ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date October 22, 2006 Issue GA-CW4206 Agricultural Summary October 22, 2006 SCATTERED RAIN AND COOLER TEMPERATURES Georgia experienced scattered rain and cooler temperatures this week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. High temperatures reached the mid 80's on Tuesday and Wednesday. A cold front moved through the State on Thursday, bringing cooler temperatures for the weekend. Average nighttime lows were in the mid 50's, but some locations reported lows in the 30's. Scattered frost was reported in some areas. Rainfall totals for the week were varied. Some stations received only a trace of rain, while others reported over four inches. Pond and stream levels continued to drop in areas without significant rain. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 31% very short, 44% short, 25% adequate, and 0% surplus. Some producers were planting small grains, but many producers still need more rain before continuing postponed plantings. Shortage of winter hay supplies has some growers worried. Peanut hay has been baled to supplement the low hay supply. Dryland peanuts were disappointing for some producers this year. The dry conditions have prevented some fields from being dug. Peanut yields and grades have been low. Dryland cotton has done better than expected. Cotton producers were mowing cotton stalks this week. Corn and sorghum grain harvest was nearing completion in some areas. Last week's frost was detrimental for tomato growers in north Georgia. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Oct 22, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Soybeans, Dropping Leaves 87 68 86 84 Soybeans, Harvested 22 11 8 17 Sorghum, Harvested 67 60 46 60 Cotton, Bolls Open 97 96 92 95 Cotton, Harvested 48 34 32 38 Wheat, Planted 11 6 9 12 Wheat, Emerged 4 0 1 5 Apples, Harvested 74 40 77 84 Peanuts, Dug 72 53 82 88 Peanuts, Combined 58 40 66 74 Pecans, Harvested 9 2 5 7 Rye, Planted 46 30 35 45 Other Small Grains, Planted 41 24 29 34 CROP CONDITION October 22, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Soybeans 13 33 35 18 1 Cotton 11 20 31 30 8 Pasture 15 27 36 20 2 Apples 3 4 7 69 17 Hay 16 26 42 16 0 Peanuts 8 21 37 28 6 Pecans 15 36 35 13 1 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL October 22, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 29 8 34 25 4 Dist 2(NC) 0 23 51 24 2 Dist 3(NE) 1 8 48 36 7 Dist 4(WC) 1 40 34 25 0 Dist 5(C) 30 19 23 28 0 Dist 6(EC) 13 37 43 7 0 Dist 7(SW) 3 39 34 22 2 Dist 8(SC) 39 30 26 5 0 Dist 9(SE) 8 21 54 17 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 Oct 22, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 16 8 7 Short 34 33 28 Adequate 46 55 58 Surplus 4 4 7 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL October 22, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 18 67 15 Dist 2(NC) 0 18 76 6 Dist 3(NE) 1 9 89 1 Dist 4(WC) 11 34 53 2 Dist 5(C) 26 36 38 0 Dist 6(EC) 29 61 10 0 Dist 7(SW) 5 11 72 12 Dist 8(SC) 26 45 28 1 Dist 9(SE) 32 63 5 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 OCTOBER 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 88 49 71 2.08 2 2.25 6.52 39.16 75 ALMA 89 50 70 0.16 4 0.16 8.09 34.87 72 ALPHARETTA 81 36 59 2.17 5 3.09 7.29 34.26 63 ARLINGTON 88 48 69 3.07 3 3.50 11.30 40.15 71 ATTAPULGUS 89 53 71 1.12 2 2.26 8.05 36.13 75 BLAIRSVILLE 82 38 57 2.24 5 4.04 6.95 38.83 63 BOWEN 89 51 70 0.77 4 0.77 4.48 29.47 75 BRUNSWICK 88 53 73 0.52 2 0.53 6.40 30.27 74 BYROMVILLE 87 44 67 2.31 3 2.58 9.91 36.42 71 BYRON 86 39 66 1.28 3 1.39 4.14 26.41 69 CAIRO 88 54 71 1.13 3 1.67 6.25 28.27 74 CAMILLA 88 51 71 1.78 4 1.84 5.28 38.10 74 CLARKS HILL 83 41 64 0.50 3 0.74 5.06 35.16 67 CORDELE 88 44 68 2.06 3 2.12 5.60 29.41 72 COVINGTON 80 36 61 0.63 4 1.69 4.20 23.50 66 DAHLONEGA 81 37 57 4.81 5 6.62 