ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 21, 2006 Issue GA-CW2006 Agricultural Summary May 21, 2006 UNSEASONABLY COOL NIGHTS The state of Georgia reported unseasonably cool nighttime temperatures over the past week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Early in the week, the state experienced lows in the mid 40's. The average low climbed to near 65 by the end of the week. Week long highs were in the low 80's. Scattered light rain was recorded throughout the week. Soil moisture conditions were rated 5 percent very short, 32 percent short, 58 percent adequate, and 5 percent surplus. Recent rain improved crop conditions, but cool nighttime temperatures have crops struggling to grow. Complete effects of the low temperatures remains uncertain, but producers have reported early problems. The cold has slowed turf greening, increased incidents of powdery mildew on ornamentals, and delayed forage harvest. Wind has caused fields to dry out. Produce and row crops were damaged by last week's heavy rain and hail. Some apple and peach orchards in North Georgia reported potential for heavy hail damage. Tomatoes showed signs of tomato leaf curl after the heavy rain. Increased outbreaks of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus were reported on tobacco. Some producers were forced to replant cotton and peanuts because of low quality seed, excess rainfall, cold temperatures, and dry soils during initial planting. Hay, small grains, vegetables, and onions were being harvested. Dryland corn was reported to look good. The cool weather has been good for milk production. Other activities included irrigation of peppers, planting millet for livestock grazing, planting cotton and peanuts, and harvesting blackberries and blueberries. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS May 21, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Emerged 95 90 96 98 Corn, Silked 1 0 0 4 Soybeans, Planted 36 19 25 33 Soybeans, Emerged 22 10 15 19 Sorghum, Planted 40 26 36 43 Cotton, Planted 73 56 58 67 Wheat, Harvested 9 1 4 10 Onions, Harvested 77 66 50 69 Peaches, Harvested 7 4 12 9 Peanuts, Planted 51 24 50 62 CROP CONDITION May 21, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 0 2 25 64 9 Soybeans 0 0 35 61 4 Sorghum 0 0 40 58 2 Cotton 1 5 38 53 3 Wheat 2 9 31 52 6 Pasture 1 9 36 49 5 Apples 0 4 14 51 31 Hay 0 9 43 44 4 Onions 6 13 28 33 20 Peaches 0 4 43 53 0 Peanuts 1 2 41 54 2 Pecans 3 9 44 40 4 Tobacco 0 8 44 46 2 Watermelons 2 4 22 60 12 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL May 21, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 8 52 35 5 Dist 2(NC) 0 2 13 73 12 Dist 3(NE) 0 11 49 40 0 Dist 4(WC) 4 12 30 47 7 Dist 5(C) 0 3 24 70 3 Dist 6(EC) 7 9 43 35 6 Dist 7(SW) 1 7 40 44 8 Dist 8(SC) 0 17 40 40 3 Dist 9(SE) 1 6 35 55 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 May 21, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 5 3 13 Short 32 30 32 Adequate 58 62 46 Surplus 5 5 9 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL May 21, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 10 82 8 Dist 2(NC) 0 13 79 8 Dist 3(NE) 5 47 48 0 Dist 4(WC) 10 38 52 0 Dist 5(C) 3 30 59 8 Dist 6(EC) 15 44 39 2 Dist 7(SW) 1 23 64 12 Dist 8(SC) 9 29 58 4 Dist 9(SE) 2 51 47 0 *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 MAY 21, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 92 51 71 0.83 1 3.31 4.95 18.39 71 ALPHARETTA 90 44 64 0.09 4 1.93 5.13 17.80 67 ARLINGTON 92 49 71 0.00 0 5.79 6.46 16.71 77 ATTAPULGUS 91 53 71 0.59 1 5.89 6.27 13.65 78 BLAIRSVILLE 81 37 57 1.89 4 4.53 7.76 18.58 63 BOWEN 92 50 71 0.17 1 2.54 3.80 13.64 77 BRUNSWICK 95 55 73 0.03 1 1.55 3.02 11.75 73 BYROMVILLE 92 49 70 0.00 0 6.22 7.54 17.44 73 BYRON 93 50 69 0.00 0 3.12 4.25 13.03 71 CAIRO 91 53 71 0.85 1 5.86 6.30 13.89 73 CALHOUN 89 42 63 0.77 3 2.99 6.54 16.60 67 CAMILLA 91 51 72 0.09 1 5.86 6.81 18.20 80 CLARKS HILL 93 45 67 0.03 2 3.29 4.83 14.03 71 CORDELE 91 50 71 0.00 0 2.98 4.42 15.28 75 COVINGTON 92 47 67 0.02 1 2.13 3.09 10.42 70 DAHLONEGA 84 40 60 0.85 3 2.77 5.45 15.32 63 DALLAS 89 45 65 0.01 1 2.47 5.53 20.72 67 DEARING 94 48 69 0.06 1 1.90 3.06 11.28 68 DIXIE 92 52 71 0.10 1 3.01 5.26 14.38 75 DUBLIN 94 49 70 0.00 0 4.57 5.39 15.02 72 DULUTH 90 44 65 0.02 1 1.89 4.27 18.66 67 DUNWOODY 88 45 65 0.00 0 1.87 4.43 17.51 65 ELBERTON 92 45 65 0.35 3 1.96 3.04 13.64 68 ELLIJAY 81 38 58 0.80 5 4.47 8.98 22.03 65 FORT VALLEY 92 48 69 0.00 0 2.34 3.58 11.62 72 GAINESVILLE 84 49 64 0.36 3 1.78 4.22 