ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date July 9, 2006 Issue GA-CW2706 Agricultural Summary July 9, 2006 SHOWERS HIT AND MISS Scattered rain showers throughout the week improved conditions, although more would be welcomed, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. The week began with high temperatures in the mid 90's, but a front moved across the state Wednesday, bringing much needed rain to many areas and easing extreme temperatures. Highs by week's end averaged in the mid eighties with nighttime lows in the upper 60's to low 70's. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 23% very short, 49% short, 28% adequate, and 0% surplus. While the overall condition of the state continued dry, heavy showers improved soil moisture conditions in parts of the State. Pastures and hay fields began to green up with the week's rain although they are still growing slowly. Cattle producers were still feeding hay to livestock. Hay producers reported lower than average yields on harvested fields. Damage from drought may be irreparable in many pastures and hay fields. Peanuts began to peg and soybeans began blooming and setting pods in the central part of the state. Disease pressure for peanuts was reportedly light. Corn harvest was expected to be in full swing by the end of the month. Cotton was setting bolls and insects are light so far. Sunflower heads were not filling out because of the prolonged heat and dry conditions. Irrigated crops remained in fair shape while dryland crops are reported in poor condition. Corn silage harvest began. Producers applied herbicides and fungicides to peanuts, and applied herbicides and fertilizer to cotton. They also applied suckercides and topped tobacco. Cutworm populations were heavy in sandy, tilled fields and required treatment. Worms were reported in hayfields and cornstalk borers were reported on peanuts. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Jul 9, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Silked 94 88 93 95 Corn, Dough 70 55 57 72 Corn, Dent 34 14 13 31 Corn, Mature 2 0 0 6 Soybeans, Planted 99 97 98 98 Soybeans, Emerged 95 91 95 95 Soybeans, Blooming 20 11 24 30 Soybeans, Setting Pods 3 0 3 9 Sorghum, Planted 95 94 88 94 Cotton, Squaring 87 75 79 83 Cotton, Setting Bolls 44 23 30 38 Peaches, Harvested 51 36 54 63 Peanuts, Blooming 86 70 86 87 Peanuts, Pegging 57 37 55 59 Tobacco, Harvested 12 5 9 13 Watermelons, Harvested 83 60 56 73 CROP CONDITION July 9, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 6 20 34 33 7 Soybeans 6 19 38 36 1 Sorghum 6 17 37 39 1 Cotton 6 14 38 37 5 Pasture 17 25 39 18 1 Apples 0 9 28 49 14 Hay 17 24 41 17 1 Peaches 0 3 35 62 0 Peanuts 2 9 39 44 6 Pecans 10 32 36 21 1 Tobacco 4 19 42 32 3 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL July 9, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 25 26 46 3 0 Dist 2(NC) 4 25 43 27 1 Dist 3(NE) 27 28 41 4 0 Dist 4(WC) 36 21 22 21 0 Dist 5(C) 25 37 33 5 0 Dist 6(EC) 5 13 56 26 0 Dist 7(SW) 35 28 20 16 1 Dist 8(SC) 4 22 43 31 0 Dist 9(SE) 2 14 55 25 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 Jul 9, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 23 1 3 Short 49 6 14 Adequate 28 59 63 Surplus 0 34 20 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL July 9, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 19 65 16 0 Dist 2(NC) 13 31 53 3 Dist 3(NE) 6 69 25 0 Dist 4(WC) 60 38 2 0 Dist 5(C) 21 53 26 0 Dist 6(EC) 12 60 28 0 Dist 7(SW) 36 47 17 0 Dist 8(SC) 17 55 28 0 Dist 9(SE) 26 40 34 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 JULY 9, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALBANY 97 65 81 0.71 2 6.42 7.70 24.09 90 ALMA 94 60 79 0.23 1 4.97 7.40 24.94 81 ALPHARETTA 95 61 75 1.26 5 4.59 5.10 22.68 80 ARLINGTON 100 61 79 0.99 2 2.67 3.52 20.19 87 ATTAPULGUS 96 62 79 0.36 2 5.22 6.89 19.69 88 BLAIRSVILE 90 58 71 0.68 3 6.42 9.87 26.31 76 BOWEN 95 61 79 1.15 2 4.62 5.68 19.10 88 BRUNSWICK 97 67 79 0.76 2 5.48 6.34 18.05 82 BYROMVILLE 98 62 81 0.30 1 1.58 2.44 19.34 86 BYRON 97 61 80 0.04 2 1.62 2.83 14.99 84 CAIRO 96 62 80 0.20 1 2.58 4.31 17.35 82 CALHOUN 97 61 76 0.57 2 2.70 5.67 21.36 79 CAMILLA 97 62 80 0.01 1 3.29 3.72 21.71 92 CLARKS HILL 97 58 76 0.37 2 6.15 9.69 23.10 82 CORDELE 98 62 81 0.08 1 0.90 1.47 16.63 88 COVINGTON 96 59 77 0.47 1 1.77 2.55 12.92 83 DAHLONEGA 91 58 73 0.62 3 3.84 5.42 19.17 77 DALLAS 96 63 76 0.18 3 1.64 2.04 22.69 80 DAWSON 99 58 79 0.40 2 1.03 1.76 12.43 84 DEARING 96 62 78 0.10 1 4.75 7.37 18.41 82 DEMPSEY 95 64 78 0.69 2 2.67 3.59 15.64 84 DIXIE 94 61 78 0.36 2 4.83 5.38 19.45 85 DUBLIN 97 60 79 0.00 0 2.18 