13.48 35.96 61 DALLAS 87 44 65 0.20 1 3.10 4.36 30.59 71 DAWSON 87 46 68 1.53 3 1.76 7.96 25.32 72 DEARING 85 43 64 0.17 4 0.79 3.63 30.38 69 DEMPSEY 82 33 61 0.47 3 0.89 4.05 23.51 66 DIXIE 89 57 72 1.40 4 1.59 4.32 30.93 75 DUBLIN 88 41 67 0.09 1 0.10 4.63 26.16 71 DULUTH 80 36 59 1.79 4 2.68 6.54 33.59 66 DUNWOODY 77 35 58 1.63 4 2.54 6.72 33.91 64 EATONTON 85 33 62 0.37 5 0.72 2.32 24.84 68 ELBERTON 74 44 62 0.99 5 2.29 6.79 29.20 65 ELLIJAY 80 32 57 2.76 4 4.54 8.67 37.73 62 FORT VALLEY 86 41 66 0.57 3 1.00 2.36 21.38 69 GAINESVILLE 80 41 59 2.65 4 3.56 8.19 29.55 65 GEORGETOWN 87 40 67 2.25 3 3.43 5.36 27.52 72 GRIFFIN 81 35 62 0.84 4 1.30 4.43 25.41 67 HOMERVILLE 90 45 71 0.99 3 1.09 4.92 25.81 74 JACKSONVILLE 86 40 66 0.89 2 0.93 3.19 25.55 71 JONESBORO 80 37 61 0.83 5 1.65 7.14 34.46 66 LAFAYETTE 76 32 56 3.82 4 6.34 10.55 35.70 63 MCRAE 89 42 67 2.31 2 3.12 6.52 29.85 72 MIDVILLE 87 41 67 1.48 2 1.51 4.13 23.27 73 NAHUNTA 88 44 71 0.22 3 0.42 3.75 25.90 74 NEWTON 88 51 70 2.65 5 2.84 9.42 40.49 75 PINE MOUNTAIN 85 37 63 0.22 5 1.12 4.48 29.23 67 PLAINS 88 43 67 4.15 2 4.68 9.01 40.88 70 ROME 77 35 59 3.04 5 4.68 7.83 33.02 65 ROOPVILLE 83 35 61 1.98 5 2.88 10.23 41.64 67 SASSER 86 46 68 1.97 4 2.29 5.34 29.19 71 SAVANNAH 87 42 70 0.18 4 1.23 4.40 30.38 73 SHELLMAN 87 46 68 0.00 0 0.48 6.29 24.64 72 SKIDAWAY 85 48 69 0.09 3 2.30 10.42 33.94 70 SNEADS 87 57 73 0.77 5 0.81 3.40 34.83 73 STATESBORO 87 44 68 1.51 2 1.66 5.51 27.90 73 TIFTON 87 52 70 0.79 4 0.98 4.54 29.06 72 TIGER 79 34 55 4.82 4 6.49 12.88 46.58 61 VALDOSTA 90 59 73 1.97 4 1.97 4.28 32.54 74 VIDALIA 88 47 69 1.73 2 1.84 3.92 23.06 74 WATKINSVILLE 81 39 61 1.19 6 1.77 5.39 32.29 66 WILLIAMSON 82 33 62 0.60 4 1.35 4.87 23.79 66 WOODBINE 91 48 73 1.12 2 1.46 7.32 27.38 76 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 October 22, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Heavy frost last weekend really hurt our tomato growers. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Over 4 inches of rain this week - small grain planting delayed. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Rains hindering peanut harvest. Remains extremely dry. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Some very light showers this week, around 2/10th of an inch in most parts of the county. Much warmer than normal temperatures during mid-week. 80+ degrees several days. Need more rain, really bad! Corn and grain sorghum harvests completed. Some continued planting of small grains and winter grazing but many people waiting until we get more rain to plant. Pond and stream levels continue to drop. We have had a small amount of precipitation in the past week. Temperatures have taken a turn for the cool. We are awaiting the first major frosts to descend on us. A lot of the fall planting has been completed or will be soon. Got much needed rain twice in the past week. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL We have approximately 3000 acres of peanuts that cannot be dug because of extremely dry conditions. Yields have been surprisingly good but grades are poor. Still very dry, only got 0.24 inches from the last front. Cotton "dryland" doing decent but dryland peanuts are disappointing. A lot of peanut vines being baled due to feed shortage. "Scratching" in some wheat, oats and rye but not much. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 2.20" of rainfall. Wheat land preparations for planting cotton crop better than expected. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Still need rain. Planting small grains and interseeding pastures. Folks worried about shortage of hay. Wrapping up peanut and cotton harvest. Irrigated yields are better than expected. Dryland weak in general. Cutting hay and baling peanut hay. Mowing cotton stalks. 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