fl-crop-weather State Florida Crop Weather Week Ending/Released Dates Week ending September 11, 2005 Released 4:00 P.M. September 12, 2005 Report Code FL-CW3705 OPHELIA SLOWED SOME PENINSULA WORK; MOST ON SCHEDULE Weather Summary Report Rain and gusty winds from Tropical Storm Ophelia slowed field work in eastern parts of the Peninsula during the week of September 5 through 11 as the storm moved north just off the eastern coast. However, mostly dry conditions over central and western parts of the Peninsula, and the Panhandle, permitted many producers to enter fields and get activities back on schedule, such as vegetable planting and pesticide applications. Weekly rainfall was varied. Many localities of the Panhandle and central and western Peninsula, received no rain; over four inches were recorded at Daytona Beach and West Palm Beach. Cloud cover kept most temperatures below normal with the weekly temperatures in the major cities averaging normal to two degrees below. Daytime highs were in the 80s and 90s while nighttime lows were in the 60s and 70s. Field Crops Report Tropical Storm Ophelia slowed fieldwork along the eastern coastline last week. Drier conditions allowed haymaking to resume in most areas. Hay quality in Washington County is in marginal to poor condition. Growers in Washington County noticed soybean rust affected some fields. Corn and peanut harvesting got underway in Washington County. Peanut harvesting was active in Jackson and Madison County. Statewide, peanut condition is rated 26 percent fair, 70 percent good and 4 percent excellent. Problems with insects were reported in Leon County. Topsoil and subsoil moisture is short to mostly adequate in most Panhandle and northern Peninsula localities with a few pockets of surplus moisture. Soil moisture supplies are mostly adequate to surplus in central and southern Peninsula localities with a few areas reporting short supplies. Percentage of Peanuts harvested to date: This week Last year 5-year average 2 19 10 Soil Moisture Chart Topsoil Subsoil Moisture This Last Last This Last Last Rating week week year week week Year Percent Very short 0 1 1 1 0 0 Short 19 14 2 9 10 2 Adequate 65 65 33 66 70 35 Surplus 16 20 64 24 20 63 Vegetable Report Some planting and other field work was postponed around Hastings, Stuart and Jupiter due to the threat of Tropical Storm Ophelia. Elsewhere, field work was mostly on schedule. Tomatoes in the Quincy area are in good condition with cooler temperatures slowing some growth. The producers in the Quincy area expect picking to begin during the first week of October. Tomato acreage in the Quincy area was virtually all planted by the third week of August with some late plantings to make harvest run a little later than usual. Livestock Report In the Panhandle, the pasture is in fair to excellent condition with most good. The cattle are in fair to excellent condition. In the northern areas, the pasture is mostly fair due to short soil moisture conditions. The cattle condition ranges from fair to excellent with most in fair condition. In the central areas, the pasture is in fair to good condition with some locations poor due to excess soil moisture and flooding. The cattle condition is mostly fair. In the southwest, the pasture condition is poor to good with some locations flooded from Katrina and heavy rains of the September 4 weekend. The cattle condition is mostly fair. Statewide, the condition of the cattle ranges from poor to excellent with most in good condition. Livestock Condition Chart Range Cattle Condition This Last This Last week week week week Percent Very poor 0 0 0 0 Poor 10 5 5 0 Fair 35 40 25 10 Good 50 50 60 75 Excellent 5 5 10 15 Fruit Report Citrus: The week of September 5-11 was slightly cooler and dryer than the previous few weeks. High temperatures ranged from the high 80s to low 90s. Hurricane Ophelia stayed far enough to the east to cause only nominal effect to citrus producing counties. Rainfall amounts reached between a half inch in the center of the State to just over one inch in the southern counties. Field workers reported positive comments on tree and fruit progress. There was little activity in groves with some growers performing limited fertilizing, spraying, and young tree care. Some grove workers removed vines and overgrown weeds. Grove access is limited in some areas due to the canker eradication program in full progress. 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.