15.51 69 GEORGETOWN 93 50 70 0.00 0 4.75 5.40 15.29 75 GRIFFIN 90 48 67 0.00 0 2.17 3.39 12.78 67 HOMERVILLE 93 48 70 0.25 1 2.02 3.13 11.85 76 JACKSONVILLE 92 49 69 0.00 0 4.59 5.37 12.41 73 JONESBORO 91 48 67 0.01 1 2.86 5.08 16.22 68 LAFAYETTE 86 42 63 0.95 6 3.56 6.87 16.39 66 MCRAE 93 45 69 0.01 1 4.10 4.76 17.21 74 MIDVILLE 93 49 71 0.03 1 2.77 3.58 11.21 75 NAHUNTA 95 47 71 0.48 1 2.57 3.58 10.07 75 NEWTON 91 50 70 0.24 1 6.92 8.02 19.44 77 PINE MOUNTAIN 89 42 65 0.00 0 3.56 5.10 15.51 69 ROME 88 44 64 0.10 3 2.87 6.13 17.27 66 ROOPVILLE 91 45 65 0.00 0 3.12 5.47 17.81 70 SASSER 91 49 70 0.00 0 4.97 5.27 14.44 75 SAVANNAH 96 49 71 0.68 1 2.25 4.41 13.83 75 SHELLMAN 94 49 70 0.00 0 3.02 3.33 11.61 78 SKIDAWAY 96 50 71 1.20 5 2.40 3.83 11.44 70 SNEADS 90 58 72 0.01 1 1.66 4.04 12.99 76 STATESBORO 94 48 70 0.01 1 2.09 3.08 9.80 76 TIFTON 80 51 66 0.17 2 3.68 4.43 16.35 70 TIGER 82 38 59 1.62 2 4.05 6.73 18.94 65 VALDOSTA 93 55 72 0.36 1 2.46 3.94 12.85 71 VIDALIA 94 49 71 0.00 0 1.96 2.84 10.85 74 WATKINSVILLE 90 46 66 0.00 0 3.53 4.52 18.13 68 WILLIAMSON 90 47 66 0.00 0 2.19 2.93 11.23 69 WOODBINE 97 49 72 0.05 1 1.87 2.92 9.53 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 May 21, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL A lot of hay is being cut now due to better drying hay drying conditions. The potential for hail damage is strong, especially for apple and peach orchards in the west side of the county. Initial reports indicate some hail on the east side of the county, but it seems to be not as strong as it was on the west side. The west side experienced golf ball sized hail for about 15-20 minutes on Saturday. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Finally baling some cool season hay. Need soil moisture. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL We have been on the receiving end of some very unseasonably cool weather. How this will affect potential disease outbreaks remains to be seen. A lot of hay was cut this past weekend and with the weekly rain we have received in this area, this first cutting for most folks looks very good. Need rain! Windy conditions have dried out fields. Planting continued. Haying has begun. Small grain harvest has begun. Onion harvest continued. Cool weather has been good for milk production. Rainfall has been scarce, less than half an inch this week, and very scattered. The cooler, damp weather has slowed not only turf green up but has also increased incidents of powdery mildew on ornamentals. Tomatoes had some tomato leaf curl with the heavy rains (over 1 and 1/2 inches) from 2 weeks ago. Forage harvest has been delayed due to the cooler night time temperatures and late green up of grasses. Dry conditions in March and April have injured both Fescue and ryegrass stands, therefore a lighter harvest is expected. Rain has improved conditions but very cool temperatures at night have crops really struggling to grow. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Cool and windy conditions are negatively impacting cotton. Questionable seed quality in peanuts, high winds causing sandblasting, some hail damage and soil crusting is causing weak cotton stands. Cool night temperatures, last 10 days slowed peanut and cotton seedling growth. Wheat harvest initiated. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.05 inches of rainfall. Soil drying out from high winds hay and pasture growth below normal. Livestock conditions are good. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Irrigation of pepper. Dryland corn looking better after the rains. Planting cotton and peanuts. Hay close to cutting after the rains. Planting millet for cattle grazing. Tobacco TSWV increasing. Varies from field to field. Averaging about 25-30% TSWV. Dry, dry, dry. Some replanting of cotton and peanuts due to low quality seed, excess rainfall, cold temperatures and dry soils before the rain. Blackberry harvest has started this week. Rabbiteye blueberry harvest is progressing however cool night time temperatures has slowed down maturity of the crop. Heavy rain and hail has damaged produce and row crops last week. Disease is setting in on the damaged plants. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Peanut planting now underway. Squash, cabbage, onion, pickles, and other vegetables. being harvested. Topsoil moisture nearing the critical point. Tomato Spotted wilt virus continues to get worse in tobacco. Some fields over 40% damage. 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