fl-crop-weather State Florida Crop Weather Week Ending/Released Dates Week Ending August 19, 2001 Released 4:00 P.M. August 20, 2001 Weather Summary Scattered late afternoon and evening lightning storms brought varying amounts of moisture to the State during the week of August 12 through August 18. Tampa recorded no rainfall; Pensacola recorded over two inches. Drier weather in some areas allowed field work to continue. Temperatures averaged two degrees above normal to one degree below normal for the week. Daytime highs were in the 90s and nighttime lows were in the 70s. Field Crops Report Topsoil moisture conditions are rated mostly adequate with scattered areas of short or surplus moisture. Wet soils are delaying the start of peanut harvest. Wet weather is slowing haying and spraying of peanuts for leaf spot. Tobacco harvest is active. Peanut condition is rated 19 percent fair, 42 percent good, and 39 percent excellent. Corn, cotton, soybeans, and sugarcane remain in good condition. Soil Moisture Chart Moisture Topsoil Subsoil Rating Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very short 0 0 0 0 Short 0 25 11 17 Adequate 79 57 70 67 Surplus 21 18 19 16 Livestock Report In the Panhandle, cattle condition is good to excellent. Stock ponds are starting to hold some water following rains of past weeks. Land preparation for winter grazing, small grains is underway. In the north, cattle and pasture conditions are fair to good. In the central counties, cattle condition is mostly fair as the grass is short. In the southeast, cattle range condition is good. In the southwest, cattle condition is fair to good and range condition is good. Statewide, cattle condition is mostly good. Livestock Condition Chart Range Cattle Condition Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very poor 0 0 0 0 Poor 0 5 0 0 Fair 30 15 25 15 Good 55 75 60 80 Excellent 15 5 15 5 Fruit Report CITRUS: There were scattered rains and thunderstorms in most areas this week. However, some of the thunderstorms dumped from one to two inches of rain on those isolated areas. Some areas went three to four days without any rain and then the heavy showers arrived. A few growers with new trees started irrigating as the high temperatures had evaporated surface moisture. Most well-cared-for groves have an abundance of new growth on virtually all trees. New crop fruit is responding very well to the summer rains. There has been some maturity testing of young to middle age grapefruit for early shipments. Caretakers have been very busy keeping up with their spraying programs for crops going to the fresh markets. Cover crops are being mowed, chopped and disced in all areas due to the rapid growth generated from the current ideal growing conditions. Young tree fertilizations and herbicides are being applied before the afternoon rains arrive. Bush hogging continues following pruning, hedging and topping. Many older declining sour root trees are being removed, stacked and burned. Vegetable Report Okra harvesting continues in Dade County. Improved weather increased fieldwork in some areas. Planting of round varieties of tomatoes continued around Immokalee and in the Palmetto-Ruskin and East Coast regions. Plant condition is fair to good. East Coast growers are transplanting peppers and eggplant. Comments/Contact Information To receive this report via e-mail, send an e-mail message to listserv@newsbox.usda.gov with the following message: add usda-fl-crop-weather your-email-address your.name (optional) An example: add usda-fl-crop-weather jsmith@qtm.com john smith. The report will be e-mailed automatically to your e-mail address each week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Return to the Table of Contents for Publications