ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 6, 2006 Issue GA-CW3006 Agricultural Summary August 6, 2006 SPORADIC RAIN HELP SOME The State experienced sporadic rains during the week. This improved crop conditions for some, but left others high and dry, according USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. While weeklong rainfall for the state averaged near one inch, the amounts reported for each station were widely varied. Some stations received well over an inch of rainfall, while others received only a few tenths of an inch. Weeklong highs reached the mid to upper 90's with nighttime lows near 70. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 29% very short, 45% short, 25% adequate, and 1% surplus. For the producers who experienced measurable rain last week, crop condition improvement was reported for pastures, peanuts, and soybeans. For others, however, the scattered, light showers were no match for the intense heat. Dryland crops suffered, and irrigated fields were not in much better shape. Some growers irrigated around the clock in hopes of saving drought stricken crops. Pond and stream levels remained below normal. Hayfields were still reported in mostly poor condition. Many hay producers have missed one cutting of hay already, and it is likely they will miss another without significant rainfall. Hay supplies were very short. Steady rain will be critical in order to replenish hay reserves. Beef cattle sales were increasing because of the hay shortage. Some dryland tobacco fields were being stripped. Peanut growers still hold hope for late planted peanuts. Worms were reported in some peanuts and cotton. Other activities included harvesting tobacco and field preparation for fall crops. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Aug 6, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Dough 98 95 95 97 Corn, Dent 91 81 75 85 Corn, Mature 68 41 29 54 Corn, Harvested 8 1 2 8 Soybeans, Blooming 79 65 75 78 Soybeans, Setting Pods 49 35 45 52 Sorghum, Harvested 10 0 1 2 Cotton, Setting Bolls 97 90 84 91 Cotton, Bolls Open 3 0 0 3 Apples, Harvested 12 4 3 9 Peaches, Harvested 88 76 89 95 Peanuts, Pegging 98 93 97 98 Tobacco, Harvested 61 44 51 56 Watermelons, Harvested 100 97 95 97 CROP CONDITION August 6, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 13 29 31 22 5 Soybeans 14 33 37 16 0 Sorghum 8 29 34 28 1 Cotton 13 25 35 24 3 Pasture 26 41 26 7 0 Apples 19 31 22 19 9 Hay 23 43 28 6 0 Peanuts 10 20 38 30 2 Pecans 19 37 32 12 0 Tobacco 5 27 41 24 3 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 6, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 25 49 26 0 0 Dist 2(NC) 22 46 26 5 1 Dist 3(NE) 15 45 36 4 0 Dist 4(WC) 7 56 34 3 0 Dist 5(C) 30 51 18 1 0 Dist 6(EC) 28 38 28 6 0 Dist 7(SW) 31 28 27 13 1 Dist 8(SC) 34 28 24 14 0 Dist 9(SE) 26 45 23 6 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. Soil Moisture Table Aug 6, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 29 0 8 Short 45 17 27 Adequate 25 69 53 Surplus 1 14 12 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 6, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 37 59 4 0 Dist 2(NC) 35 46 19 0 Dist 3(NE) 27 46 27 0 Dist 4(WC) 43 38 19 0 Dist 5(C) 24 52 24 0 Dist 6(EC) 36 44 20 0 Dist 7(SW) 5 49 42 4 Dist 8(SC) 35 30 34 1 Dist 9(SE) 27 51 22 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 AUGUST 6, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALBANY 98 70 83 1.23 2 3.88 10.30 27.97 89 ALMA 99 68 83 0.15 1 0.84 5.81 25.78 84 ALPHARETTA 98 70 81 0.39 3 2.30 6.76 24.85 84 ARLINGTON 97 65 80 0.65 2 4.56 7.23 24.75 83 ATTAPULGUS 95 69 81 1.82 1 5.68 10.90 25.37 86 BLAIRSVILLE 94 63 77 1.06 1 3.52 9.94 29.83 82 BOWEN 98 69 82 1.21 3 2.78 7.40 21.88 89 BRUNSWICK 99 71 84 0.36 2 0.61 6.09 18.66 84 BYROMVILLE 100 70 83 0.59 2 2.30 3.88 21.64 86 BYRON 98 70 83 0.15 1 4.88 6.50 19.87 86 CAIRO 95 69 81 1.20 4 3.31 5.89 20.66 84 CALHOUN 101 67 82 0.88 2 1.69 4.39 23.05 87 CAMILLA 96 69 81 3.20 2 8.06 11.35 29.77 87 CLARKS HILL 101 70 82 0.43 1 4.85 11.00 27.95 87 CORDELE 98 70 82 0.62 1 4.35 5.25 20.98 87 COVINGTON 99 70 81 0.09 1 2.92 4.69 15.84 87 DAHLONEGA 96 66 79 0.44 1 2.05 5.89 21.22 82 DALLAS 97 70 81 1.46 3 2.92 4.56 25.61 83 DAWSON 97 68 81 2.08 3 3.86 4.89 16.29 83 DEARING 102 71 84 0.00 0 4.31 9.06 