fl-crop-weather State Florida Crop Weather Week Ending/Released Dates Week ending January 12, 2003 Released 4:00 P.M. January 13, 2003 Report Code FL-CW0203 Weather Summary Cold temperatures crept over the Peninsula early in the week of January 5 through 11. Temperatures at the major stations averaged two to six degrees below normal for the week. Most nighttime low temperatures were in the 30s, 40s and 50s for the week. However, lows fell into the 20s and 30s in many central and southern Peninsula areas as the cold weather crossed from the Panhandle and northern Peninsula to southern regions. Some Panhandle and northern Peninsula areas reported hard freezes while frosts occurred in many central and a few southern Peninsula localities. Most daytime highs were in the 60s. Most localities recorded no measurable rain for the week except for traces recorded in a few scattered localities. Field Crops Report Some wetter soils dried during the week with topsoil and subsoil moisture rated mostly adequate. Short soil moisture supplies are reported for the southeastern coast and in some northern Peninsula areas, especially Suwannee County. Scattered localities across the Panhandle and all areas of the Peninsula are reporting surplus soil moisture. Some small grain acreage is in poor condition due to heavy rains in earlier weeks leaching fertilizer from some fields and the recent cold weather slowing or stopping growth. Sugarcane is in very good condition and suffered no significant damage from the cold temperatures. Sugarcane harvesting remains active in the Everglades region. Soil Moisture Chart Topsoil Subsoil Moisture Rating This Last Last This Last Last week week year week week Year Percent Very short 1 1 4 1 1 3 Short 4 4 45 4 4 51 Adequate 85 50 51 80 50 46 Surplus 10 45 0 15 45 0 Vegetable Report Producers are assessing the effect of heavy frost in the Palmetto-Ruskin region with some damage expected. However, the cold weather caused no significant losses to most crops. Patchy frost around Immokalee caused very little damage but recent cool, wet conditions slowed plant growth and fruit maturation, and lowered the effect of pesticides which increased the incidence of disease. Temperatures were not cold enough for long enough to cause any damage to crops along the East Coast and in Miami-Dade County. Strawberry growers ran overhead sprinklers to form ice caps on plants as cold protection to save the plants and immature fruit with some minor water damage and production loss reported. Vegetables available include snap beans, cabbage, celery, cilantro, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, escarole, lettuce, miscellaneous herbs, parsley, peppers, radishes, squash, tomatoes and strawberries. Livestock Report In the Panhandle, the condition of pasture in most locations decreased because of frost and the leaching of fertilizer due to earlier heavy rains. The temperature is too cool for small grain forage to grow. Ranchers are using supplemental feeding in the northern half of the State. Pasture condition in the Big Bend counties is lower due to drought and cold weather. Pasture in the south is in poorer condition due to cool weather. Statewide, the condition of cattle is mostly good. Livestock Condition Chart Range Cattle Condition This Last This Last week week week week Percent Very poor 5 10 0 0 Poor 15 15 5 15 Fair 35 20 20 30 Good 45 55 75 55 Excellent 0 0 0 0 Fruit Report Citrus: Most of the week was cold and dry. Temperatures Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were in the low to mid 30s with a few pockets and low lands showing some upper 20 readings. There was some frost in the colder locations. Again, there was very little if any damage to citrus. A few very young trees might have had the tender new bloom shoots nipped back, but there was no significant leaf or wood damage. Temperatures in the 30s are beneficial to citrus trees in that it helps prevent vulnerable new growth from forming during the cold season. Harvest of early and midseason fruit was very active this week with more than a million boxes of fruit picked each day. Processing plants are limiting the number of loads of fruit delivered each day so that they can run most all of the fruit on their yards that day. Fresh fruit packing houses are busy packing early and mid oranges, both white and colored grapefruit, Temples, tangerines and tangelos. Caretakers are busy mowing, chopping and discing cover crops prior to the arrival of harvesting crews. A few growers are still ditching and deep plowing to help dry out their wet soils. Ditches and canals are being cleaned for more efficient water movement. Dead trees are being cut out and burned. Hedging and topping continue in harvested groves. Estimated boxes harvested week ended Crop Dec 29 Jan 5 Jan 12 Navel oranges 88,000 113,000 166,000 Early & Mid oranges including Ambersweet 5,685,000 8,114,000 8,220,000 All grapefruit 623,000 887,000 981,000 Early tangerines 25,000 28,000 8,000 Honey tangerines 61,000 108,000 147,000 Tangelos 104,000 226,000 275,000 Temples 10,000 23,000 44,000 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. 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