fl-crop-weather State Florida Crop Weather Week Ending/Released Dates Week Ending December 22, 2002 Released 4:00 P.M. December 23, 2002 Report Code FL-CW5102 Weather Summary A cold front crossing the State brought showers to many localities late in the week of December 15 through 21. Homestead and Okahumpka reported no rain; Jay and Ona reported about an inch. Temperatures average from one to five degrees below normal in the major cities. Daytime highs were mostly in the 60s and 70s. Nighttime lows were in the 30s, 40s and 50s with Tallahassee, Alachua, Bronson, Citra, Jay and Quincy recording at least one low in the 20s. Some northern Peninsula and Panhandle localities experienced frosts and freezes during the week. Field Crops Report Drying conditions during most of the week lowered topsoil and subsoil moisture supplies, especially over most of the Panhandle and northern Peninsula. Moisture supplies are mostly adequate over the Panhandle and short to adequate over the northern Peninsula. Surplus supplies still exist in many central and southern Peninsula localities which received moderate to heavy rains this week. Pockets of very short to short moisture are reported for the southeastern coast. Some cotton and soybean acreage remains to be picked in the Panhandle and northern Peninsula. Recent heavy rains leached fertilizer from some small grain acreage with growth behind normal. Sugarcane harvesting continued in the Everglades. Soil Moisture Chart Topsoil Subsoil Moisture Rating This Last Last This Last Last week week year week week Year Percent Very short 1 0 8 1 1 10 Short 4 5 33 9 4 31 Adequate 55 60 59 55 55 59 Surplus 40 35 0 35 40 0 Vegetable Report Clear weather during most of the week allowed harvesting to proceed at a rapid pace with growers filling the holiday demand. Vegetables available include snap beans, cabbage, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, escarole, lettuce, okra, parsley, peppers, radishes, squash, tomatoes and light supplies of celery and strawberries. Livestock Report In the Panhandle and north, the pasture ranged from very poor to good, with most pasture in poor to fair condition. Freezing and wet weather stopped the growth of the permanent pasture and slowed the germination and growth of the small grain winter forage. Small grains are not performing well due to fertilizer lost from heavy rains this fall. Some winter forage is still being planted. Hay feeding is active. Pasture in the central area is in poor to good condition. Heavy frost and freezing temperatures lowered the condition ofpasture. In the south, the condition of the range is fair to good. Statewide, cattle are in poor to good condition with most in good condition. Livestock Condition Chart Range Cattle Condition This Last This Last week week week week Percent Very poor 5 0 0 0 Poor 10 5 5 5 Fair 40 55 20 25 Good 45 40 75 70 Excellent 0 0 0 0 Fruit Report Citrus: Most of this week was cool and dry except for a fast- moving front Friday that moved through the State. Virtually all areas of Florida's citrus belt, except the high sand hills, are wet due to above average rainfall during December. Some of the groves on both coasts have standing water in ditch middles with no available drainage. All of the early and midseason fruit are generally well colored on the trees and there are even some Valencia oranges with beginning color break. All of the grapefruit are well colored with most showing good maturity tests. Harvest of fresh fruit was very active this week for the Christmas markets. Many of the processing plants worked around the clock to move the large quantities of field run fruit and some packing house eliminations. Caretakers are still mowing, chopping, and discing cover crops so that they will not trap cold air should a freeze arrive. Dead trees are still being pushed out and burned. A few sprays are still being applied in the southern areas for fresh use crops. Hedging and topping continue in harvested groves. A few young trees are still being dirt banked in the coldest areas. Estimated boxes harvested week ended Crop Dec 8 Dec 15 Dec 22 Navel oranges 465,000 495,000 300,000 Early & Mid oranges including Ambersweet 7,637,000 7,064,000 7,595,000 All grapefruit 921,000 845,000 704,000 Early tangerines 253,000 252,000 173,000 Honey tangerines 0 0 29,000 Tangelos 193,000 216,000 216,000 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.