Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy 

July 31, 2009

I sure have enjoyed driving around scouting and looking at the crops in the county this summer.  For the most part the crops look pretty good.  By this time next week, wheat harvest will be in full swing.  I have seen quite a few producers out harvesting their fields.  The wheat crop looked really good this year despite a few winter killed spots and some drowned out areas but so far the yield reports have been a bit disappointing.  For those of you who have harvested your wheat, if you get a chance could you please drop me an email or give me a call with what your yields have been for this year?  Have you been enjoying the cool temperatures this summer?  I know that I sure have.

This cool summer and delayed crop development have been a topic of discussion in our weekly the agronomy Elluminate sessions (conference calls).  According to Dennis Todey, State Climatologist, these conditions are consistent with the current El Nino going on with near average to cool summer with near average to wet conditions for the most part.  But as we transition to winter El Nino generally means a warmer winter.  He won’t go on record calling it yet, though.  He bets on warmer conditions this winter. 

Lately, I have received a lot of questions about when we can expect the date of the first frost/freeze to occur this fall.  Dennis has looked at El Nino events in the last 50 years and compared the date of the first frost/freeze in El Nino to non-El Nino years.  The pattern was generally consistent across the state.  During El Nino falls, the first frost/freeze averages several days later than other years.  There is some variability across the state.  But the pattern is consistent.

            If you are interested in the average free date information, hop on over to his website:

http://climate.sdstate.edu/w_info/frost/frost.shtm.

If you would like information about how your area compares during El Nino years, just let Dennis know and he can get that to you.

The other piece of information that he has available on his website is a forecasting tool on how many Growing Degree Days (GDD) could be accumulated from now until freeze.  He has a tool that people can use to determine that information.  Again, visit this weblink to determine that information:  http://climate.sdstate.edu/coop/gddtillfreezing2.asp.

Remember, if you are interested in becoming part of current agriculture news and information provided by the South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service please send me an email at connie.strunk@sdstate.edu or give me a call at the Turner County Extension Office at (605) 297-3112.  Have a great week!