05.09.12FC.Page1.indd

Freeman Courier / May 9, 2012 / page 5

A GRICULTURE S.D. ag report Week ending May 6, 2012 AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY : Rain slowed planting progress in some areas of the state as farmers try to finish planting corn. Crops continue to look good with the help of recent rains. There were 3.9 days suitable for field work this past week. Major activities last week included; planting of row crops, lin- ing up seed delivery, weed control, caring for livestock, calving and lambing. WEATHER INFORMATION : Heavy rains and hail covered several counties in the east central part of the state roughly along a band from Mitchell to Flan- dreau, causing local flooding and some soil erosion on bare fields, according to the State Climate Office of South Dakota. Precipitation totals had several counties with 4-6 inches of precipitation from this storm. Across the state pre- cipitation was reasonable, though not nearly as heavy. Oelrichs had the least precipitation for the week at 0.14 inch. Madison (in the core of the heavy rain) had the most for the week at 6.28 inches. Despite recent rains, several locations are slightly below average for the growing season. Several are obviously well above average at this point. Temperatures once again were well above average across the state. Stations in the far southeast were the warmest with averages in the 60s. These were 8-11° F above average. Most of the rest of the state had average temperatures in the 50s ranging from a few degrees above average in the northwest to the much warmer temperatures in the southeast. Centerville and Mitchell shared the high for the week at 87° F. Custer had the low at 27°F. Other locations in the far southwest and north central reached the low 30s. SOIL CONDITIONS : Soil temperatures rebounded well across the state with most stations reaching around 60° F. Bowdle had the low 4 inch soil tem- perature at 51° F; Oacoma was the warmest at 65° F. Topsoil moisture is rated at 93 percent adequate to surplus, and 7 percent short. Subsoil moisture is rated at 85 percent adequate to surplus, 13 percent short and 2 percent very short. FIELD CROPS REPORT : Winter wheat conditions are rated at 3 percent poor, 24 percent fair, and 73 percent in good to excellent condition; compared to 67 percent in good to excellent condition last week. Winter wheat is at 37 percent boot and 4 percent headed. Spring wheat conditions are rated at 1 per- cent poor, 22 percent fair and 77 percent good to excellent. Spring wheat is 89 percent emerged, up 10 percentage points from last week’s emerged estimate. Barley conditions are rated at 9 percent fair, and 91 percent in good to excel- lent condition. Barley is at 95 percent seeded with 78 percent emerged, up 23 percentage points from last week’s emerged estimate. Oat conditions are rated at 1 percent poor, 16 percent fair and 83 percent good to excellent. Oats are reported at 93 percent seeded and 81 percent emerged, up 5 percentage points from last week’s emerged estimate. Alfalfa conditions are rated at 2 percent poor, 22 percent fair, and 76 percent good to excellent. Corn is at 57 percent planted, up 26 percentage points from last week, with 11 percent emerged. Sorghum is at 2 percent planted and soybeans are at 9 percent planted. LIVESTOCK, PASTURE, AND RANGE REPORT: Cattle are rated 7 percent fair and 93 percent in good to excellent condition, down from last week’s 96 percent in good to excellent condition. Calving was at 86 percent complete. Cattle moved to pasture is rated at 51 percent complete. Sheep are rated 7 percent fair and 93 percent in good to excellent condition. Lambing was at 90 percent complete. Stock water supplies are 94 percent adequate to surplus and feed supplies are 99 percent adequate to surplus. Range and pasture condi- tions are rated 75 percent good to excellent, 23 percent fair and 2 percent poor, compared to 70 percent good to excellent last week. FEED AND WATER SUPPLIES COMPARISON — MAY 6 FEED SUPPLIES STOCK WATER This week Last year 5-yr. ave. This week Last year 5-yr. ave Very short 0 1 3 1 0 4 Short 1 8 12 5 1 6 Adequate 92 85 79 89 70 70 Surplus 7 6 5 5 29 20 SOILMOISTURE CONDITION COMPARISON — MAY 6 TOP SOIL SUBSOIL This week Last year 5-yr. ave. This week Last year 5-yr. ave Very short 0 0 0 2 2 1 Short 7 9 4 13 17 4 Adequate 85 83 57 79 74 58 Surplus 8 8 39 6 7 37 STATEWIDE CROP/LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS — MAY 6 % Rating V Poor Poor Fair Good Excel Winter Wheat 0 3 24 58 15 Spring Wheat 0 1 22 63 14 Barley 0 0 9 89 2 Oats 0 1 16 70 13 Alfalfa 0 2 22 63 13 Cattle 0 0 7 73 20 Sheep 0 0 7 67 26 Range and Pasture 0 2 23 63 12 STATEWIDE CROP PROGRESS — MAY 6 This Last Last 5-year Crop week week year average Winter wheat boot 37 10 11 13 Barley seeded 95 80 23 52 Barley emerged 78 55 2 15 Oats seeded 93 92 54 68 Oats emerged 81 76 17 28 Spring wheat emerged 89 79 13 33 Corn planted 57 31 13 23 Corn emerged 11 0 0 1 Soybeans planted 9 2 1 2 Sorghum planted 2 1 0 1 TEMPERATURE PRECIPITATION GDD Last Week This Since Since Oct. 1 April 1 Since April 1 Station Ave +/- Hi Low Week Oct. 1 April 1 +/- +/- Total +/- Academy 61 8 86 40 1.97 11.12 5.81 2.40 2.44 304 66 Centerville 64 10 87 44 0.40 7.09 2.59 -2.14 -0.35 301 83 Madison 60 8 82 42 6.28 13.36 9.26 3.61 6.07 260 74 Mitchell 64 10 87 41 4.09 14.86 9.31 5.70 6.01 322 108 Pickstown 63 8 85 42 0.98 9.40 5.74 0.13 2.29 370 135 Sioux Falls 62 10 84 44 0.60 8.24 3.00 -1.58 -0.23 308 99 Vermillion 68 11 86 44 0.22 9.15 4.77 -0.86 1.34 422 134 Yankton 65 11 86 44 0.70 9.25 3.23 -0.23 0.06 347 114

