Seven days were suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Sept. 2, according to the latest NASS report. Last week, too, conditions remained very much the same.

“Everything is in a kind of holding pattern until harvest can begin,” said Jim Collum, an agricultural statistician at the NASS Michigan field office.

Weather conditions across the state stayed pretty much the same, with conditions labeled as abnormally dry by the National Drought Mitigation Center, which produces the Drought Monitor maps. Collum said corn conditions across the state are highly variable, but it’s notable that conditions are worse for crops the further south one looks.

“It depends almost on the field. It varies so much. As far as USDA projections are concerned, the yield will be lower than normal. The southwest corner of the state – those guys didn’t get as much rain, but it’s very localized,” he said.

Collum said last month’s USDA projection for corn yield for Michigan was 114 bushels an acre. Actual yield last year was 153. For soybeans, projection for yield last month was 36 bushels an acre, while actual yield last year was 44.

According to the report, corn quality was spread out pretty evenly across all categories, from very poor to good, except for excellent, which took up only 4 percent. For soybeans, it looks a little better, with only 11 percent of them in very poor condition. Five percent of soybeans are listed in excellent condition.

Also according to the report, grapes are entering into veraison, which means they are putting on sugar and maturing. Collum added the sugar beet harvest is ahead of where it was last year.

“The yield is looking pretty good,” he stated.

The warm and dry conditions the week of Aug. 27-Sept. 2 promoted rapid maturation in Iowa’s drought-damaged crops.

Farmers started harvest season and continued to chop corn for silage, according to the Sept. 4 Iowa Crop & Weather report.

“If the dry weather persists, widespread harvest is likely just a week or two away,” said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.

The report said some farmers harvesting for grain are also baling the stalks. The report added a few cases of aflatoxin have been reported.

It also stated 91 percent of corn has reached the dent stage and 50 percent is now mature, with 51 percent of soybeans turning color and 7 percent dropping leaves. The report said the third-cutting alfalfa hay harvest, at 98 percent complete, continues to be a month ahead of normal.

In his Sept. 5 crop report, Nick Benson, corn product specialist at Latham Hi-Tech Seeds in Alexander, said corn harvest is well under way in some parts of the state. “Silage harvest is really in full swing,” he said. “We’re getting close to wrapping that up, actually. The crop is moving along at a really rapid pace.”

Benson said, however, he’s been noticing in some drought-prone areas the crop appears to have shriveled cap, which he cautioned farmers would result in lower test-weight corn. “Overall, yields appear to be good, not great,” he said. “But not as bad as we were expecting, either.”

For Kentucky last week it was the same old story of poor corn due to early drought. A full 80 percent of the crop statewide was rated poor or very poor, and only 6 percent of the overall crop was graded at good or better.

Season-wise, 93 percent of the corn has already reached the dent stage, 78 percent of the corn has matured and 37 percent has already been harvested. This is well ahead of last year.

The soybean crop has also matured ahead of last year. Overall the condition of the Commonwealth’s soybean crop was reported to be 50 percent poor and one-quarter, good to excellent. The remaining fourth is in fair condition.

Tropical Depression Isaac was credited for the one-half inch above-normal rainfall last week. Also, temperatures throughout the state averaged slightly higher than the seasonal norm. Topsoil moisture was still 64 percent short of adequate and the subsoil, 76 percent dryer that needed for optimal conditions.

The circumstance of the set tobacco crop was found to be 51 percent good or better. Additionally, burley tobacco has progressed to an estimated 83 percent already topped. Thirty-four percent of burley has already been cut.

Dark tobacco, too, is behind last year with 40 percent already cut versus 46 percent cut at the same time last year. The condition of housed tobacco was stated as mostly good.

Extension entomologists Doug Johnson and Lee Townsend at the University of Kentucky warn farmers to watch out for Blister beetles that feed on alfalfa and soybeans. The educators say while the pests are not a major problem in grain production, they can have an unhealthy effect on livestock if ingested from soybeans that have been baled for forage.

Johnson and Townsend wrote: “The simplest remedy for this problem is to cut the soybeans with a sickle bar, avoid driving over the downed beans and allow the downed beans to dry before bailing.” When the beans begin to dry, blister beetles will fly away, thus removing the danger.

The rains from Isaac rolled through many areas of the state, helping with soil moisture levels as well as the conditions of the soybean and cotton crops, according to the NASS Tennessee field office.

With that, the NASS report noted topsoil moisture levels were rated as 4 percent very short, 34 percent short, 57 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus, while subsoil moisture levels were rated 10 percent very short, 41 percent short, 48 percent adequate and 1 percent surplus.

For the most part, Tennessee began the month with most crops in fair or good condition. Cotton was listed as being 2 percent very poor, 7 percent poor, 30 percent fair, 54 percent good and 7 percent excellent.

Soybeans, as of the Sept. 4 report, were rated at 3 percent very poor, 11 percent poor, 32 percent fair, 45 percent good and 9 percent excellent. Tobacco was listed as 1 percent very poor, 5 percent poor, 37 percent fair, 46 percent good and 11 percent excellent.

 J.C. Dupree Jr., the extension agent in Lauderdale County, said a decent rain from Isaac greatly improved the soybean and cotton situation there. “Corn harvest is well under way, with majority of farmers nearing completion,” he said.

“Surprisingly, corn yields are better than expected. Still had some low yields, but some dryland corn yielded 165-plus bushels. This rain helped soybeans to complete pod fill and cotton to set bolls. Despite pastures being in poor condition, cattle are in good shape.”