Another Good Week for Fieldwork in Wisconsin
Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 -- 7:42 AM
(Wisconsin Ag Connection) -With six days suitable for fieldwork, farmers in the Badger State had a second consecutive week of good weather to work with last week.The Wisconsin Ag Statistics Service released its weekly crop progress report on Monday, which noted that farmers were busy harvesting small grains, baling hay and straw, and spraying for weeds. Some reporters noted that the topsoil was getting dry and that crops were starting to show stress from the lack of rain. On average, topsoil moisture levels were rated two percent very short, 12 percent short, 76 percent adequate and 10 percent surplus. As of Sunday, just over half the state's corn crop was silking. However, that's still nearly two full weeks behind last year and 10 days slower than normal. Four percent of the corn has reached the dough stage and 65 percent is considered good to excellent. About two-thirds of the soybeans are now blooming across Wisconsin, which is well behind normal.
Twenty-nine percent of the beans were setting pods, 12 days behind the 2018 season and 11 days off the five-year average. Ninety-seven percent of winter wheat acres were coloring and about 46 percent of the crop has been harvested. In the oat fields, 74 percent of the crop had colored and 24 percent has been taken off the fields. The second cutting of alfalfa hay is now 87 percent complete, with third crop 23 percent harvested. Reporters say the hay is looking better at 58 percent in good to excellent condition, which is a four-percent improvement from last week.
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