Harvest Moving Forward in South Dakota
The weather has continued to be extremely favorable for the harvest to move forward in South Dakota at full pace. There are still wet areas, but much of the ground has been workable with the last half of October suitable for field work.
I had the opportunity to tour the country side on Sunday (10/28) and there was a lot of activity in the fields South and West of Sioux Falls.
Winter wheat planting is wrapping up in the state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its weekly crop report says 95 percent of the crop was seeded and 80 percent was emerged, both near average. The crop is rated mostly in fair to good condition.
Late season harvest progress reports include 16 percent for sunflowers, 33 percent for sorghum, 41 percent for corn and 77 percent for soybeans.
Subsoil moisture is rated 66 percent adequate to surplus, and topsoil moisture is 86 percent in those categories, both down slightly over the week.
Pasture and range conditions are rated 43 percent in good to excellent condition, also down over the week.