Michigan wheat harvest on rapid pace with touch of dry weather

Michigan’s wheat harvest is moving along at a rapid speed — and a recent change in the weather is part of the reason why. 

Following a wet June and early July for much of Michigan’s lower peninsula — particularly in the western half of the state, according to data from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet — the last two weeks have seen drier conditions throughout the state. This has allowed harvest to take off: As of the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Crop Progress report on July 29, Michigan is 90% finished with the winter wheat harvest. 

This is 32 percentage points ahead of wheat harvest progress at the same point in 2023, and 20 percentage points ahead of the state’s five-year average. 

Also running ahead of schedule is Michigan’s oat harvest. As of July 29, 31% of the oat crop in the state has been harvested. The five-year average for Michigan is only 2%, and in 2023 at this stage of the year only 5% of the crop was harvested. 

Range and pasture conditions in the state were also positive, with 77% labeled as Good/Excellent. Less rain meant hay second cuttings were at 46% complete, per the Michigan-specific Crop Progress report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). 

In southwestern Michigan, field crops have made progress after a reprieve from rain allowed standing water to drain from soybean fields, according to the Michigan State University Extension. However, Extension reporters Nicolle Ritchie and Angie Gradiz did provide some detail about the impact the standing water has had on the area’s soybean crops.

“Many soybeans are stunted and yellow from standing in pooled water caused by the heavy rains earlier this month,” Ritchie and Gradiz wrote. “This free water provides favorable conditions for Phytophthora stem and root rot infection.”

Currently, 59% of Michigan’s soybean crop is in Good/Excellent condition. Soybeans are setting pods at 34% as of July 29, four percentage points below the state’s five-year average. Blooming is at 77%. 

July was still wetter than average overall in the state, with chunks of southwestern, central, and eastern Michigan seeing upwards of 5 inches of precipitation more than the July average. Most of the Upper Peninsula was below its average for July, according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. 

What’s next?

Rainfall throughout the growing season has left Michigan with only 3% of the state experiencing abnormally dry conditions, according to the latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor. 

The short-term predictions from the National Weather Service‘s Climate Prediction Center put most of Michigan with a higher-than-average chance of lower temperatures from Aug. 8 to Aug. 14, in tandem with a majority of the northern Corn Belt states. In addition, expectations are that Michigan will receive above-average precipitation over the same time period. 

This runs counter to what the CPC predicts for the state overall for August — mainly above-average temperatures and equal chances of higher or lower precipitation. 

Above-average temperatures are also expected in Michigan for September and October as growing season transitions into harvest time, the CPC said. Michigan is far from alone in this expectation: Only northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota are not projected to experience above-average temps over the same time period. 

Precipitation predictions have so far declined to move Michigan one way or the other.