Managing for reproductive success

Planting grain sorghum has many benefits

Grain sorghum is an easy crop to introduce into a wheat rotation. The crop can be planted utilizing a con- ventional drill or row crop planter. When it comes time to harvest, Rick- ertsen says wheat farmers can use their conventional header. “For wheat farmers there, they can add milo to the rotation without buy- ing new equipment,” he said. He adds that weed control is yet another benefit to planting grain sor- ghum. “There is a huge advantage that comes with adding a warm season grass, like milo, to the rotation. It pro- vides a great opportunity to control those early season weeds like cheat- grass,” Rickertsen said. Grain sorghum also promotes my- chorizae production in the soil. “Mychorizae are small fungi that attach to the plant’s root hairs and en- hance the absorption of nutrients and water,” he said. Although grain sorghum is similar to corn in its nutrient requirements, unlike corn, grain sorghum does not do well if it’s planted in cool soil. Rickertsen recommends waiting until soil temperatures reach 60 degrees.

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Craig Schaunaman, reminds producers that the annual crop certification deadline is July 15, 2012. Producers who file accurate and timely reports for all crops and land uses, including prevented planted and failed acreage can prevent the poten- tial loss of FSA program benefits. “I encourage all producers to con- tact their local FSA office to make an appointment to file their annual acreage report by the July 15 dead- line in order to comply with FSA pro- gram eligibility requirements,” said Schaunaman. South Dakota FSA offices no lon- ger mail appointment cards and maps to producers for acreage reporting purposes. Producers are responsible for contacting their local FSA office to set up an appointment to file their 2012 acreage report. Hard copy maps will be provided to the producer at the Dryland farmers in South Dakota may benefit from planting grain sor- ghum this season, says John Rick- ertsen, SDSU Extension Agronomy Field Specialist. “Grain sorghum is much more adaptable to dry conditions than corn,” said Rickertsen, of the crop also known as milo. Not only is grain sorghum more drought tolerant than corn hybrids, but Rickertsen says the grass species is a more economical option than corn for most dryland farmers in central and western South Dakota. “The further west we move we be- come more cost-conscious because there isn’t the corn production out here that there is along the I-29 cor- ridor. Seeding costs of grain sorghum are significantly lower because the seed costs less and a bag of sorghum seed will plant 10 to 15 acres versus 3 to 4 for corn,” Rickertsen said. He adds that some years, milo mar- kets are equal to, or greater than corn. “Milo, like corn is mainly used as a feed grain, however, in South Dakota it’s also sold into the bird seed mar- ket, which is why prices are some- times better than corn.”

