Heat continues to stress crops in Montana as harvest begins

Hot, dry, and windy conditions with very limited precipitation occurred across the majority of the state, according to the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.Harvest is beginning for winter wheat, oats, peas and lentils.As of July 24, some 39 percent of the winter wheat was harvested for grain; 27 percent of the lentils and 29 percent of the peas were combined, and 3 percent of the oats were cut.According to the USDA, much of the barley and spring wheat have been cut for hay or grazed out due to dry conditions.Producers in areas where precipitation has been adequate and that have hay are hesitant to sell more of it until the second cuttings of hay are finished.Tim Fine, Montana State University Extension agent in Richland County, where dry conditions exist, said producers are looking for hay or alternatives to hay.“The heat stress has affected the small grain crops. Some of the crops did not have heads fill, so they were swathed and hayed,” he said. There is still more hay needed throughout eastern Montana.Fine also has irrigated producers in his county, in addition to dryland, and even the irrigated producers are noting crops are becoming heat-stressed.Duane Peters, ag manager at Sidney Sugars said producers are reporting as low as 4 bushels/acre of barley with no heads filling.“Our crops here in the Valley are very dry. Dryland crops were planted into dry soils, and with little rain, they have not developed,” Peters said.Out in the irrigated fields, producers are getting a 50-60 bushel/acre wheat or barley crop, where they normally would have had around 80 bushels/acre.“Because of irrigation, they will still have a crop,” Peters said. “Guys without irrigation are not getting much in the way of bushels because of this heat.”Eastern Montana ranchers are also suffering from the massive Lodgepole complex fires that so far have burned about 270,000 acres of private, state and federal lands in an area noted as in extreme drought on the U.S. Drought Monitor. The complex is composed of four fires: Bridge Coulee, Barker (20 miles north of Sand Springs), South Breaks and Square Butte.This area is composed of a lot of ranches with rangeland and pastures that have been burnt to the ground. Fencing is destroyed, and some facilities are gone, along with many homes.With the extreme drought, the fires added to the struggles of farmers in the area. Some farmers and ranchers are helping battle the fires or providing supplies.Montana requested emergency help to battle the wildfires, and was turned down by U.S. government officials. The state appealed and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester brought the appeal to the forefront, asking for reconsideration.Firefighters continue to make progress on the fires south of Lake Fort Peck.Throughout the state of Montana, high temperatures ranged from the upper 80s in the southwest to 107 degrees in the southeast, where many farms are struggling from the heat as harvest begins.Low temperatures ranged from 32 degrees in Wisdom to the upper 50s in the south central region.The highest amount of precipitation was recorded in Ridgeway with 0.81 of an inch of moisture while other stations recorded between zero and 0.61 of an inch of moisture.Since April 1, many areas are way below normal on precipitation including Plentywood, 19 percent of normal; Wolf Point, 23 percent of normal; and Culbertson, 27 percent of normal, which are all towns in the northeast. In the southeast, Miles City is at 29 percent of normal, and Broadus is at 35 percent of normal precipitation.Crop conditions continue to deteriorate due to the hot, dry weather.Soilmoisture conditions are declining with 92 percent of topsoil rated very short to short compared with 34 percent of topsoil last year rated very short to short.Some 88 percent of subsoil is rated very short to short, compared with 37 percent of subsoil last year rated very short to short.It is one of those years when crop development depended on which region of the state a producer farmed in.Winter wheat condition is rated 45 percent good to excellent, and 40 percent fair, compared with the five-year average of 60 percent good to excellent.First cutting of alfalfa is 93 percent complete while second-cutting of alfalfa is 28 percent completed. Grass hay is 92 percent complete of first cutting, and other grass hay second-cutting is 5 percent completed.According to the NASS, pasture and range conditions are 28 percent in fair condition, and 15 percent in good condition.