ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 13, 2006 Issue GA-CW3206 Agricultural Summary August 13, 2006 COLD FRONT BRINGS RELIEF A weekend cold front brought rain and relief from scorching temperatures to Georgia, according USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Week long rainfall for the state was varied, with totals ranging from a trace to over two inches. Highs were in the mid 90's most of the week. The cold front brought them back into the mid 80's for the weekend. Lows remained near 70. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 23% very short, 43% short, 32% adequate, and 2% surplus. Although last week's front brought scattered rain to most of the state, overall conditions remain dry. Crop, pasture and hayfield conditions have seen some improvement. Pond and stream levels remained below normal. Hayfields were still reported in mostly poor condition. Cattle owners are feeding hay that they normally would feed during the winter months. Hay supplies remain very short. Steady rain will be critical in order to replenish hay reserves. Growers began planting Vidalia salad onions during the week. County extension agents reported numerous calls concerning alternative supplemental feed for livestock. Armyworms were reported in pastures and hay fields. Other activities included harvesting tobacco, field preparation for fall crops and preparing Vidalia onion seedbeds. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Aug 13, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Dent 94 91 87 92 Corn, Mature 76 68 53 71 Corn, Harvested 18 8 5 17 Soybeans, Blooming 84 79 84 87 Soybeans, Setting Pods 57 49 56 64 Sorghum, Harvested 11 10 4 5 Cotton, Setting Bolls 98 97 94 96 Cotton, Bolls Open 7 3 1 6 Apples, Harvested 14 12 6 11 Peaches, Harvested 96 88 93 98 Tobacco, Harvested 66 61 67 69 CROP CONDITION August 13, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 13 27 31 23 6 Soybeans 14 28 36 22 0 Sorghum 8 21 39 29 3 Cotton 16 24 32 25 3 Pasture 20 39 30 11 0 Apples 4 11 24 57 4 Hay 20 37 33 10 0 Peanuts 10 20 37 30 3 Pecans 16 38 33 13 0 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 13, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 33 47 20 0 0 Dist 2(NC) 13 29 42 15 1 Dist 3(NE) 19 50 29 2 0 Dist 4(WC) 9 41 36 14 0 Dist 5(C) 21 48 27 4 0 Dist 6(EC) 16 36 38 10 0 Dist 7(SW) 19 33 25 20 3 Dist 8(SC) 24 32 28 16 0 Dist 9(SE) 23 40 26 11 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 13, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 23 0 8 Short 43 9 22 Adequate 32 70 55 Surplus 2 21 15 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 13, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 42 58 0 0 Dist 2(NC) 25 35 37 3 Dist 3(NE) 31 57 12 0 Dist 4(WC) 28 41 27 4 Dist 5(C) 15 45 40 0 Dist 6(EC) 17 41 42 0 Dist 7(SW) 9 43 44 4 Dist 8(SC) 25 39 34 1 Dist 9(SE) 29 45 26 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 13, 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 71 81 2.33 3 6.21 11.94 30.30 89 ALMA 97 70 81 0.72 4 1.45 4.30 26.50 83 ALPHARETTA 99 65 79 0.25 3 2.23 6.98 25.10 83 ARLINGTON 97 64 79 0.76 1 5.32 7.78 25.51 84 ATTAPULGUS 96 69 81 1.25 4 6.93 11.18 26.62 87 BLAIRSVILLE 93 61 74 0.43 1 3.75 10.37 30.26 81 WILLIAMSON 96 65 79 0.08 2 3.76 6.75 18.46 84 BOWEN 96 70 80 2.83 2 5.61 7.52 24.71 87 BRUNSWICK 98 71 83 1.16 3 1.76 4.91 19.82 84 BYROMVILLE 97 68 81 0.99 3 3.29 4.70 22.63 85 BYRON 97 67 80 0.45 3 5.33 6.15 20.32 85 CAIRO 96 70 81 0.43 1 3.74 5.04 21.09 85 CALHOUN 99 67 80 0.32 2 1.35 4.71 23.37 87 PINE MOUNTAIN 96 66 79 0.15 3 6.21 7.25 23.29 86 CAMILLA 97 71 81 2.69 2 10.74 13.11 32.46 87 CLARKS HILL 98 68 79 2.12 3 6.27 9.32 30.07 85 CORDELE 97 68 81 0.24 3 4.59 5.32 21.22 87 COVINGTON 96 65 78 0.61 5 3.53 5.28 16.45 84 DAHLONEGA 95 64 76 0.27 2 1.79 6.06 21.49 80 DALLAS 97 66 79 0.62 5 3.54 5.14 26.23 83 DAWSON 98 69 81 0.45 3 4.31 5.13 16.74 84 DEARING 99 67 80 0.70 3 4.96 7.71 23.42 85 DEMPSEY 96 65 79 0.09 2 2.97 5.64 18.61 83 DIXIE 97 68 81 0.87 4 5.90 8.12 25.35 86 DUBLIN 