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A wet, cool spring that seriously delayed planting is starting to impact the area small grain crop.
North Dakota State University Williston Research Extension Center ag specialist Chet Hill said very little is happening with the region’s wheat crop as everything is about three weeks behind average. The concerns at this stage involve morning moisture and the increasing possibility of frost.
“If it holds off to its normal time of Sept. 15, we should get past that critical point,” Hill said of the frost issue. “We still need some warm weather to get those crops to mature.”
Driving around the region, you still see a fair amount of “green” in wheat fields, signs of crops that still need additional time. “Typically, you have your peas off in July and you start you small grain harvest in August,” Hill said. “We’re getting into the end of August and very little small grain is getting off.”
Heavy morning dews and large fog banks that hug low to the ground are causing further delays for this year’s harvest.
“Not everything is going for us this year,” Hill said.
The minimal amount of harvest activity that has taken place is in the extreme southern portion of the region. Producers around Watford City have begun to harvest yellow peas. Hill said the few reports he’s heard are the peas are in pretty good shape with minor disease issues.
“For the most part, it’s all holding its quality,” he said.
Above-average yields also are being reported, with producers collecting over 30 bushels per acre, and in some cases 40-plus bushels.
“Some of the areas definitely got some rains. A lot of it was due to the cooler temperatures that we had this year,” Hill said of the strong pea yields. “There were fewer days in the 90s and more 70-degree days that peas and lentils like.”
The cooler growing season has benefitted most all pulse and grain crops from a quality standpoint, but has negatively impacted the sunflowers and corn that was planted in the region.
The recent rains and heavy dews, however, can reduce small grain and pulse crop quality
“Heavy dews can bleach out our grains. Those are concerns that we’re starting to hear,” Hill said.
Adjacent states are fighting serious grasshopper problems this year, but North Dakota has so far escaped that issue.
“There is a little bit of grasshoppers; flax and oats might have some issues there,” Hill said. “We had some aphid situations in our peas. I don’t know that there are any serious threats at this point.”
The only other question is what are producers going to do with the crop once its off the field.
“I guess I haven’t really heard at this point what they are doing. If we have some above-average yields as we’re hearing, for the most part they are going to have to sell off some,” Hill said. “You hope they had marketed some at a better price.”
He said with good yields being discussed throughout the country, “it’s going to be tough to see some of these markets rebound quite a bit at this point in time.”
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