ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 20, 2006 Issue GA-CW3306 Agricultural Summary August 20, 2006 SLIGHT RELIEF FROM SCORCHING TEMPERATURES The State experience slightly cooler temperatures and more scattered rain this week, according USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Rainfall totals remained varied, ranging from none to over two inches. Stations reported the highest rainfall totals on Sunday. Weeklong highs stayed near 90 with nighttime lows near 70. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 25% very short, 43% short, 30% adequate, and 2% surplus. Crop conditions varied with rainfall totals, but overall conditions remained dry. Farmers who did not see rain reported little or no improvement in crop, pasture, and hayfield conditions. Pond and stream levels remained below normal. Hayfields were still reported in mostly poor condition. Dry conditions have led to high nitrate concentrations in hay and grain being cut for silage. Cattle owners fed hay that they normally would feed during the winter months. This has raised concerns about winter feeding supplies. Steady rain will be critical in order to replenish hay reserves. Heavy armyworms were reported in pastures and hay fields. Irrigated corn and peanuts were reportedly in good condition. Early soybeans look good, but need rain to maintain current condition. Stinkbugs were reported in cotton but not soybeans. Worms were also present in tobacco and peanuts. Other activities included harvesting tobacco and corn, planting cucumbers, preparing onion beds, and preparing fields for fall crops. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.1 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Aug 20, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Dent 95 94 94 96 Corn, Mature 85 76 72 84 Corn, Harvested 30 18 13 28 Soybeans, Blooming 88 84 91 94 Soybeans, Setting Pods 66 57 67 76 Soybeans, Dropping Leaves 4 0 2 3 Sorghum, Harvested 12 11 6 8 Cotton, Bolls Open 16 7 4 13 Apples, Harvested 14 13 7 13 Peaches, Harvested 97 96 93 99 Tobacco, Harvested 72 66 81 80 CROP CONDITION August 20, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 16 25 30 22 7 Soybeans 15 35 32 18 0 Sorghum 12 21 40 23 4 Cotton 15 28 32 22 3 Pasture 18 38 33 10 1 Apples 9 20 42 20 9 Hay 19 38 32 10 1 Peanuts 9 21 38 29 3 Pecans 17 38 32 13 0 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 20, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 33 47 20 0 0 Dist 2(NC) 13 32 46 8 1 Dist 3(NE) 8 34 55 3 0 Dist 4(WC) 7 41 34 16 2 Dist 5(C) 26 43 24 7 0 Dist 6(EC) 27 38 25 10 0 Dist 7(SW) 15 32 29 21 3 Dist 8(SC) 15 42 32 10 1 Dist 9(SE) 28 16 43 13 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 20, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 25 1 9 Short 43 20 24 Adequate 30 64 55 Surplus 2 15 12 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 20, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 38 59 3 0 Dist 2(NC) 23 40 30 7 Dist 3(NE) 16 51 33 0 Dist 4(WC) 27 43 28 2 Dist 5(C) 25 50 25 0 Dist 6(EC) 32 37 31 0 Dist 7(SW) 14 43 41 2 Dist 8(SC) 27 40 31 2 Dist 9(SE) 31 36 32 1 *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 20, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALBANY 96 73 82 0.30 2 5.89 12.24 30.60 89 ALMA 94 69 81 0.14 1 1.48 3.85 26.64 83 ALPHARETTA 92 67 78 1.24 5 3.27 8.20 26.34 81 ARLINGTON 97 53 79 0.04 1 3.35 7.82 25.55 85 ATTAPULGUS 95 70 81 0.42 2 5.44 11.60 27.04 87 BLAIRSVILLE 88 61 74 1.55 3 3.36 11.91 31.81 80 BOWEN 95 69 81 0.00 0 4.42 7.51 24.71 89 BRUNSWICK 93 72 80 0.98 4 2.74 5.86 20.80 83 BYROMVILLE 96 69 80 3.05 2 6.31 7.75 25.68 84 BYRON 96 66 79 1.32 2 6.64 7.47 21.64 83 CAIRO 96 71 82 0.10 2 3.62 5.14 21.19 84 CALHOUN 95 66 79 0.35 2 1.62 5.06 23.72 85 CAMILLA 96 70 82 0.14 3 8.48 13.25 32.60 89 CLARKS HILL 95 67 79 0.00 0 6.25 9.32 30.07 84 CORDELE 95 68 80 0.71 2 4.07 6.02 21.93 85 COVINGTON 93 65 77 1.17 4 4.56 6.45 17.62 82 DAHLONEGA 88 64 75 0.87 2 2.65 6.93 22.36 79 DALLAS 93 67 79 0.00 0 2.84 5.14 26.23 82 DAWSON 96 70 82 0.01 1 3.59 5.13 16.75 84 DEARING 97 69 80 2.47 2 6.36 10.18 25.89 83 DEMPSEY 93 65 78 0.80 2 3.76 6.44 19.41 81 DIXIE 95 67 80 1.19 3 7.09 9.31 26.54 86 DUBLIN 95 68 79 1.16 2 3.15 4.80 21.42 83 DULUTH 93 67 78 0.07 2 4.32 7.77 27.04 82 DUNWOODY 93 69 78 1.10 4 3.75 8.99 27.13 81 EATONTON 94 62 77 0.73 3 4.31 8.62 21.68 82 ELBERTON 95 66 79 0.00 0 5.14 6.94 22.23 81 ELLIJAY 90 63 76 0.52 1 1.89 5.30 28.59 