mayer said. "That was a several-million-dollar rain for farmers in our county."
The three-quarter inch of rain not only saved the alfalfa for a second crop but also got corn and soybeans moving along. "Without that, we'd be in pretty dire straits," Mayer added.
The weather forecast calls for possible thunderstorms today Wednesday. (See Page A6 for details.)
According to weekly USDA crop progress reports for Wisconsin, the amount of land with adequate amounts of moisture dropped from 74 percent to 43 percent Monday, June 4 to Monday, June 11. The 33-percent surplus of soil moisture, reported on Monday, May 7, has dried up to 1 percent this week.
The remaining ground, about 56 percent, was short or very short of moisture last week, limiting crop growth in spite of the heat, the USDA reported. Crops in light soils were showing signs of stress, while weeds and insects were on the rise.
"To get a little shower this past weekend also helped as we head into this and next week where we're getting temperatures into the upper-80s," Mayer said.
Last week, average temperatures were above normal by 4 degrees in Madison and Milwaukee and by 6 degrees in Eau Claire, and the weekend rainfall was measured in the mere hundredths of an inch. So far this year, the Madison area has had 11.12 inches of rainfall, about 1.37 inches below normal for the year, and about 1 inch below normal for the month of June.
In northwest and northeast Illinois last week, precipitation was reported about 0.7 to 0.83 inches below normal, and temperatures are 1 to 3 degrees above average.
The diminishing moisture can be seen in some quickly deteriorating crop conditions around the state, even in just one week.
In Green County, "the first cutting yields were down anywhere from ten to twenty percent," Mayer said. "Part of that was obviously the dry weather, but a big part was the alfalfa weevil caused a quality issue, because they eat a lot of the leaves where a lot of the protein is."
Mayer said the second crop of alfalfa is "coming back pretty well," and he predicts the losses could be made up if the area gets adequate rainfall the rest of the year.
"We're probably looking at taking in potentially five, maybe even six, cuttings in some places versus the normal four to five that we have, because of the early growing season," he said.
The southcentral region leads the state in finishing its first hay cutting, with the southwest region close behind at 98 percent done. The state average is about 92 percent.
The USDA Wisconsin crop progress report for Sunday, June 10 showed nearly all the corn emerged now, and its condition are matching last year's national averages. Wisconsin corn is in good (58 percent) or fair (21 percent) condition, with 13 percent in excellent shape. Those state numbers are just 2-3 points down from last week.
Corn height in the southern third of the state started out this week between 12 and 16 inches. The five-year average is about 6 inches.
Soybeans were still doing well and ahead of schedule. About 81 percent of the crop is in fair to good condition, off by 6 points from the week before. Another 10 percent is excellent.
Soybeans in the state jumped up last week, now at 83 percent emergence compared to 60 percent last week. Last year, the state averaged only 56 percent emerged by this time. The five-year state average is 72 percent. The southwest and southcentral regions are at an 87-89 percent emergence rate.
Also, according to the report, the majority of Wisconsin oats, 68 percent, is in good or excellent condition, with 41 percent of the crop already headed. That's down from 80 percent in good or excellent condition when only 14 percent was in head last week. Only 6 percent is in poor or very poor condition, but that number has doubled since Monday, June 4. Oats stands in selected states across the country show similar conditions this week.
Last year at this time, only 3 percent of the oat crop was headed, and the five-year average is 12 percent.
The southern regions of the state are way ahead of the state average. In the southwest, 73 percent of the oats have headed, and the south central region leads the state with about 86 percent headed.
One of the early indicators of low moisture conditions is pastureland, which is often placed on poor or rocky land which can support grasslands, but is not useful for tillage.
About 15 percent of Wisconsin pastures and ranges is reported to be in poor or very poor grazing condition this week. Only 6 percent was reported in the same conditions on Monday June 4. Fifty percent is still in good shape, down from 61 percent the previous week, and pasture lands in excellent condition slipped from 12 to 7 percent over the course of last week.
South of the border in Illinois, 43 percent is in fair and 32 percent in good condition, each slipping only about 3-4 points from last week, but 21 percent is in poor and very poor, up from 12 percent the week before.