crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 30, 2006 Issue GA-CW1706 Agricultural Summary April 30, 2006 SCATTERED RAIN HELPED SOME MORE THAN OTHERS During the past week, scattered rain help some growers more than others, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Some counties received only small traces of rain while others received well over an inch. The state experienced highs in the upper 70's and lows in the mid 50's. Soil moisture conditions were rated 7 percent very short, 29 percent short, 60 percent adequate, and 4 percent surplus. Overall, growers said rainfall improved the crop and soil moisture conditions, but more is needed. Pastures and hayfields continued to green-up, but they have suffered due to lack of moisture in April. Corn planting was nearing completion and cotton planting was in full swing. Some growers chose to plant peanuts instead of cotton so they can take advantage of moisture in deeper soil. Tobacco was in need of irrigation. Small grains and ryegrass were reported to look good. Scattered frost and freeze damage from the March cold snap was beginning to appear. Wind burn and Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus was reported in south central Georgia. Other activities included preparing land, applying preplant herbicides, burning of covercrops, harvesting blueberries, and routine care of poultry and livestock. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Apr 30, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Planted 94 90 86 92 Corn, Emerged 84 80 76 84 Soybeans, Planted 5 2 3 6 Sorghum, Planted 15 10 20 15 Cotton, Planted 24 10 8 17 Wheat, Boot 96 88 97 96 Wheat, Headed 86 72 85 89 Apples, Blooming 63 57 82 89 Onions, Harvested 28 17 12 21 Peanuts, Planted 5 1 3 6 Tobacco, Transplanted 92 79 84 91 Watermelons, Planted 89 79 85 89 CROP CONDITION April 30, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 0 2 34 59 5 Sorghum 1 1 64 34 0 Wheat 2 8 33 53 4 Pasture 4 15 40 38 3 Apples 0 4 19 54 23 Hay 2 13 41 42 2 Onions 0 4 16 52 28 Peaches 0 4 25 71 0 Tobacco 0 1 39 60 0 Watermelons 0 3 36 57 4 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL April 30, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 11 59 26 4 Dist 2(NC) 0 0 32 59 9 Dist 3(NE) 0 4 40 56 0 Dist 4(WC) 1 6 28 61 4 Dist 5(C) 3 13 38 43 3 Dist 6(EC) 7 12 42 32 7 Dist 7(SW) 17 31 33 19 0 Dist 8(SC) 1 28 51 19 1 Dist 9(SE) 0 8 37 52 3 *A list of the counties in each of the nine Georgia Agricultural Statistics Districts is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga/ctyests/districts.pdf. Soil Moisture Table Apr 30, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 7 0 7 Short 29 10 29 Adequate 60 76 56 Surplus 4 14 8 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL April 30, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 17 56 27 Dist 2(NC) 0 15 77 8 Dist 3(NE) 0 16 84 0 Dist 4(WC) 9 37 47 7 Dist 5(C) 6 36 57 1 Dist 6(EC) 6 17 70 7 Dist 7(SW) 5 37 57 1 Dist 8(SC) 12 47 41 0 Dist 9(SE) 15 21 63 1 *A list of the counties in each of the nine Georgia Agricultural Statistics Districts is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga/ctyests/districts.pdf. Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY APRIL 30, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALBANY 87 52 70 0.26 1 1.83 2.53 14.30 78 ALMA 87 50 69 0.17 1 2.28 3.09 15.82 71 ALPHARETTA 86 43 63 0.35 2 3.72 6.99 16.62 68 ARLINGTON 88 49 69 0.86 2 2.26 2.64 12.54 75 ATTAPULGUS 88 52 69 1.14 1 1.89 2.44 9.51 76 BLAIRSVILLE 82 36 58 0.25 3 4.01 6.49 14.91 63 WILLIAMSON 84 41 64 0.12 1 0.96 3.33 9.26 69 BOWEN 87 51 69 0.43 2 1.71 2.06 11.58 77 BRUNSWICK 89 55 70 0.18 1 1.38 1.78 10.40 73 BYROMVILLE 87 49 68 1.10 2 2.55 3.72 12.45 73 BYRON 88 47 67 0.54 1 2.37 4.07 11.15 70 CAIRO 87 54 70 0.66 1 1.57 2.21 9.39 72 CALHOUN 86 38 63 0.21 2 3.61 6.78 14.21 68 PINE MOUNTAIN 84 41 64 0.31 1 2.38 5.81 12.80 69 CAMILLA 89 50 70 0.30 1 1.59 2.00 13.00 78 CLARKS HILL 89 46 65 0.32 2 2.54 4.13 11.81 70 CORDELE 88 50 69 0.56 2 2.13 3.31 12.99 73 COVINGTON 85 43 64 0.24 2 1.43 3.40 8.77 69 DAHLONEGA 82 41 61 0.35 3 3.22 5.26 13.18 64 DALLAS 85 44 64 0.30 2 3.76 7.40 19.03 67 DAWSON 87 48 69 0.07 1 1.10 1.96 8.29 72 DEARING 88 52 67 0.36 2 1.88 3.61 10.10 70 DEMPSEY 84 42 65 0.20 1 1.57 3.83 10.55 69 DIXIE 88 54 70 0.14 1 2.77 3.69 12.13 74 DULUTH 85 43 63 0.30 3 2.80 5.57 17.35 67 DUNWOODY 84 44 63 0.36 3 2.87 5.94 16.23 68 EATONTON 87 44 64 0.30 1 1.59 3.62 10.55 59 ELBERTON 88 49 