FARGO, N.D. -- The late, great on-again, off-again harvest of 2008 continues to march toward a trepidatious finish.
The sugar beet harvest finally was given last rites Nov. 11 as Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative of Wahpeton, N.D., declared the end of it. American Crystal's harvest had ended a week earlier, with only 2 percent of the beets left in the field.
Tom Knudsen, Minn-Dak's vice president for agriculture, says grower-shareholders had brought in at least 70 percent of the acres, although it wasn't clear how much more came in.
Some farmers still were working on soybeans in the region, but most activity in the region is with corn harvest. Across the entire region, an average of about three days out of seven were available for field-worthy work.
Here were conditions reported by the National Agricultural Statistics Service as of Nov. 16, with southern Red River Valley farmers still gripped in the effects of the wettest September-October harvesting period on record.
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North Dakota
Only 33 percent of the state's corn had been harvested, slogging up only 10 percent from the previous week. Harvest completion in the most important corn regions was pegged at 17 percent, north-central; 11 percent northeast; 17 percent central; 26 percent east-central; and 44 percent in the south. The average completion for the date is 88 percent.
Among other things, farmers are needing to weigh the benefit of getting the crop off the field against the wear and tear of running equipment through mud and the inevitable drying costs.
Soybeans were 94 percent harvested, but several weeks behind normal. East-central North Dakota still had 14 percent of its beans in the field.
Sunflowers were 83 percent harvested overall, compared with a 92 percent average during the past five years. South-central producers were at 69 percent harvested; central, 86 percent; and southeast 78 percent.
NASS notes that, while many farmers are going after corn, others are waiting for the ground to freeze solid before attacking the project.
Topsoil moisture is rated surplus in 18 percent of the state, taking in the entire east edge of the state and extending to Devils Lake. About 19 percent is rated short or very short, with the driest areas taking in Beulah, Dickinson and Bowman. Out west, where the bulk of the cattle are, stock water supplies were rated 59 percent adequate, compared with 72 percent a year ago.
Minnesota
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Corn harvest reached 80 percent complete in the state, up 5 percentage points from the previous week. In the past five years, 96 percent of the corn would have been off by now. The state average moisture content for the corn is at 20 percent, virtually the same as the previous week, as continual precipitation and cold temperatures now offer negligible natural drying. The five-year average for corn at this stage would be 16 percent.
Similarly, 80 percent of the state's sunflowers had been harvested, while farmers brought in 10 percent of the crop in the previous week.
Only 4 percent of the state is short of topsoil moisture, while 26 percent is ranked surplus. Almost all of that is in the Red River Valley and surrounding counties. Moorhead was 9.14 inches ahead of normal growing season precipitation, and Browns Valley was 6.29 inches ahead of normal since April 1.
South Dakota
Only 59 percent of the corn for grain harvest had been completed as of Nov. 16, up only 6 percentage points from the previous week. Progress was a full 32 percentage points behind the typical for this date.
Grain sorghum came in at 74 percent complete, compared with a 97 percent normal. Sunflower was only 61 percent harvested, up from 56 percent the previous week and a five-year average of 91 percent.
