fl-crop-weather State Florida Crop Weather Week Ending/Released Dates Week ending April 25, 2004 Released 4:00 P.M. April 26, 2004 Report Code FL-CW1704 Weather Summary Report Virtually no rain fell during the week of April 18 through 24. Only Pierson, Pensacola and Ft. Lauderdale reported traces to a tenth of an inch of rain for the week. Temperatures averaged three degrees below normal to one degree above in the major cities. Daytime highs were in the 70s and 80s while nighttime temperatures were in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Miami recorded no lows below 70 for the week. Field Crops Report In the Panhandle, very little planting is being done. The soil is too cold to plant peanuts at many locations. Corn and soybean planting has slowed. Some farmers are holding off planting peanuts till May due to the tomato wilt virus. The corn looks pretty good where irrigated, but otherwise needs moisture. Some cotton has been "dusted in"; a few acres of peanuts have been planted. Soil moisture is very short to short throughout the State. Polk and Highlands counties were the exceptions with adequate moisture. Soil Moisture Chart Topsoil Subsoil Moisture Rating This Last Last This Last Last week week year week week Year Percent Very short 25 5 7 15 10 4 Short 45 45 50 40 40 37 Adequate 30 49 37 45 49 58 Surplus 0 1 6 0 1 1 Vegetable Report Chipper potato digging is getting underway in the central Peninsula and Hastings area as table type harvesting continues in the central and southern Peninsula. Cabbage cutting is slowing seasonally. Other vegetables and non-citrus fruit available include snap beans, blueberries, cantaloupes, celery, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, escarole, okra, peppers, radishes, squash, tomatoes and watermelons. In the Panhandle, some squash is being harvested. Watermelon and cantaloupe, under irrigation, are doing great. In the north area, irrigated vegetables look very good. In the west-central area, U-pick berries including blueberries is active. Vegetable planting is busy but planted vegetable crops are behind due to cool night temperatures. Livestock Report Pasture in the Panhandle is in very poor to good condition due to drought. Pastures are short and regrowth is slow due to drought and cool nighttime temperatures. Winter forage is finished. In the north and Big Bend counties, cattle and pasture are in poor to fair condition due to drought. In the central area, cattle con-dition is fair to good. The condition of pasture is fair due to dry soil conditions. Low humidity and windy conditions, combined with normal low rainfall at this time of year, have resulted in poor condition of pasture. In the southwest area, pasture and cattle condition are mostly fair. Statewide, condition of cattle is mostly fair. Livestock Condition Chart Range Cattle Condition This Last This Last week week week week Percent Very poor 5 1 1 0 Poor 25 20 3 5 Fair 50 60 55 55 Good 20 19 40 40 Excellent 0 0 1 0 Fruit Report Citrus: Typical spring weather continued this week in the citrus belt with daytime high temperatures reaching into the mid and upper 80s and lows into the mid and upper 50s. Very little rainfall was recorded this week. Growers are continuing to irrigate to maintain upper soil moisture levels as trees show abundant new growth. Cultural practices are continuing including fertilizations, hedging following harvest, and post bloom spray applications. Most fresh fruit packinghouses are packing all available varieties including Valencia oranges, decreasing amounts of white and colored grapefruit, and Honey tangerines. Processing plants are receiving and processing fruit with weekly volumes of grapefruit declining. Valencia orange harvest is at peak levels, over eight million boxes weekly. Estimated boxes harvested week ended Crop Apr 4 Apr 11 Apr 18 Navel oranges 3,000 2,000 1,000 Early and Mid oranges 3,000 0 0 Valencia oranges 8,093,000 7,544,000 8,441,000 Grapefruit 1,501,000 1,153,000 1,220,000 Honey tangerines 164,000 139,000 114,000 Temples 30,000 14,000 21,000 Comments/Contact Information To receive this report via e-mail, log onto http://www.usda.gov/nass/sso-rpts.htm Then click on “Subscribe” (upper right part of screen), then select “Florida Crop-Weather”, enter your name and your e-mail address, then click on “Subscribe”. The report will be sent automatically to your e-mail address each week.