ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date June 25, 2006 Issue GA-CW2506 Agricultural Summary June 25, 2006 STILL HOT AND DRY The state continues to suffer from agricultural drought, with only southeast Georgia experiencing near normal conditions, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. The weekend brought scattered showers, and although some locations reported more than 3 inches of rainfall, more is desperately needed. Weeklong highs averaged in the mid 90's, with the some locations reporting highs over 100 degrees. Lows were in the upper 60's. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 36% very short, 41% short, 22% adequate, and 1% surplus. Drought conditions became more critical with each passing day. Some parts of the state were under hazardous fire conditions and many areas have imposed watering bans. Wells were going dry while stream and pond levels were becoming extremely low. Temperatures into the 100's took a serious toll on crops and livestock. Pasture conditions were mostly fair to very poor. Livestock were not able to graze because lack of rain and high temperatures has stunted pasture growth. Producers were feeding hay stocks and purchasing hay when none was available. Some have reduced herds to ease pasture grazing pressure. For producers who were able to harvest hay, yield and nutritional value were below normal. Crop conditions continued to decline rapidly. Dryland corn condition was especially critical in central Georgia. Agents reported cutworms in peanuts and plant bugs in cotton. Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus seems to have slowed down, but previous damage has reduced yield and quality. Drought has prevented weed control in some fields. Herbicides were applied to cotton and peanuts, and fertilizer was applied to cotton. Wheat harvest was nearly complete. Other activities included applying landplaster to peanuts, irrigating squash and peppers, cutting available hay, topping and suckering tobacco, and harvesting watermelons. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Jun 25, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Silked 82 73 72 79 Corn, Dough 40 26 18 39 Corn, Dent 5 1 2 9 Soybeans, Planted 94 87 89 91 Soybeans, Emerged 84 76 80 84 Soybeans, Blooming 6 2 8 10 Sorghum, Planted 91 85 77 84 Cotton, Squaring 60 40 46 57 Cotton, Setting Bolls 10 2 5 12 Wheat, Harvested 99 91 81 90 Peaches, Harvested 33 25 41 43 Peanuts, Blooming 53 33 53 61 Peanuts, Pegging 21 10 20 25 Tobacco, Harvested 2 0 0 4 Watermelons, Harvested 39 17 10 34 CROP CONDITION June 25, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 7 21 34 32 6 Soybeans 3 12 46 37 2 Sorghum 6 21 39 33 1 Cotton 3 13 42 38 4 Pasture 22 30 30 16 2 Apples 7 10 30 40 13 Hay 17 34 33 16 0 Peaches 0 1 21 78 0 Peanuts 2 7 38 48 5 Pecans 7 30 36 26 1 Tobacco 4 22 45 28 1 Watermelons 1 5 39 48 7 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL June 25, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 32 68 0 0 Dist 2(NC) 24 23 28 20 5 Dist 3(NE) 53 30 17 0 0 Dist 4(WC) 14 48 15 14 9 Dist 5(C) 46 36 15 3 0 Dist 6(EC) 2 18 42 38 0 Dist 7(SW) 28 41 22 8 1 Dist 8(SC) 7 22 43 27 1 Dist 9(SE) 2 14 54 26 4 *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 Jun 25, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 36 2 5 Short 41 25 19 Adequate 22 65 60 Surplus 1 8 16 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL June 25, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 34 61 5 0 Dist 2(NC) 39 28 28 5 Dist 3(NE) 47 39 14 0 Dist 4(WC) 32 57 11 0 Dist 5(C) 79 17 4 0 Dist 6(EC) 10 36 51 3 Dist 7(SW) 53 44 3 0 Dist 