SD Corn

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?SD,HP

While receiving a blizzard that included a nasty mixture of rain, snow and ice in the middle of April isn’t ideal, folks in South Dakota will take the moisture in any form they can get.

The bad news with the blizzard is that thousands of homes lost power and tree limbs now lie on the ground in much of southeastern South Dakota. The good news is that the latest drought monitor shows some improvements in South Dakota and that doesn’t include this week’s storm, which brought two to three inches of moisture according to South Dakota State University Extension.

SDSU Extension Climate Field Specialist Laura Edwards said in release today that, “This fantastic moisture will be reflected to some degree in next week’s U.S. Drought Monitor map. Soil temperatures were mostly above freezing except for northeastern parts of the state, which will allow for moisture to enter the soil profile.”

Stats from this week’s drought monitor show South Dakota D4 areas lessening by 7% and D3 areas lessening by 7.5%, the most positive progress seen since the drought’s peak.

Local weatherman Shawn Cable shows the improvements on his blog today.

Nearly all of South Dakota received some sort of precipitation and you can see the amounts on the map below from the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.

Despite South Dakota’s worst drought in the past 50 years, it’s farmers were able to produce the seventh largest corn crop in state history totaling 535.3 million bushels in 2012 according to today’s USDA/NASS crop production report.

That final total is up six percent from projections in November’s crop report, but down 18 percent from the previous year. Due to extremely dry conditions, farmers produced an average yield of 101 bushels per acre, up seven from November’s estimate, but down 31 from last year’s crop, which ranked second all-time.

Farmers also harvested 600,000 acres of corn for silage which is three times that of a year ago.

“The increases in this final report shed a bit of positive light on what was an extremely difficult year for the majority of farmers in South Dakota,” said Chad Blindauer, president of the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council.

“Without a doubt, farmers and consumers have advancements in biotechnology and improved farming practices to thank for the corn crop we were able to grow in such drastic conditions.”

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster.

In this week’s Corn Comments Podcast, Woster reflects on this year’s drought and other devastating acts of Mother Nature from years gone by. There are so many things our farmers can’t control when producing our food but the things they can control include their optimism and resiliency which shine bright as they diligently work to continue feeding and fueling the world.

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster.

Due to this year’s devastating drought we will be cutting back just like everyone else. One of those cuts will be some radio stations who air our weekly Corn Comments radio spot. Corn Comments will now be heard only on WNAX 570 AM and of course on this very website. So make sure and log onto sdcornblog.org each and every Monday to get a weekly dose of the one and only Jim Woster talking all things agriculture. We understand that this program is a true value to our listeners and we will bringing the program back to our traditional airwaves once things turn around.

The South Dakota State Fair kicks off this week and South Dakota Corn will be in attendance on Thursday, August 30th. We will be bringing the Amazing Corn Adventure trailer, the Ag Rules Theater, corn crafts and don’t miss out on our Facebook Contest where you could win a $100 grocery gift card. We hope to see you at the fair!

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster

This week Jim talks about producers dealing with the effects of drought and some upcoming ag events in South Dakota.

As the drought continues to grow in South Dakota so does the number of farmers who will be chopping up their corn crop for cattle feed. Many farmers who also raise livestock normally turn some of their crop into silage, but nobody planned on having to do it this early or this much.

Too many farmers in the southeast corner of the state have no other options as the drought has prevented their cornfields from producing an ear and stunted overall plant growth.

When farmers decide to chop their corn for feed, there are a number of things to consider, including nutrient value, stalk nitrate amounts and moisture percentages.

South Dakota State University Extension offers a great deal of information on their website for those burdened with tough decisions because of the drought. You can visit their page at http://igrow.org/agronomy/drought/

Our recommended links for farmers planning to chop silage would include the following…

 SDSU Extension Nitrate Testing

Nutrient Value of Drought Stressed Corn

 Assessing Drought Stressed Corn