July 6, 2012

Karen DeBoer, Extension Educator in Cheyenne County:  Winter wheat harvest is nearing completion across the southern Panhandle with a few irrigated wheat fields and dryland fields yet to be combined. Spotty rains have helped relieve some of the drought stress in dryland crops such as corn, proso millet, and sunflowers. However, more general rains are badly needed. Pastures are seriously dry and lacking in production. Irrigated crops are doing well, but with dry, hot, windy conditions, all crops are stressed to some degree. Producers with irrigation are working hard to keep up with the crop’s needs.

Paul Hay, Extension Educator in Gage County:  We are a bit short of grass. More than half the “State Highway” miles were booked for haying in the first day. Our back is to the wall on dryland corn. We need rain within the next three to four days. It is hard to assess pollination success at this point.

Doug Anderson, Extension Educator in Keith, Arthur, and Perkins counties: It's dry, dry, dry and hot and dry.  Rainfed fields may be past the point of no return.  Large areas are showing severe curling and browning of rainfed corn. In better soil areas, irrigated corn looks good, but in sandy areas, growers are having a hard time keeping up with water needs and those with poorer wells are having a very hard time keeping up.  Twostriped grasshoppers and their cousins are feasting in field margins. Grasshoppers in some alfalfa fields, especially newly planted fields, have been treated or will be treated.

Tom Hunt, Extension Entomologist at the Haskell Ag Lab, Concord:  We've had some pockets of rain, but the entire northeast area needs rain. A lot of rainfed corn is looking tough. We are seeing some twospotted spider mites in soybean in Dixon County.