8(SC) 18 54 27 1 Dist 9(SE) 9 46 45 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 JUNE 25, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALBANY 100 68 84 1.42 2 2.82 5.48 19.78 92 ALMA 97 63 81 1.31 2 4.23 7.69 23.51 81 ALPHARETTA 98 65 77 3.10 4 3.34 4.67 21.24 80 ARLINGTON 101 63 82 1.40 4 2.42 6.60 19.13 88 ATTAPULGUS 97 65 81 2.00 2 3.79 7.93 17.44 90 BLAIRSVILLE 92 57 72 3.57 4 4.60 8.59 23.46 75 BOWEN 97 65 81 0.08 2 3.63 5.70 17.27 90 BRUNSWICK 90 72 80 0.86 2 4.01 5.39 15.79 81 BYROMVILLE 99 66 82 0.42 2 0.90 5.92 18.35 87 BYRON 100 63 81 0.03 1 1.17 3.59 14.20 83 CAIRO 97 66 82 0.49 1 2.20 7.15 16.54 82 CALHOUN 99 62 77 2.02 2 3.32 6.41 20.68 82 CAMILLA 99 66 83 2.09 1 3.24 8.44 21.44 93 CLARKS HILL 99 61 79 0.80 3 7.52 9.84 21.55 83 CORDELE 99 67 82 0.16 3 0.78 3.08 16.06 89 COVINGTON 99 65 80 0.92 3 1.67 3.33 12.09 87 DAHLONEGA 95 57 75 1.62 3 1.73 3.88 17.05 77 DALLAS 97 64 78 0.53 2 0.89 2.62 21.62 80 DAWSON 101 61 82 0.35 4 1.00 3.67 11.96 84 DEARING 97 64 81 1.38 3 5.80 7.00 17.09 81 DEMPSEY 99 67 80 1.33 2 1.92 3.75 14.30 87 DIXIE 97 65 81 1.13 1 3.98 6.23 18.36 87 DUBLIN 98 63 81 0.45 1 2.05 4.89 17.07 82 DULUTH 99 62 78 2.25 4 2.64 4.19 21.52 82 DUNWOODY 97 65 78 3.08 3 3.58 5.06 21.22 80 EATONTON 102 65 81 0.91 2 1.64 3.41 13.96 89 ELBERTON 100 63 81 0.65 3 1.87 3.73 15.94 84 ELLIJAY 94 59 74 2.29 6 2.69 5.90 24.90 80 FORT VALLEY 100 64 81 0.31 3 0.87 2.57 12.49 88 GAINESVILLE 96 63 78 1.18 3 1.91 3.31 17.59 86 GEORGETOWN 99 64 80 0.55 3 2.33 6.28 17.62 85 GRIFFIN 98 67 80 1.31 2 1.87 3.59 14.65 83 HOMERVILLE 97 63 79 0.10 2 4.43 6.29 16.33 84 JACKSONVILLE 101 62 80 0.60 1 1.11 5.06 13.52 85 JONESBORO 99 65 80 1.36 2 2.69 4.54 18.91 84 LAFAYETTE 97 60 76 1.13 1 1.91 5.38 18.76 80 MCRAE 98 59 80 0.02 2 1.86 5.15 19.07 88 MIDVILLE 95 64 80 0.55 2 5.03 6.66 16.24 87 NAHUNTA 97 65 78 0.22 1 4.89 7.45 14.96 85 NEWTON 99 63 81 0.00 0 1.44 7.71 20.88 87 PINE MOUNTAIN 98 65 78 0.30 2 0.83 3.54 16.34 82 PLAINS 99 65 80 1.25 4 2.18 4.52 18.99 87 ROME 99 63 77 1.85 3 2.98 5.14 20.52 82 ROOPVILLE 99 60 78 2.45 4 4.00 6.34 21.81 82 SASSER 99 65 82 0.23 2 0.49 5.08 14.93 87 SAVANNAH 95 62 79 1.28 2 5.10 6.75 19.16 85 SHELLMAN 100 66 82 1.28 5 1.97 4.45 13.58 89 SKIDAWAY 91 67 78 0.80 4 5.39 7.40 16.84 80 SNEADS 95 70 82 0.00 0 0.00 0.30 12.99 87 STATESBORO 98 59 79 0.11 1 3.79 4.77 13.59 88 TIFTON 96 67 81 0.52 2 3.32 6.02 19.67 81 TIGER 95 54 72 4.75 4 7.01 10.03 26.15 77 VALDOSTA 98 69 82 0.00 0 3.49 5.31 16.34 79 VIDALIA 98 64 81 0.35 2 2.97 3.70 13.82 85 WATKINSVILLE 99 64 80 0.24 2 1.21 3.55 19.70 84 WILLIAMSON 98 65 79 1.48 3 1.96 3.93 13.19 85 WOODBINE 95 68 78 1.52 1 5.41 7.18 14.94 83 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 June 25, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Like everyone else......we need rain. A few thunderstorms on 6/22/06, but very spotty. Crop conditions continue to decline. Dry conditions delaying final corn planting - spotty thunderstorms provided needed rain in scattered locations across the county near the end of the week. Rains spotty around the county this past week. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Spotty showers on Thursday (approx. 1/8 in) didn't help situation. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Two+ inches of badly needed rain fell over the county on 6/24 & 25. Dry. Scattered showers don't really seem to help much. What hay has been made is being fed. