Following are details from the state Crop/Weather Report:
Kansas: For the week ending March 10, 2013, many areas of Kansas continued to receive much needed moisture according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Kansas Field Office. The Kansas wheat crop has started to green up and operators are top-dressing fields where conditions permit. Topsoil moisture supplies were rated as 18 percent very short, 30 percent short, 46 percent adequate, and 6 percent surplus. Kansas subsoil moisture supplies were rated as 41 percent very short, 42 percent short, 16 percent adequate, and 1 percent surplus. Producers averaged only 2.3 days suitable for fieldwork last week. The condition of the Kansas winter wheat crop was rated as11 percent very poor, 21 percent poor, 41 percent fair, 26 percent good, and 1 percent excellent. Eighty-one percent of the crop had no wind damage, 14 percent had light wind damage, 4 percent had moderate wind damage, and 1 percent had severe wind damage. Eight-six percent of the crop had no freeze damage, 9 percent had light freeze damage, 4 percent had moderate freeze damage, and 1 percent had severe freeze damage.
Texas: The Plains experienced warmer temperatures after the previous week’ssnowfall, and areas in theCross Timbers and Blacklands received some precipitation. Rainfall remained scarce, however, across the rest of the state as high winds continued to deplete topsoil moisture. Producers from the Plains to North East Texas top dressed small grain crops and began to apply pesticides as warmer conditions caused some wheat fields to green up. In the Trans-Pecos, oat planting was underway. The condition of the Texas winter wheat crop was rated as 16 percent very poor, 28 percent poor, 38 percent fair, 17 percent good, and 1 percent excellent.
Oklahoma: Eastern Oklahoma saw significant rainfall from a storm over the weekend, topping two inches in some areas. Snow continued to melt in western Oklahoma from the previous week’s blizzard and parts of northwestern Oklahoma received additional precipitation of an inch or more. The state averaged 0.74 of an inch of precipitation for the week, with the Southeast district averaging 1.89 inches. The rainfall and snow from the past few weeks have improved wheat and canola conditions, but 41 percent of wheat and 53 percent of canola was rated poor to very poor. The U.S. Drought Monitor from March 7th showed improvement in Beaver and Texas Counties, with some areas moving from D-4 drought down to D-3. Overall, the state was still in a severe to exceptional drought, with 9.54 percent of the state rated as exceptional (D-4) drought, down from 11.8 percent the week prior. The worst drought conditions continue to be in the Panhandle and southwestern Oklahoma. Topsoil moisture conditions continued to be rated mostly adequate, but the percentage rated short increased from the previous week. Subsoil moisture conditions were still rated mostly short to very short with 12 percent of the state rated as adequate. There were only 4.8 days suitable for fieldwork on average across the state, due to the rainfall and melting snow. Condition ratings for all small grains and canola continued to improve. Wheat and canola were rated mostly fair to poor, while rye and oats were rated mostly good to fair. Wheat jointing was 21 percent complete by Sunday, 16 points behind this time last year, but four points ahead of the five-year average. The condition of the Oklahoma winter wheat crop was rated as 17 percent very poor, 24 percent poor, 39 percent fair, 19 percent good, and 1 percent excellent.
Nebraska: NA
Colorado: NA
