The past week recorded one main precipitation event that moved from northwestern North Dakota into northeastern South Dakota on Thursday, July 24. That shows up clearly on the Percent of Normal Rainfall with just a small corridor recording rain of consequence last week.
Not only was it dry in the past week in many locations, it was cool for all. The coolest areas were in central in southern North Dakota with another cooler spot in Walsh County North Dakota.
The cooler than normal temperatures in turn reduced the increase in the number of growing degrees days (GDDs) for area crops. Total Wheat GDDs have risen into the 2500 to 2800 for the season with an increase of only about 225 during that span.
Accumulated Corn GDDs are now in the 1100 to 1300 range in southern portions of North Dakota and closer to 1000 in the northern portion of the state. Because of the cool weather last week, additional GDDs accumulation were around 100 to 125 for the week.
The full weekly crop report can be downloaded at the following link:
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/cpr/pdf-reports/ndsu-crop-and-pest-report-july-31-2014/view
Daryl Ritchison