65 0.09 2 1.54 4.05 12.22 69 ELLIJAY 81 40 59 1.06 4 5.72 9.49 19.09 66 ROME 83 42 64 0.68 2 3.86 7.22 15.39 68 FORT VALLEY 85 46 67 0.16 1 1.86 3.17 9.92 73 GAINESVILLE 82 50 64 0.26 2 2.95 6.10 14.30 69 GEORGETOWN 87 45 68 0.13 1 1.45 2.83 11.34 76 GRIFFIN 84 44 65 0.24 2 1.66 3.70 11.07 68 HOMERVILLE 89 46 68 0.08 1 0.99 1.44 10.04 74 JONESBORO 86 44 64 0.37 1 3.21 5.91 14.37 68 JACKSONVILLE 86 47 68 1.03 2 2.36 3.69 9.49 73 LAFAYETTE 83 39 63 0.47 3 3.72 6.64 13.58 67 MCRAE 87 47 67 0.68 2 1.57 2.28 14.02 75 MIDVILLE 87 50 67 0.60 2 1.96 2.74 9.59 75 NAHUNTA 89 43 68 0.02 2 0.76 1.13 7.52 75 NEWTON 88 50 70 0.22 1 1.94 2.06 13.39 76 PLAINS 87 50 69 0.78 1 2.90 4.83 14.47 73 SASSER 86 53 68 0.01 1 0.68 1.41 9.85 73 SAVANNAH 90 47 68 0.95 2 3.01 3.56 12.53 74 SHELLMAN 89 52 69 0.08 1 0.85 2.11 9.13 79 SKIDAWAY 89 49 68 0.62 3 1.90 2.37 9.67 70 SNEADS 86 61 71 0.64 1 3.52 4.03 12.69 72 STATESBORO 88 48 68 0.77 3 2.21 2.81 8.93 75 TIFTON 85 54 69 0.88 1 1.68 1.97 13.65 71 TIGER 84 38 60 0.11 2 3.91 6.48 16.17 65 VALDOSTA 88 56 71 0.24 1 1.80 2.52 11.03 70 VIDALIA 88 51 70 1.34 3 2.27 3.26 10.29 74 ROOPVILLE 86 44 64 0.75 1 3.05 5.93 15.47 69 WATKINSVILLE 84 45 64 0.05 2 2.48 5.93 16.16 69 WOODBINE 90 49 69 0.06 1 0.84 1.29 7.76 76 1/ Weather data supplied by Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (AEMN) and the office of the State Climatologist, University of Georgia. For detailed Georgia weather data visit the AEMN homepage, www.georgiaweather.net. NA - not available. District Highlights These comments are written by the Georgia County Extension Agents, and have been compiled and edited by the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. DISTRICT COMMENTS April 30, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Another wet week with 3+ inches of rain. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL No comments available. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Need rain. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Some light showers. Still needing more rain badly. Corn planting nearing completion. Small grains looking good. Pastures and hayfields continue to green up, but hay feeding still necessary for some livestock producers. We just received rainfall after going a few weeks without rainfall. Rainfall in the past month has been quite scattered with some parts of the county getting an inch last week and the rest getting nothing. Rain was welcomed by all. Up to 2 inches in some areas of the county. Cotton planting almost finished except for what will be planted behind wheat. Small grains looking good. Peanut planting has begun. Hay has become short. Light rains this week has improved soil moisture conditions. It has been a very dry April. Pasture and hayfields have suffered due to lack of moisture. We need more rain! DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Good soil moisture after 1" on 4-26. Will be planted cotton across county starting Monday. Ryegrass already playing out due to early heat. Received some scattered showers. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.75" of rainfall. Peanut and cotton plantings started. Pasture green up and spring fertilization program applied. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Two fronts did not do much good but was appreciated. Growers are planting peanuts instead of cotton, because they can plant them deeper to get to moisture. Tobacco needs irrigation. Some wind burn and TSWV beginning to show up but only about 1%. Spreading poultry litter. Applying pre-plant herbicides. Preparing land. Burn down of cover crops. Need rain to continue planting. Need a good soaking rain. Dry soil is holding up planting cotton and peanuts. One to two tenths of an inch of rain with the last two weather fronts to pass through the county. Pastures and hay fields are not growing due to dry weather. Blueberry harvest has started. Scattered frost and freeze damage from March freezing temperatures is showing up in some fields. Rain in some areas 0.3 to 0.5 inches helped, but some still very dry. Rainfall improved crop conditions with rainfall amounts ranging from 0.4 - 1.2 inches. Rain still needed! DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available. Find agricultural statistics for your county, State, and the Nation at www.usda.gov/nass/. Media Contact: David S. Abbe, Director USDA-NASS Georgia Field Office Phone: 706-546-2236 E-mail: nass-ga@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga