Ag Surveys & Crop Progress

Ag Surveys & Crop Progress I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today. During these first two weeks of September the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service is conducting its September Agricultural Survey and County Agricultural Production Survey. Information obtained through these surveys is an important tool used extensively by farmers, agribusinesses, academic researchers, and other government entities. Producers partaking in the surveys are asked to provide information on acres planted and harvested, yields, total levels of production for specific commodities, and the quantities of grains and oilseeds stored on-farm. Survey results will give detailed county level data on small grain production in the Pacific Northwest and the United States for 2013.  Here with the most recent Washington crop update is Ag Network's Greg Martin. On the west side of the state recent rains helped soften ground for field preparation for 2014 crops, but slowed cereal grain harvest for a time. Because of the rains, dairy producers switched from conventional hay baling to making haylage. In the Yakima Valley Gala apple harvest is in full swing, while the Bartlett pear harvest is wrapping up. Some of the early hop varieties are coming in with the first fields being harvested, and the third cutting of alfalfa is nearing completion. In Walla Walla and Whitman County winter wheat harvest has wrapped up, while barley, spring wheat, dry beans and dry pea harvest continues. Thunderstorms that moved through the area this past weekend slowed harvest activities only slightly. Thanks Greg. That's Washington Ag Today. I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.