Oklahoma crop weather, 03/26/2012, v.35 no.7

              United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Oklahoma Crop Weather
Oklahoma Field Office
Cooperating with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry
P.O. Box 528804 · Oklahoma City, OK 73152-8804
(405) 522-6190 · FAX (405) 528-2296 · www.nass.usda.gov/ok
A combined contribution with Cooperative Extension Service, USDA Farm Service Agency and Oklahoma Mesonet
-over-
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Information provided by respondents on NASS surveys, will remain completely confidential, as required by
Federal law. NASS safeguards the confidentiality of all responses, ensuring that no individual producer or operation can be identified.
Volume 35, Number 7
Weekly Summary for Mar 19-Mar 25
Issued March 26, 2012
Rain Alleviated Drought Conditions
A slow moving storm system brought needed rain across much of the state, improving drought conditions. The Drought Monitor dated March 20th, showed 45 percent of the state was no longer in a drought condition, compared to 38 percent the prior week. The majority of the Panhandle remained in an extreme to exceptional drought, and areas of the western part of the state remained in a moderate to severe drought. The highest amount of precipitation was recorded at Pryor’s Mesonet station in the Northeast, at 7.61 inches, and the lowest amount, 0.33 inches, was received at the Kenton station in the Panhandle. Flooding was reported in parts of central and eastern Oklahoma. Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa recorded new daily rainfall records on March 19th, when 3.02 and 2.81 inches of rain were received for the areas. High temperatures for each Mesonet district were at or above 80 degrees, with the state high of 87 degrees reported at Kenton in the Panhandle. The rains slowed field work last week with little progress made in seedbed preparation for spring crops. Small grain crops responded favorably to the recent moisture. The recent rains also brought relief to ranchers as pasture conditions improved and warm season forage growth excelled. Topsoil moisture conditions improved significantly from last week’s rain, with 87 percent rated adequate to surplus. Subsoil moisture showed improvement with 56 percent rated adequate to surplus, up from 41 percent from last week. There were only 2.4 days suitable for field work.
Small Grains: Small grain crops and canola benefitted from the recent rains, improving progress and conditions for all crops. Wheat jointing was 73 percent complete by Sunday, up 20 points from last week and 23 points ahead of the five-year average, heading had begun in a few areas. Canola blooming was 69 percent complete by week’s end, up 43 points from last week and well ahead of last year. Rye jointing was 81 percent complete by Sunday, 15 points ahead of normal. Oat planting was near completion with 94 percent complete by the end of the week. Seventy four percent of all oats had emerged and 16 percent was jointing.
Row Crops: Field preparation for spring crops was slow due to the abundant topsoil moisture during the first half of the week. Corn seedbed preparation was 66 percent complete by the end of the week, remaining 10 points ahead of normal, with nine percent of corn planted in limited areas. Sorghum seedbed preparation was 31 percent complete, eight points ahead of the five-year average. Preparation of soybean seedbeds was 25 percent complete by Sunday, up two points from last week. Peanut seedbed preparation was 20 percent complete, 15 points behind last year. Cotton seedbed preparation reached 45 percent complete, seven points ahead of the five-year average.
Pasture and Livestock: Pasture conditions showed an improvement from last week as 56 percent was rated in the fair to good range. The recent rains, along with the warm temperatures, have increased warm season forage growth for most of the state, allowing less supplemental hay feeding. Pond levels were close to normal due to additional runoff. Livestock conditions continued to be rated mostly good to fair. The cattle market continued to be strong: prices for feeder steers less than 800 pounds averaged $165 per cwt. Prices for heifers less than 800 pounds averaged $148 per cwt.
Soil Moisture Conditions by Percent Week Ending Sunday, March 25, 2012 Moisture Rating Current Week Previous Week One Year Ago
Topsoil
Very Short 5 7 52
Short
8
26
32 Adequate 64 63 15
Surplus
23
4
1 Subsoil
Very Short
16
29
52 Short 28 30 33
Adequate
52
40
14 Surplus 4 1 1 Conditions by Percent For Week Ending Sunday, March 25, 2012 Commodity Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent
Winter Wheat
1
5
19
56
19 Canola 1 5 26 52 16
Rye
1
2
17
62
18 Oats 0 2 25 58 15
Livestock
4
15
38
39
4 Pasture and Range 16 25 35 21 3