Weekly WeatherStation Report – July 24th, 2014
July 10th, 2014
Net drying continued but rains mid-week and again yesterday brought us off the lows – unfortunately with some very serious bouts of hail. Canola is mostly done flowering and Durum nearly so. Pulses continue to flower though some peas are starting to drydown. Durum in some areas was showing signals of running out of moisture before the mid-week rain. Temperatures spent time between 25 and 28 degrees, which would have been conducive to Fusarium development as Humidity touched 90% each day, and little time below 50%. Leaf disease began to blow-up early in the week on many un-sprayed fields, prior to any rain.
Below you will see a brief summary of what our 1 meter moisture depth probes picked up for soil reserves, as well as a Leaf Disease update via captured Humidity and Leaf Wetness data. 
Average Station Information (over all 7 stations)
Growing Degree Days (Midge days. Not Crop days.) – 903
At Depth Soil Moisture %
10cm Depth: 14% Jul 24th (9% Jul 17th) 4.4% Low Point
20cm Depth: 17% Jul 24th (11% Jul 17th) 9.2% Low Point
30cm Depth: 16% Jul 24th (13% Jul 17th) 11% Low Point
50cm Depth: 17% Jul 24th (18% Jul 17th) 14% Low Point
100cm Depth: 42% Jul 24th (43% Jul 17th) 41% Low Point
Jul 17 – Jul 24th Rainfall Total – 16.1 mm
Jul 17th Soil Temp – 17.9 degrees
Jul 24th Soil Temp – 19.5 degrees
Dry Leaf Days (<5000 rv’s) – n/a* days
Consecutive Dry Leaf Days – n/a* days
* Leaf wetness sensors not placed properly during this period.
Up to the Minute – Weather Charts
This representative graph of all 7 stations highlights the soil moisture decline. Roots continued to draw heavily within the 50cm depth this week before seeing a decent enough replenishment, which will help immensely during filling if hail did or will continue to miss.
Humidity has held constant in the 90’s again this week, making only two nights this month that didn’t cause heavy dews. Those two nights hit only 75% vs over 90% on the rest. Fusarium had perfect opportunity this week to take root in areas and fields it was present as this humidity and 25-28 degree temperatures are highly conducive to Fusarium infection.