22.72 85 DEMPSEY 98 69 82 1.45 2 2.88 5.55 18.52 85 DIXIE 96 67 80 1.88 4 5.03 9.86 24.48 85 DUBLIN 100 71 84 0.51 2 1.91 4.09 19.95 85 DULUTH 99 69 82 1.93 2 3.36 6.73 26.00 84 DUNWOODY 97 69 81 1.10 3 1.69 6.72 24.86 84 EATONTON 100 69 81 2.25 5 3.73 7.20 20.22 87 ELBERTON 101 71 82 0.20 2 4.93 6.47 21.51 84 ELLIJAY 96 63 78 0.67 4 2.32 4.97 27.58 84 FORT VALLEY 99 70 83 0.01 1 2.49 3.86 15.96 86 GAINESVILLE 99 71 82 1.32 2 1.71 4.37 20.17 88 GEORGETOWN 99 69 82 0.97 2 3.33 3.94 20.99 86 GRIFFIN 97 70 81 1.06 2 2.76 5.97 19.30 84 HOMERVILLE 97 67 83 0.23 2 3.34 6.73 19.97 87 JACKSONVILLE 97 70 82 0.00 0 4.82 6.69 19.22 87 JONESBORO 98 70 82 1.11 2 2.94 6.01 23.38 84 LAFAYETTE 97 67 81 1.36 5 2.67 6.61 24.03 82 MCRAE 98 69 83 0.88 1 2.86 5.70 22.97 88 MIDVILLE 101 71 84 0.00 0 1.05 4.77 18.18 91 NAHUNTA 98 67 82 0.00 0 3.05 7.03 19.85 86 NEWTON 97 69 81 1.91 3 3.68 8.48 28.45 87 PINE MOUNTAIN 96 68 81 0.00 0 6.06 7.13 23.14 84 PLAINS 97 69 81 2.63 2 7.85 9.13 26.86 85 ROME 101 69 82 0.03 3 2.52 4.89 23.56 86 SASSER 96 68 81 2.27 3 5.05 5.53 20.13 83 SAVANNAH 102 69 84 0.50 1 2.99 8.83 23.60 88 SHELLMAN 98 68 82 1.53 3 3.73 5.65 17.91 90 SKIDAWAY 97 72 83 0.40 3 2.74 10.51 22.76 83 SNEADS 93 71 81 0.01 1 0.18 1.15 15.53 87 STATESBORO 99 65 82 0.00 0 4.78 9.71 20.06 92 TIFTON 97 69 82 0.48 2 3.20 6.97 23.87 83 TIGER 94 62 77 0.56 1 1.93 10.12 31.37 82 VALDOSTA 96 68 82 1.09 1 5.44 14.12 27.14 82 VIDALIA 100 70 83 0.67 2 3.47 6.46 17.74 86 WATKINSVILLE 98 72 82 0.48 3 3.51 5.71 24.45 86 WILLIAMSON 96 68 81 0.69 2 3.70 6.70 18.38 84 WOODBINE 100 68 82 0.78 2 1.61 7.34 17.94 86 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 August 6, 2006 Scattered, light showers have hit scattered area in the county the past two evenings. Even though they are a relief, they have only been limited moisture. We are still in a drought stress situation. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Farmers have missed one cutting of hay, and it looks likely they will miss the next cutting as well. Hay supplies will be very short this year. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Very scattered rains. Some places reporting over 4 inches of rain and lots reporting none. Scattered showers not enough to help - total water ban implemented in the county for outdoor watering. Widely scattered (very widely) showers Friday night and Saturday. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Rainfall has helped pastures, peanuts, and soybeans. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Some scattered showers but still need rain badly! Some areas of the county received no rain. Some livestock producers still having to feed hay due to poor pasture conditions. Pond and stream levels remain below normal. Welcome rains! Hot! Farmers searching for hay! Some reducing cattle herds due to lack of hay. What little rain we received were no match for high temperatures. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Some wet spots from scattered showers. Very hot, dryland cotton on brink of failure. CEW, cutworms, 3 CAH in peanuts. CEW in Bt cotton. Minimum of peanut disease. One or two more rains could make decent early GIV beans. Dry! DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Rain showers are very scattered. We received 1.07" of rainfall. Still need rain in most of the county. The tobacco we are harvesting now is excellent. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Non irrigated cotton is about finished. One bale or less potential. Late planted late maturing peanuts may still have time to make a decent crop. Dryland peanuts suffering. Some stink bugs in cotton. Irrigating around the clock. Hay shortage. Some selling cattle. Stripping some dryland tobacco fields. Need relief from the drought. Hope TS comes soon. Very limited scattered rain most of the county excessively dry. Dryland crops are struggling, and irrigated fields are not much better. Insect and disease pressure is fairly light in cotton and peanuts. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available. Find agricultural statistics for your county, State, and the Nation at www.usda.gov/nass/. Media Contact: Douglas G. Kleweno, Director USDA-NASS Georgia Field Office Phone: 706-546-2236 E-mail: nass-ga@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga