Dry Conditions Causes Yields To Be Lower Than Average In MT And ND"

Montana: Due to the heat and drought during the flowering period, pea yield is low in some areas of Montana,” states Chengci Chen, Ph.D. of EARC, Montana State University. “Some farmers only received 20-30 bu/ac yields, except for those who seeded very early and escaped the stress. Lentils did relatively better than peas. There is some Ascochyta disease pressure on chickpea. For a successful Chickpea crop. Fungicides do not control the Ascochyta blight if the varieties don’t have some level of resistance to the fungal disease.”

North Dakota: Diana Amiot, Dryland Crop Production Research Specialist at the NDSU Williston Research Extension Center writes, “Weather conditions at the station this year were drier than normal so dryland field pea yields came in around 30bu/a which is lower than average. Lentils and chickpeas seemed to fare closer to average. For chickpeas, there was pressure from Ascochyta leaf blight this year like there is in many years.” Amiot adds, “ Soybean harvest is nearly complete. Again because of the drier conditions, dryland yield will likely be less than average.”