11/30 - 2009 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Field Crops Conditions Report

November 30, 2009 by Chris Hitzeman

Summary: Corn moves from 40% harvested to 58% this last week. Beans, Sorghum and Sunflowers are all in the 90% range which effectively brings those to closure (done). The 10 day forecast looks dry and sunny which won't help drying much but will allow farmers to continue working on harvest. At this pace corn harvest could finish in 2-3 weeks. SD Game and Fish has a vote on the table Dec. 3rd to increase pheasant daily limit from 3 to 5 birds per day increasing the game bag total from 15 to 25 in possession. Another favorable week for fieldwork helped producers make progress on the row crop harvest, as there was 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork in the past week. Farm activities focused on the harvest of row crops, drying corn, moving livestock to row crop stubble, and moving hay. Corn harvested advanced 18 percentage points in the past week, now estimated at 58 percent complete. This year's corn harvest remains behind last year's pace of 86 percent harvested and 96 percent for the five-year average. Ninety-three percent of the sorghum for grain has been harvested, compared to 94 percent last year and 98 percent for the five year average. The sunflower harvest is 93 percent complete, compared to 81 percent last year and 95 percent for the five year average. Ninety-seven percent of the soybean crop has been harvested, compared to 100 percent last year and for the five-year average.