82 FORT VALLEY 97 69 80 0.83 3 3.50 5.14 17.32 82 GAINESVILLE 91 69 78 0.49 2 2.26 4.32 20.73 84 GEORGETOWN 96 68 81 0.19 2 3.13 4.22 21.29 88 GRIFFIN 93 65 78 1.45 3 4.42 7.62 20.96 81 HOMERVILLE 96 66 80 0.03 2 3.17 4.66 20.89 85 JACKSONVILLE 95 66 80 0.95 1 5.99 7.65 20.57 85 JONESBORO 93 66 78 1.01 3 4.91 9.02 26.57 81 LAFAYETTE 95 66 79 0.06 4 2.04 6.91 24.54 82 MCRAE 96 66 80 0.05 1 3.00 4.08 23.14 90 MIDVILLE 95 69 81 0.00 0 1.80 2.83 19.06 87 NAHUNTA 94 68 80 0.91 4 3.30 6.72 21.46 85 NEWTON 94 71 80 0.09 2 4.93 10.19 31.07 87 PINE MOUNTAIN 94 64 77 0.16 3 4.72 7.41 23.45 82 PLAINS 97 68 80 2.99 2 10.96 12.29 30.84 84 ROME 96 67 80 0.64 2 2.21 5.61 24.28 85 ROOPVILLE 92 65 77 0.06 2 3.69 9.21 28.62 81 SASSER 94 69 80 0.06 2 6.75 7.30 22.14 81 SAVANNAH 94 68 80 1.03 3 4.39 7.51 25.39 85 SHELLMAN 98 71 82 0.01 1 3.21 5.57 18.03 92 SKIDAWAY 92 71 80 0.28 3 2.44 7.43 23.50 82 SNEADS 98 75 83 0.00 0 0.04 0.20 15.55 89 STATESBORO 93 59 77 0.06 1 5.33 8.14 21.62 88 TIFTON 95 70 82 0.03 1 1.94 5.17 24.32 82 TIGER 91 60 72 2.03 4 4.03 12.24 33.64 79 VALDOSTA 96 72 82 0.35 1 4.78 11.92 28.26 82 VIDALIA 94 69 81 0.00 0 4.07 4.67 18.40 85 WATKINSVILLE 92 65 78 1.84 4 4.92 7.15 26.61 82 WILLIAMSON 94 62 78 0.03 1 3.79 6.78 18.49 84 WOODBINE 95 68 80 0.29 4 3.31 6.48 19.90 85 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 20, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Scattered thunderstorms are giving some drought relief to the farmers that are getting them. Other farmers are missing the thunderstorms and crops are suffering severely. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Dry conditions have led to high nitrates in hay and grain being cut for silage. Need rain. Soil is extremely dry. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Fall armyworms are wrecking havoc with new growth forages. Scattered rains from 0.5 to 2 inches. Rain needed. Severely dry, receiving some rain. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Hot and dry! Some widely scattered showers in some parts of the county. Heavy army worm populations in many pastures and hayfields. Pond and stream levels continue to drop. Crop conditions are variable as are rainfall amounts across the county. Scattered areas in the county have received some rain from recent thundershowers but most have received almost none over the past two months. We are now having problems with army worms (which we haven't seen for the past two-three years) in the hay pastures. Seeing more turf grass diseases plus insects and more tree diseases--all related to the on-going drought. Dry conditions continue. Scattered rains. Many cattlemen are reducing herd numbers due to the drought. Hay is scarce and very expensive when available. Armyworms are everywhere adding to the misery. Rains have eased some moisture needs in some areas of the county. Although the rains are a great relief, they have not been general rains and are very scattered. Armyworms appeared last week and are chewing there way through the area. In spite of slash and dash showers, pasture land, forage crops and hay lands show little to no improvement county wide. First sighting of armyworm on Monday, August 14. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Another week of just a few scattered showers, corn harvest in progress with irrigated corn doing well. Too late now for dryland cotton with bulk opening on the bottom with regrowth squares at the top. Very near too late for dryland peanuts that never made many pods. Early soybeans look good but need rain, stinkbugs in cotton but early soybeans look good, but also need rain. Stinkbugs in cotton but not in soybeans. Dry but cooler. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 1.06" of rainfall. Pigweeds major problem in cotton and peanuts. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Some late maturing peanuts under irrigation look okay. Cotton for the most part is weak. Hay getting short and concerns about winter feeding. Some corn being harvested. Tobacco harvest nearing the end. Found spitworms and a field with hollow stalk disease in tobacco. Found redneck peanut worms feeding in bud of drought stressed peanuts. Cotton harvest began yesterday, August 17. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Cotton defoliation to begin soon. Crop looks pretty poor. Cucumber planting for fall underway. Onion seeding to begin next week. 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