2024 Chouteau County Soil Moisture Survey

Testing for soil moisture took place from April 2-3.

Contact the Extension office for a paper or e-mail copy of this survey.

All winter wheat plots scored in the good to excellent (green) range except for three locations: north of Carter near Apple School, Pleasant Valley north of Fort Benton, and southwest of Big Sandy near Hopp School. These three locations have less than five inches of moisture in the soil (yellow). To get a 40-bushel winter wheat yield five inches of rain is needed during the growing season. All remaining plots have a full soil profile and will do well with just a couple of inches of moisture during the growing season.

All of the stubble plots north of the Missouri River excluding the Knees area rated in the fair to poor range (yellow). In the northern regions, the Paul Brown probe went from 12-26 inches in the stubble which calculates to less than five inches of moisture in the soil. For poor locations, producers will need four inches of growing season precipitation to get a 25- bushel yield for barley. For spring wheat, poor locations will need five inches of rain during the growing season to get a 25-bushel yield. All plots south of the Missouri River and the Knees area have good to excellent (green) potential for recropping.

~ Tyler Lane, MSU Extension Chouteau County Ag Agent