ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date September 22, 2006 Issue GA-CW3806 Agricultural Summary September 22, 2006 RELIEF FROM SCORCHING TEMPERATURES Another mid-week cold front brought rain and colder temperatures to Georgia this week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia field office. Rainfall was light, with totals ranging from none to near 1.5 inches. Daytime temperatures peaked in the low to mid 80's. Lows dipped into the 50's for most areas of the State. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 8% very short, 28% short, 60% adequate, and 4% surplus. Cotton defoliation was underway and cotton harvest continued. Late planted and irrigated fields were reported in the best condition. Irrigated peanut fields were reported in good condition. Dryland fields were reported in poor to fair condition with much lower peanut yields. Pastures and hayfields have experienced severe armyworm infestation. The colder weather has helped to slow down armyworm activity over the past week. Land preparation for fall crops was underway. Hay supplies remain short. Commercial grape harvest was nearly complete. Other activities included harvesting corn and sorghum and routine care of poultry and livestock. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Sep 22, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Harvested 92 89 85 88 Soybeans, Dropping Leaves 36 29 34 37 Soybeans, Harvested 1 0 0 2 Sorghum, Harvested 47 45 35 38 Cotton, Bolls Open 86 82 69 76 Cotton, Harvested 9 6 3 8 Wheat, Planted 1 0 0 1 Apples, Harvested 33 31 27 45 Peanuts, Dug 10 6 23 29 Peanuts, Combined 4 2 13 17 Rye, Planted 11 7 4 9 Other Small Grains, Planted 5 4 3 5 CROP CONDITION September 22, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Soybeans 10 29 36 24 1 Sorghum 6 19 45 26 4 Cotton 14 23 34 24 5 Pasture 8 24 38 28 2 Apples 4 4 15 64 13 Hay 10 28 39 22 1 Peanuts 7 19 37 33 4 Pecans 15 37 32 14 2 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL September 22, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 26 44 21 9 0 Dist 2(NC) 0 15 24 58 3 Dist 3(NE) 4 13 64 19 0 Dist 4(WC) 2 27 41 24 6 Dist 5(C) 17 16 35 32 0 Dist 6(EC) 4 30 42 24 0 Dist 7(SW) 4 23 33 35 5 Dist 8(SC) 6 31 43 19 1 Dist 9(SE) 3 9 47 41 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 Sep 22, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 8 43 12 Short 28 41 27 Adequate 60 16 48 Surplus 4 0 13 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL September 22, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 20 34 43 3 Dist 2(NC) 1 13 80 6 Dist 3(NE) 2 24 74 0 Dist 4(WC) 6 29 64 1 Dist 5(C) 7 32 59 2 Dist 6(EC) 19 42 39 0 Dist 7(SW) 1 14 78 7 Dist 8(SC) 13 33 47 7 Dist 9(SE) 4 38 57 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 SEPTEMBER 22, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALBANY 92 55 75 1.50 3 4.13 10.52 37.07 81 ALMA 92 56 75 0.99 2 4.59 9.09 34.71 78 ALPHARETTA 87 47 69 0.76 2 4.51 7.26 31.48 73 ARLINGTON 92 53 73 1.99 5 8.14 13.27 37.03 78 ATTAPULGUS 91 55 74 2.28 3 6.77 12.85 34.97 80 BLAIRSVILLE 82 40 64 1.81 5 4.37 7.64 36.25 71 BOWEN 92 53 74 0.70 2 3.67 8.25 28.70 81 BRUNSWICK 91 59 77 1.43 1 4.67 11.58 29.74 79 BYROMVILLE 91 50 74 0.09 2 7.33 13.04 33.84 79 BYRON 91 50 73 0.20 2 2.23 6.05 25.02 77 CAIRO 91 55 75 1.15 3 4.31 7.42 26.88 80 CALHOUN 89 44 69 2.88 5 3.96 6.89 29.01 73 CAMILLA 92 53 74 0.44 2 3.42 10.50 36.26 80 CLARKS HILL 90 53 71 0.00 0 4.32 8.59 34.42 76 CORDELE 93 51 74 0.38 2 3.47 8.19 27.29 79 COVINGTON 89 47 70 0.68 3 3.00 6.60 22.31 75 DAHLONEGA 82 47 66 1.92 5 8.13 9.93 30.61 71 DALLAS 86 47 69 0.74 3 3.99 6.20 30.35 74 DAWSON 91 51 73 0.82 5 5.11 9.84 23.65 79 DEARING 92 54 74 0.00 0 2.79 8.38 29.59 77 DEMPSEY 88 45 70 0.67 3 2.98 6.16 22.82 73 