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL No rain! One hundred degrees + temperatures! Drought conditions get more critical with each passing day! Pasture conditions very poor! No grazing for livestock at all! Producers are feeding hay if they have any or can find a ny to purchase. Some producers have sold some livestock due to drought. Many wells going dry and stream and pond levels getting extremely low. Crop conditions continue to decline rapidly. Wheat harvest complete. Some locations in the county have been more than two months without rain. Only about half or less of a normal cutting of hay has been harvested from hay fields. No re-growth is occurring. Most pastures have been depleted and hay is being fed on 50% or more of the beef cattle operations. Producers have begun heavier culling of cows to try and decrease grazing pressure on pastures. Conditions are reaching critical mass. We are probably drier than any where else in the state. We are under a watering ban, fire conditions are high, and some farmers are considering downsizing their herds. Received about 1/2" of rain last Friday but for many areas of the county it was the first rain in almost two months--pastures and hay crop are in bad condition...report of one farmer's well going dry. Our area is extremely dry. Very hot conditions and little rains have caused much hardship to farmers in middle Ga. Many livestock producers are feeding hay as grass has quit growing. Many are feeding hay from last year or some they have recently cut. Prospects for harvesting hay seem bleak for this year. Temperatures as high as 103 degrees took a major toll on crops this week. Conditions becoming very critical. No rain in sight. We are in dire need of significant rainfall. Pasture and hay crops are all but lost. Any hay harvested has essentially no nutritional value. Dry land corn is 100% lost. Irrigated corn is 40% to 50% below what is expected. Hay reserves are depleted with no hope in sight for recovery. Water is becoming critical with reports of well beginning to fail. Intense heat is beginning to effect both beef and dairy animals. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Cutworms in peanuts, plant bugs in cotton, some pastures very poor, watering corn every day. Boron/fungicide sprays going out on peanuts. Boron/pix on cotton has begun. Finally rain. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Good general rain occurred on Sunday night. Hope to see improved crop conditions. Extremely dry conditions. We received 0.44" of rainfall. Drought damage to dryland corn fields (unharvestable). Dry! DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Applying landplaster to peanuts. Applying herbicides to cotton and peanuts, and putting out fertilizer on cotton with tag a longs. Some fields have poor weed control due to drought. Surprised crops look as good as they do with the drought, but we need rain soon. Cotton and peanuts getting into their growth stage that demands more water. Irrigation of squash and pepper. Cutting hay. Corn yields have suffered due to drought. Applying sucker control to tobacco and topping and suckering. TSWV seems to have slowed down some but old damage has reduced yields and quality. Extremely dry, scattered thunder storms yesterday gave 0.25 inch in limited area, most area did not receive any to just enough to settle the dust. Rain needed again. Hot and dry. Pastures and hay still short. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Watermelon harvest nearly complete. Scattered rains in the area have been much needed. Find agricultural statistics for your county, State, and the Nation at www.usda.gov/nass/. Media Contact: S. Radley Edwards, Acting Director USDA-NASS Georgia Field Office Phone: 706-546-2236 E-mail: nass-ga@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga