fl-crop-weather State Florida Crop Weather Week Ending/Released Dates Week Ending July 28, 2002 Released 4:00 P.M. July 29, 2002 Report Code FL-CW3002 Weather Summary Daily, scattered storms continued during the week of July 21 through 27. Rainfall ranged from traces at West Palm Beach to about four inches at Jacksonville, Avalon and Ona. Temperatures at the major stations averaged one degree above normal to three degrees below. Daytime highs were in the 80s and 90s. Nighttime lows were mostly in the 70s. Field Crops Report The Panhandle and northern Peninsula counties have mostly adequate topsoil and subsoil moisture supplies with a few pockets of short supplies where less rain was received recently. Central and southern Peninsula counties report adequate to surplus supplies except for the extreme southeast which reports very short to short soil moisture. Peanuts are in good condition with 90 percent of the crop pegged. Last year, 84 percent of peanuts were pegged by this date. The five-year average of peanuts pegged by this date is 87 percent. Cotton is in mostly good to excellent condition with some yield loss on the oldest plants due to the earlier dry weather. Tobacco harvesting is active with some growers combating disease. Hay making is active between showers with rain causing some loss of quality and slowing some baling. Soil Moisture Chart Topsoil Subsoil Moisture Rating This Last Last This Last Last week week year week week Year Percent Very short 1 1 1 0 2 1 Short 1 12 7 7 13 20 Adequate 47 32 66 43 30 59 Surplus 51 55 26 50 55 20 Livestock Report In the Panhandle and northern areas, the pasture condition is fair to excellent. The condition of the cattle is mostly good. Some bahia pastures have quite a bit of 'dollar spot'. In the central counties, the condition of the cattle is good, while the condition of the pasture is fair to good. In the south, the pasture condition is mostly good though some pastures are in poor condition due to high levels of surface water and flooding. Statewide, the cattle condition is mostly good. Livestock Condition Chart Range Cattle Condition This Last This Last week week week week Percent Very poor 0 0 0 0 Poor 0 0 0 0 Fair 10 20 5 5 Good 85 80 95 95 Excellent 5 0 0 0 Fruit Report CITRUS: There were a lot of scattered rains and thunderstorms with some lightning in many areas of Florida's citrus belt this week. Most irrigation has been discontinued. However, some caretakers are applying supplemental nutrients through their watering systems. The abundance of recent rainfall has produced new growth on trees of all ages. All regular bloom new crop fruit continues to make very good progress. There are varying quantities of late and off bloom on some orange and specialty type fruit trees. Several fresh squeeze juice operations remain open and are accepting last season's late bloom fruit. Caretakers are mowing, chopping and discing cover crops. Vines are being removed before covering tree tops and shading out foliage and fruit. A few growers are hedging and topping. Dead trees are being removed and burned along with other grove limbs and trash. Summer sprays, fertilizations and lime are being applied in all areas. Main ditches and canals are being cleaned for efficient water movement. Some flatwood groves are being plowed and deep disced to help dry out wet and soggy soils. Vegetable Report Tomato planting is underway around Quincy. Okra harvesting continues in Miami-Dade County. Southern Peninsula producers continue to plan for fall crop planting. Comments/Contact Information To receive this report via e-mail, send message to listserv@newsbox.usda.gov with the following message: subscribeusda- fl-crop-weather your.name An example: subscribe usda-fl-crop-weather John Smith. The report will be e-mailed automatically to your e-mail address each week.