DIXIE 92 52 75 0.06 2 2.11 7.49 29.96 81 DUBLIN 92 51 74 0.36 2 4.32 7.40 26.06 78 DULUTH 88 47 69 1.30 2 4.57 8.85 31.69 73 DUNWOODY 85 48 69 0.95 2 4.79 8.39 32.08 73 EATONTON 89 46 70 0.64 2 1.81 6.40 24.36 76 ELBERTON 89 52 72 0.39 1 4.89 7.27 27.30 74 ELLIJAY 82 42 65 2.05 5 5.42 7.71 34.49 71 FORT VALLEY 91 52 73 0.32 2 1.25 5.22 20.38 77 GAINESVILLE 85 53 69 0.89 5 5.08 7.59 26.44 74 GEORGETOWN 91 48 73 2.14 4 2.88 5.52 25.09 78 GRIFFIN 86 47 70 0.64 3 2.81 6.57 24.32 74 HOMERVILLE 93 49 75 1.05 1 3.64 5.19 24.72 79 JACKSONVILLE 91 52 73 0.19 2 2.26 7.79 24.62 78 JONESBORO 88 49 70 1.19 3 6.23 11.62 33.57 74 LAFAYETTE 86 43 67 4.67 5 6.43 8.92 31.58 72 MCRAE 93 47 73 0.04 2 3.28 5.75 26.73 82 MIDVILLE 92 54 75 0.12 1 2.12 3.85 21.76 81 NAHUNTA 93 50 74 1.67 2 2.56 7.31 25.48 79 NEWTON 91 55 74 1.25 5 6.20 11.27 37.81 80 PINE MOUNTAIN 89 45 70 2.11 2 3.74 9.18 28.49 74 PLAINS 92 52 73 0.62 3 4.22 13.82 36.65 78 ROME 88 47 69 2.83 5 4.64 6.30 29.83 74 ROOPVILLE 87 47 69 1.34 2 7.80 14.10 39.34 74 SASSER 90 52 73 0.35 2 3.01 9.31 27.12 77 SAVANNAH 92 53 75 0.22 1 2.32 6.32 29.15 80 SKIDAWAY 91 57 76 0.68 2 3.83 10.45 31.65 76 SNEADS 87 66 77 0.51 3 2.47 8.56 34.02 82 STATESBORO 92 57 75 0.84 2 3.39 6.18 26.24 81 TIFTON 91 56 75 0.89 3 3.38 5.55 28.08 77 TIGER 82 41 64 2.29 5 7.60 10.80 41.31 70 VALDOSTA 92 58 77 0.66 2 1.92 6.36 30.57 79 VIDALIA 92 55 76 0.00 0 0.95 4.17 21.22 81 WATKINSVILLE 87 53 70 0.50 2 4.10 8.04 31.00 75 WILLIAMSON 88 43 70 0.47 3 3.79 5.77 22.71 74 WOODBINE 94 53 75 0.25 2 4.40 9.09 25.92 82 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 National Agricultural Statistics Service. DISTRICT COMMENTS - Week 36 September 22, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Armyworms are consuming some Bermuda grass hay fields. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Still reports of armyworms in pastures and hayfields. Finally, some cooler weather! What a relief! routine care of livestock and poultry - harvesting of commercial vineyards nearing completion. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL No comments available. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Corn and grain sorghum harvest continues. Army worms still present in some pastures and hayfields. Land preparation for fall planting continues. Cooler weather has slowed the army worms down along with Bermuda hay! Recent rains improve a terrible situation with pastures and hayfields. Armyworms have taken many fields down to the dirt. Farmers can't spray fast enough to keep ahead of their devastation. Many farmers are concerned about planting winter grazing because of them. We had a portion of our crop destroyed due to lack of production starting this past week...mostly cotton! DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Armyworms took a lot of late growth hay, peanut digging and cotton picking getting underway. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Peanut grades and yields poor. Some seg. 2, cotton difficult to defoliate and yields look weak. Not sure of grades yet. Harvesting some hay. Last front brought us less than 9/10 rain. Many dryland peanut fields are drought stressed. Digging most peanuts early due to stress and weak pegs. TSWV and other diseases showing up in peanuts. Dry again. We need light rain and warm days - and lots of them to mature peanut and late cotton crop. Some early planted irrigated fields being dug, and they look good. Dryland fields right next to them hardly no crop at all. Some of our farmers ready to get this year over. Rains are hindering cotton and peanut harvest. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Peanut digging to begin today. Land preparation underway for Vidalia onions. 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