The drought monitor report as of Tuesday, Oct. 1, indicates almost all of our area still in extreme drought, including all of Barton County. Exceptional drought is continuing to expand. The six to ten-day outlook (Oct. 18 to 22) indicates near normal temperatures to slightly below normal temperatures and 50 to 60% chance of below normal precipitation. Normal isn’t much but at least we should have seasonal temperatures. The eight to 14-day outlook (Oct. 20 to 26) indicates a 50 to 60% chance of above normal temperatures and a 33 to 40% chance of below normal precipitation. Not a promising outlook.
Today, it’s been a while since this column has taken stock of where the area ag community is at. So, where are we?
• We are all aware of how dry it is and that the near-term outlook isn’t good through December. This has definitely sped up the harvest of what fall crops are there to be harvested. With the rains the area received a while back and in some fallow fields, wheat that was planted has come up. However, the outlook isn’t promising for good root and tiller establishment and for a greater chance of winter kill if we don’t receive moisture for the crop.
• Fall crop harvest is proceeding rapidly for several reasons. First, with the heat and lack of moisture, the crop matured and dried down rapidly. Second, in many harvested fields, especially dryland, yields were below average so it took less time. Three, fields were abandoned due to a lack of grain or beans. Some of these fields were swathed for hay, even some soybean fields. Even many irrigated field yields are below average with temperatures well above normal as the result of accelerated grain fill. When all is said and done, average harvested yields may not look as bad as we thought but we need to look at abandoned acres or those cut for hay for a real idea of how bad the year was or wasn’t.
• You may have noticed lots of swathing and baling or everything from wheat straw and corn/milo stubble to soybean, dried out rangeland grasses, ditches and fields of pigweed. Area cattle producers are short of hay period and not just average to good quality hay but hay period. Available range for grazing is short and many produces pasture wheat from now until early spring on wheat, rye, and triticale which as of now is sketchy at best except under irrigation. So, people needing hay are baling whatever they can. They can ammoniate something like wheat straw to help its feed value. Or mix these less desirable emergency feeds with decent hay. In some cases, checking for nitrates is definitely in order. Some are turning out cattle onto any stubble they can find.
• One other issue for cattle producers around the state is more and more are having to haul water where they hadn’t before. For some, it’s creating a real hardship due to distance and location.
• Finally, these conditions should cause everyone to pay attention to potential wildfire conditions as winds typically pick up throughout the winter. And wind erosion of soil is also a potential significant problems that have been worked and planted to wheat.
Dr. Victor L. Martin is the agriculture instructor/coordinator for Barton Community College. He can be reached at 620-792-9207, ext. 207, or martinv@bartonccc.edu.