98 69 82 0.31 3 2.22 3.64 20.26 85 DULUTH 98 66 79 0.97 3 4.25 7.70 26.97 83 DUNWOODY 97 65 79 1.17 2 2.69 7.89 26.03 83 EATONTON 99 65 78 0.73 3 4.45 7.90 20.95 85 ELBERTON 99 67 79 0.72 3 5.51 6.94 22.23 83 ELLIJAY 95 63 75 0.49 4 1.93 5.46 28.07 82 ROME 100 69 80 0.08 2 1.85 4.97 23.64 86 FORT VALLEY 97 67 81 0.53 3 3.02 4.31 16.49 83 GAINESVILLE 98 66 79 0.07 2 1.78 3.83 20.24 85 GEORGETOWN 98 70 81 0.11 3 3.44 4.03 21.10 88 GRIFFIN 95 65 79 0.21 2 2.97 6.17 19.51 83 HOMERVILLE 96 69 81 0.89 4 4.17 4.63 20.86 85 JONESBORO 95 67 79 2.18 5 5.11 8.01 25.56 83 JACKSONVILLE 96 67 80 0.40 3 5.22 6.70 19.62 86 LAFAYETTE 99 67 79 0.45 3 1.99 6.85 24.48 82 MIDVILLE 99 68 81 0.88 2 1.93 3.37 19.06 89 NAHUNTA 98 69 81 0.70 5 2.97 5.81 20.55 87 NEWTON 96 70 81 2.53 3 6.21 10.10 30.98 86 PLAINS 98 67 80 0.99 4 8.84 10.11 27.85 85 SASSER 96 69 80 1.95 4 7.00 7.38 22.08 81 SAVANNAH 99 71 81 0.76 4 3.54 6.48 24.36 86 SHELLMAN 100 70 81 0.11 2 3.84 5.72 18.02 91 SKIDAWAY 96 71 81 0.46 5 3.18 7.19 23.22 83 SNEADS 94 72 82 0.02 1 0.06 0.20 15.55 88 STATESBORO 99 56 77 1.50 4 6.28 8.08 21.56 90 TIFTON 96 70 80 0.42 2 3.62 5.14 24.29 83 TIGER 94 61 74 0.24 2 2.02 10.21 31.61 81 VALDOSTA 97 73 82 0.77 2 6.21 11.57 27.91 83 VIDALIA 97 69 81 0.66 3 4.13 4.93 18.40 85 ROOPVILLE 97 68 79 0.81 2 3.63 9.20 28.56 83 WATKINSVILLE 97 66 79 0.32 1 3.21 5.31 24.77 84 WOODBINE 99 71 82 1.67 3 3.14 6.75 19.61 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 13, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Area-wide rains on Friday a very welcome site. Scattered thunderstorms have help some farmers but others are still very dry. Some cattle producers are feeding hay. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL We have had slightly cooler temperatures and some very light showers giving hay fields a little growth. Pasture conditions continue to decline! Very spotty rains helped some isolated areas....otherwise still very dry. Got over 1.5" of rain on Saturday. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Just enough scattered showers to keep some soil moisture in some areas. Armyworms have been active in millet and hayfields. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Still hot and dry! Crop, pasture and hayfield conditions continue to decline. To make matters worse, armyworms beginning to show up in some pastures and hayfields. We have gotten a few showers, but we are still in a major deficit in terms of rainfall. Cattle owners are feeding a lot of hay they would normally feed during the winter months. Spotty showers occurring - armyworm problems occurring on pastures and hay fields. Scattered rains continue. Optimism for peanuts and soybeans. Haying begins again. It is still very dry. Some parts of the county have gotten rain this week (over 2 inches), other parts have only received a trace over the last month. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Corn harvest began, some cotton bolls opening, some scattered showers - assessed peanut crop and it's worse than it looks. Much cotton has cut-out, some places starting regrowth. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.32" of rainfall. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Dry, dry, and hot. Crops suffering and getting calls on feeding livestock supplemental feed alternatives. Looking for rain. Scattered showers are having a very positive effect on area crops; however, sustained rainfall will be needed to have a major improvement on yields as well as a good harvest season. Over the last week the Armyworms ate up what little bit of hay we had made. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Recent rains across parts of the county. Cotton opening and defoliation to occur soon. Overall, cotton crop is in less than ideal shape. Vidalia salad onions planted last week for Feb. harvest. Vidalia Onion seedbeds being prepared now. Much needed rain fell over most of the county on Saturday. This was the first rain for some in over a month. 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