can be a difficult and time-consuming activity,” Perry said. “Continuous ob- servation of over 500 animals exhib- iting natural estrus in three separate studies indicated 55.9 percent of cows initiated standing estrus from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.” Perry said. Based on research, Perry encour- ages producers to observe cows for estrus as often as possible. The re- search showed that when cows were observed for standing estrus every six hours (6 a.m., noon, 6 p.m., and mid- night), estrous detection increased by 10 percent with the addition of a mid- day observation and by 19 percent when observed four times daily (ev- ery six hours) compared to detecting standing estrus at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. alone. “Therefore, detection of standing estrus can be one of the most time- consuming chores related to artificial insemination,” he said. Let the bulls do the work With natural service, Perry says estrous detection is considered to be easy, as it is “the bulls’ job.” How- ever, he says differences in estrous detection exist among bulls. “Libido refers to a bull’s desire to mate. Research from Kansas State has reported that Libido is a highly inherited trait with heritability rang- ing as high as 0.59,” he said. “This is because there is more variation in libido between sons of different sires than between sons of the same sire.” He reminds cattle producers that scrotal circumference, semen qual- ity, and physical confirmations all traits evaluated in a Breeding Sound- ness Evaluations, are not related to libido. “Libido has a direct affect on preg- nancy rate and, as such, it can influ- ence the success of an entire breed- ing season,” Perry said. “Libido can be practically evaluated by closely watching a bull after introducing him to a cow herd and determining his desire to detect cows in estrus.” Although several factors are criti- cal to the success of any well-man- aged beef reproductive program, estrous detection is one of the most limiting and most time consuming. Without identifying cows in estrus, cows will not have an opportunity to conceive. For more information related to detecting standing estrus contact, Jim Krantz, SDSU Extension Cow/ Calf Field Specialist at jim.Krantz@ sdstate.edu or 605-995-7381 or Dr. George Perry, SDSU Extension Beef Reproductive Management Special- ist at george.perry@sdstate.edu or 605-688-5456. To listen to a recent iGrow Radio Network interview on this topic with Dr. George Perry, and to review all four articles in this four- part series released by SDSU Exten- sion visit iGrow.org.

Fertility is influenced by many fac- tors, and one of the best methods to look at factors that influence fertility is with the ‘Equation of Reproduc- tion,’ says George Perry, SDSU Ex- tension Beef Reproductive Manage- ment Specialist. Perry explains that the ‘Equation of Reproduction’ includes the following four areas: • Percentage of animals detected in standing estrus and inseminated; • Inseminator efficiency; • Fertility level of the semen and; • Fertility level of the herd. Each of the preceding areas will be discussed in the four-part series on managing for reproductive success by SDSU Extension. This is the first article in the series and will discuss the importance of de- tecting cows in standing estrus. Detecting cows in standing estrus For successful insemination of cat- tle to occur, animals must be detected in standing estrus, Perry says. “Detecting standing estrus, which is also referred to as heat detection or detecting standing heat, is simply looking for the changes in animal be- havior associated with a cow/heifer standing to be mounted by a bull or another cow/heifer,” he said. Since cows not detected in estrus, and consequently not inseminated in artificial insemination (AI) programs, have no opportunity to conceive, Perry says heat detection becomes the single greatest limiting factor in managing beef cow reproductive pro- grams. “For successful artificial insemina- tion of cattle to occur, the producer must take the place of the herd bull in detecting the cows/heifers that are ready to be inseminated,” Perry said. “Accurate detection of animals in standing estrus is the goal of good es- trous detection and plays a vital role in the success of any AI program.” He points to a Colorado State Uni- versity study in which animals were administered an estrous synchroni- zation protocol, then monitored for standing estrus 24-hours a day with a computer assisted estrus detection system (HeatWatch®) or twice a day for 30 minutes by visual observation. By day 5, after estrus synchroniza- tion, 95 percent of animals moni- tored 24-hours a day, were detected in standing estrous, while only 56 percent of animals observed twice a day for 30 minutes were detected in standing estrus. With a 95 percent estrous detec- tion rate and a 70 percent concep- tion rate (95%x70% = 67%), 67 per- cent of the animals will be pregnant; whereas, only a 39 percent (55% x70% = 39%) pregnancy rate will occur with a 55 percent estrus detec- tion rate.“Accurate detection of estrus

FSA crop certification deadline July 15 by Rodney Strand, CED

FSA Notes Turner County Farm Service Agency Parker - 297-5564

time the acreage report is filed. Pro- ducers wishing to obtain digital color copies of their respective maps are encouraged to provide their email ad- dress or a new jump drive to their lo- cal FSA office to facilitate the request for digital maps. Producers are also reminded to report crop losses insured through Federal Crop Insurance and the Non- insured Crop Disaster Assistance Pro- gram (NAP) within 15 days of the disaster or as soon as the loss is ap- parent. Additional information about the acreage reporting process or programs administered by FSAmay be obtained by contacting your local FSA office or on the web at www.fsa.usda.gov.

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