3.44 18.04 82 DULUTH 95 60 76 0.83 4 3.42 4.25 22.69 81 DUNWOODY 95 62 76 1.07 3 5.03 5.75 23.17 80 EATONTON 96 58 77 0.42 1 3.46 4.23 16.48 86 ELBERTON 98 61 78 0.02 1 1.54 3.43 16.58 82 ELLIJAY 92 58 73 0.71 3 3.12 4.86 25.73 81 FORT VALLEY 98 61 80 0.88 2 1.37 2.16 13.47 86 GAINESVILLE 95 63 76 0.24 3 2.66 3.52 18.46 83 GEORGETOWN 98 64 82 0.00 0 0.61 4.35 17.66 89 GRIFFIN 95 62 78 0.75 2 3.21 4.00 16.54 81 HOMERVILLE 98 56 78 0.06 1 3.39 5.06 16.63 85 JONESBORO 98 62 77 0.38 1 3.07 4.32 20.44 82 LAFAYETTE 94 58 74 0.84 4 4.01 5.72 21.43 78 MCRAE 97 56 78 0.12 1 2.84 3.09 20.11 89 MIDVILLE 94 60 77 0.07 2 3.72 6.67 17.13 88 NAHUNTA 97 58 77 0.19 2 3.98 7.63 16.80 84 NEWTON 98 62 79 0.40 2 4.80 5.65 24.77 87 PINE MOUNTAIN 97 63 78 0.66 3 1.07 1.90 17.08 82 PLAINS 99 62 81 0.00 0 1.28 2.58 19.01 90 ROME 95 61 75 0.49 4 2.63 4.29 21.30 80 ROOPVILLE 97 61 76 2.38 3 5.88 7.38 24.92 81 SASSER 99 60 80 0.06 2 0.48 0.87 15.08 89 SAVANNAH 97 61 77 0.12 2 5.84 7.67 20.61 86 SHELLMAN 101 63 81 0.50 2 1.92 2.79 14.18 91 SKIDAWAY 95 65 77 3.15 5 7.77 10.09 20.03 80 SNEADS 93 70 82 0.00 0 0.00 0.03 12.99 88 TIFTON 95 62 79 0.15 2 3.77 4.49 20.67 81 TIGER 90 56 71 0.44 2 8.19 12.20 29.44 77 VALDOSTA 96 64 81 0.22 2 8.68 9.37 21.70 80 WATKINSVILLE 94 60 76 0.48 2 2.20 3.06 20.94 81 WILLIAMSON 96 62 77 0.41 2 3.00 3.68 14.68 83 WOODBINE 98 62 77 0.95 2 5.73 6.86 16.33 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 July 9, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Heavy rains this week continued to improve soil moisture. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Another week with no rainfall. Cattle being sold on a regular basis due to lack of grass. Many producers missed the first cutting of hay and will soon miss the second cutting. Some irrigation water sources have gone dry. Dry conditions continue as does hay feeding with little being baled. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Scattered showers have helped to keep crop conditions from getting worse. Hay, pasture, and silage crops conditions are not very encouraging at all. We are still experiencing extremely dry weather. The conditions are still in the deficit range. We really need more rain to go with cooler temperatures. The conditions in the county are high for potential wildfires. Cattle owners are in need of hay. Received small amounts of rainfall this week (Thursday - Friday) in our area - rainfall received on June 23-24 is mostly gone now - conditions returning to drought - grass has greened up in pastures and hay fields some but is not growing very much - cattle producers continuing to feed hay - hay producers cutting and baling some hay this week but yield is about 25% of normal. Dry! Hay in short supply. Recent rainfall has been beneficial. Recovery of hay and forage grasses has been slow. Damage from drought may be irreparable in many pastures and hay fields. Hay yields are only about 10 - 15% of average at best. Grazing is still almost nonexistent. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Cotton setting bolls, most places 9-10 NAWB, insects are light so far. Group V and VI soybeans blooming and setting pods, insects light on them also. Peanuts beginning to peg, cutworm populations very heavy in sandy, conventional tilled fields necessitating sprays. Disease pressure in peanuts is light so far. Corn harvest should be pretty good this year and will begin last week of this month or first of August. Corn silage harvest has begun. ALS resistant pigweeds are very evident this year in peanuts. Cotton weed control is good in fields with Reflex and Dual sprayed as pre-emergents. Dry! Dry! Dry! DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Cotton fields through the county showing drought stress. Peanuts overall rated good to excellent. Five hay shortage calls received. Still dry! DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Still need rain. Cotton, tobacco, and peanuts are suffering. Applying suckercides and topping tobacco. Applying herbicides and fungicides to peanuts and applying herbicides and fertilizer to cotton. Some worms in hayfields. Lesser Cornstalk borer showing up in peanuts. Sunflower heads not filling out due to heat and drought. Scattered showers brought some relief to portions of the county. Other parts of the county received very little to no rain. Extremely dry. Irrigated crops in fair shape. Dryland approaching pitiful stage. Extremely high aphid population numbers are still a major concern for cotton growers. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available. 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