Hot and Dry Weather

Dakotazeb

Well-known member
Much of the state is in a drought condition and there is no rain in sight. Now for the next 5-7 days we are going to see temps in the 95-100 range across the state. I remember a June like this a number of years back and it was really tough on the hatch. It was so hot and dry the eggs didn't hatch and those that did the chicks did not survive. I hope something changes soon but right now it doesn't look good for this year's hatch if these conditions persist.
 
Spoke to my farmer/rancher buddy the other day. He said winter wheat is total loss, spring wheat needs rain this week or it is a loss as well. He is thinking there will not be a hay crop this year, he said cattle liquidation sales are already happening. Not sounding very good for the folks out that direction.
 
There was a feature on TV the other night about all the livestock sales. Lots of ranchers/farmers selling off parts of their herds because they don't think they will have enough feed. Crops are going to be in tough shape after this next week of high temps. Someone needs to do a rain dance out here soon!
 
Hard Red Spring Wheat values have rallied significantly over past two weeks in response to continuing dryness in Northern Plains. Definitely hurting crops, probably birds also. Here's this mornings forecast.

Today?s Headlines:
Hot and dry through the weekend in the north central U.S.
Drought expands across the northern Plains
Some relief from dryness expected in the southern Prairies

Hot and dry through the weekend in the north central U.S.
Soil moisture deficits continue to build across the northern Plains and western Midwest as dry weather continues. Hot and dry weather over the next several days will only make the situation worse for crops, with highs expected to reach at least 95?F (35?C) across most of the Plains and central and western Midwest this weekend. Some shower activity is expected to reach portions of the northern Plains and far northern Midwest, but should not reach the major corn and soybean growing areas. The areas most likely to see any notable improvements are eastern Montana and northwestern North Dakota, which would favor spring wheat. The areas most likely to see expansion in dryness in the coming days are Illinois, Iowa, southern Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, which would stress early growth of corn and soybeans. Confidence in the 6-10 day forecast remains lower than normal, but models are in somewhat better agreement today compared to yesterday. Models (shown below) are in good agreement that rainfall will favor the Canadian Prairies and far northwestern Plains during this period, leading to improvements. Model agreement is much lower in the Midwest, with the European models showing a drier solution, similar to our forecast, while the GFS models show a wetter solution. Temperatures should moderate during this period. -KT
 
If this keeps up I could see them enacting the emergency haying and grazing provision on CRP acres in the state.

This is not a bad or good thing but makes CRP a very positive thing when it comes to saving some livestock producers opinions on the value of these acres. Its like grass feed in the bank.
 
obviously the drought helps neither producers nor hunters........
commodity prices go up as less grain is produced and cattle herds are liquidated.......wettest spring every here in Texas, rain almost every day for past 2 weeks.........sending some up north.
 
Spoke to my farmer/rancher buddy the other day. He said winter wheat is total loss, spring wheat needs rain this week or it is a loss as well. He is thinking there will not be a hay crop this year, he said cattle liquidation sales are already happening. Not sounding very good for the folks out that direction.

I heard exactly that yesterday.
 
This is nothing new to South Dakota. I've seen my share of years where I have wondered how producers make a dime in this state.

As far as pheasants hatching is concerned....would you rather have it warm and dry or cool and wet?

I also see 2 vastly different farming methods adjacent to my farm. One conserves moisture and the other turns the topsoil black for early emergence. Will be interesting to see who wins come harvest time. I saw what happened last year.
 
I'm recently out of the cow business but I can remember those days of wondering where the feed was coming from.

My heart goes out to those folks.
 
Hot and dry is better than cool and wet.

There's a limit though. If you haven't had dew in six weeks, saw your first chicks yesterday a mile from water and the next ten days are forecast more of the same with no dew and high's near or above 90....well....about the same as cold and wet. Chicks will have a very hard time.
 
This is nothing new to South Dakota. I've seen my share of years where I have wondered how producers make a dime in this state.

As far as pheasants hatching is concerned....would you rather have it warm and dry or cool and wet?

I also see 2 vastly different farming methods adjacent to my farm. One conserves moisture and the other turns the topsoil black for early emergence. Will be interesting to see who wins come harvest time. I saw what happened last year.

I will take cool and wet, at least I have feed and even in cool and wet I have some pheasants.
 
I will take cool and wet, at least I have feed and even in cool and wet I have some pheasants.

The only total crop failure I've ever had was due to cool and wet. Granted, we had lots of hay, just not able to get it put up.

I've never heard it being to hot and dry for hatching, how does that happen ? Hatching temp is about 104* isn't it ? Can the hen not be able to keep the eggs below that ? And the humidity be so low the eggs dry out ? Interesting.
 
The only total crop failure I've ever had was due to cool and wet. Granted, we had lots of hay, just not able to get it put up.

I've never heard it being to hot and dry for hatching, how does that happen ? Hatching temp is about 104* isn't it ? Can the hen not be able to keep the eggs below that ? And the humidity be so low the eggs dry out ? Interesting.

In 1988 my dad found a dead hen sitting on the nest. That was a total disaster that year.
 
The only total crop failure I've ever had was due to cool and wet. Granted, we had lots of hay, just not able to get it put up.

I've never heard it being to hot and dry for hatching, how does that happen ? Hatching temp is about 104* isn't it ? Can the hen not be able to keep the eggs below that ? And the humidity be so low the eggs dry out ? Interesting.

Its all about BUGS!
 
Out of no where last night we had thunderstorm roll through in the early morning. Here in Watertown we got .66" of much needed rain according to the NWS. Not sure how wide spread it was. Lots of thunder, lightning and wind.
 
The weather service is calling for a half an inch of rain overnight tonight in north central South Dakota . It is far from a solution but at least it's better than nothing especially with the peak hatch happening right now .
 
They just bumped the rainfall estimates to over an inch. If it comes together overnight you can thank this rain / storms as the one that saved the 2017/2018 pheasant season for NC SD.
 
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