ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date December 2, 2007 Issue GA-CW4807 Agricultural Summary December 3, 2007 SHOWERS IMPROVE SOIL MOISTURE Most of the state received much-needed rain on Monday, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Average rainfall for the week was 0.62 inches. Average high temperatures were in the 60's to low 70's. Average lows ranged from the mid-30's to the lower 50's. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 29% very short, 43% short, 27% adequate, and 1% surplus. Recent rains have improved topsoil moisture, as well as some crop and pasture conditions. Farmers hope the rain will help small grains and winter grazing get better established before winter weather arrives. Still, subsoil moisture is not adequate and above average rainfall will be needed this winter and spring to prevent the drought from extending into the next planting season. Growers were irrigating vegetables, small grains, and winter grazing where possible. Small grains planting was nearing completion. Other activities included feeding hay to livestock, mowing cotton stalks, spreading poultry litter, and harvesting pecans. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 12/02/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Data collection for crop progress will resume in March 2008. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 12/02/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Winter Wheat : 7 21 44 27 1 Range and Pasture : 35 34 24 6 1 Vegetables : 0 8 50 38 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 12/02/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 29 37 NA Short : 43 37 NA Adequate : 27 26 NA Surplus : 1 0 NA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 12/02/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 33 42 13 12 District 2 (NC) : 15 60 25 0 District 3 (NE) : 42 56 2 0 District 4 (WC) : 32 40 24 4 District 5 (C) : 34 36 30 0 District 6 (EC) : 56 38 6 0 District 7 (SW) : 28 29 42 1 District 8 (SC) : 19 45 36 0 District 9 (SE) : 3 55 42 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. Pasture Condition for Week Ending 12/02/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 56 44 0 0 0 District 2 (NC) : 21 26 50 3 0 District 3 (NE) : 53 37 10 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 57 27 14 2 0 District 5 (C) : 36 33 24 7 0 District 6 (EC) : 42 39 19 0 0 District 7 (SW) : 20 40 22 13 5 District 8 (SC) : 9 39 36 16 0 District 9 (SE) : 11 17 59 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. Weather Summary for Week Ending 12/02/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albany : 77 40 58 0.53 1 1.02 2.85 34.12 60 Alpharetta : 66 27 47 0.61 2 2.85 4.57 25.45 47 Arlington : 77 36 56 0.38 1 1.02 3.49 32.25 58 Attapulgus : 77 40 58 1.02 1 2.18 7.37 27.54 62 Blairsville : 63 24 46 0.63 2 3.09 6.34 33.37 52 Williamson : 70 29 51 1.05 2 1.66 3.59 30.25 52 Bowen : 75 41 57 0.46 1 0.74 2.55 28.86 61 Brunswick : 81 49 62 0.01 1 0.08 2.51 31.91 67 Byromville : 72 39 55 0.49 2 0.75 2.03 30.94 58 Byron : 73 35 54 0.93 1 1.11 1.95 33.78 57 Cairo : 77 42 59 1.31 2 2.27 7.30 34.99 64 Calhoun : 66 24 48 1.32 2 2.92 4.78 23.14 50 Pine Mountain : 71 35 52 1.77 2 2.78 5.16 36.40 56 Camilla : 78 40 58 0.56 1 1.14 4.48 34.19 60 Clarks Hill : 69 31 51 0.29 1 1.00 1.93 24.87 54 Cordele : 75 36 56 0.64 1 0.95 2.69 30.82 59 Covington : 69 30 51 0.62 1 1.04 2.62 27.23 52 Dahlonega : 63 27 47 1.05 2 3.27 6.45 30.22 48 Dallas : 71 28 48 1.40 4 1.69 4.31 27.15 54 Dawson : 75 40 57 0.81 2 1.43 3.43 29.11 59 Dearing : 72 35 54 0.13 1 0.54 1.19 21.36 58 Dempsey : 70 33 51 0.78 1 1.30 2.34 24.17 51 Dixie : 79 41 60 1.23 3 1.44 6.36 38.46 63 Dublin : 74 34 55 0.17 1 0.24 0.94 33.03 59 Duluth : 67 27 47 0.51 1 1.97 3.54 28.87 53 Dunwoody : 67 28 48 0.51 1 1.93 4.78 32.11 51 Eatonton : 70 26 49 1.15 2 1.43 2.89 30.04 52 Elberton : 69 31 50 0.42 1 3.07 3.59 26.22 52 Ellijay : 62 26 46 0.48 2 2.22 4.86 23.85 48 Fort Valley : 73 38 56 1.09 1 1.74 2.91 29.94 55 Gainesville : 66 30 47 0.55 2 1.77 3.36 23.46 52 Georgetown : 73 33 55 2.58 1 3.33 5.68 38.40 57 Homerville : 82 40 59 0.35 1 0.71 3.42 33.25 63 Jonesboro : 69 29 50 0.48 1 1.14 3.47 26.27 51 Jeffersonville : 73 39 55 0.25 2 0.69 1.13 30.42 57 Lafayette : 66 26 48 2.50 2 4.67 8.16 29.21 51 McRae : 76 34 55 0.47 2 0.68 3.33 33.27 60 Midville : 74 36 55 0.09 1 0.40 2.24 28.65 59 Newton : 77 40 57 0.88 2 1.80 5.75 31.91 61 Plains : 75 37 55 1.05 1 1.70 3.13 30.88 55 Sasser : 74 40 57 0.68 1 1.38 4.49 34.89 58 Savannah : 83 40 59 0.11 2 0.11 2.73 39.96 63 Skidaway : 73 44 59 0.02 2 0.05 2.15 50.02 61 Sneads : 77 47 61 0.05 3 1.05 2.60 19.25 61 Statesboro : 77 38 55 0.43 2 0.50 2.90 35.19 59 Tiger : 62 25 43 1.01 2 4.31 8.64 47.41 46 Valdosta : 82 47 61 0.44 1 0.98 3.78 34.29 63 Vidalia : 75 43 58 0.61 1 1.11 4.25 39.58 61 Roopville : 68 31 51 0.65 1 1.38 3.31 30.40 52 Watkinsville : 67 31 50 0.57 1 2.05 4.52 25.01 51 Woodbine : 83 45 62 0.00 0 0.21 8.98 43.24 67 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Weather data are supplied by the 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 at www.georgiaweather.net. DISTRICT COMMENTS December 2, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Recent scattered showers helped with rye planting, greening up and getting better established before winter weather arrives. This is very vital to get some of the livestock producers through the upcoming months. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Rain showers over the Thanksgiving break improved topsoil moisture and some crop and pasture conditions. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL No comments available. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL No rain this week! Hay feeding increasing for livestock. Pond and stream levels continue to decline. Small grain planting nearing completion. Scattered rainfall has given livestock producers a chance to plant silage crops, overseed with winter annuals and plow and plant wheat. Some stand loss has occurred in early planted winter annuals. We received the most significant downpour of the month on Monday. We received about a half inch of rainfall. The county got between 1.5 to 2 inches of much needed rain Monday. Rain combined with mild sunny weather this week should help winter grazing begin to take off. We did get close to an inch of rain this week which hopefully will get the wheat and small grains growing. Cattlemen are feeding more than normal due to a lack of pasture grass and winter grazing. Small grain planting is way behind schedule due to the extended drought. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Got between .25 and .6" rain during past 10 days, just enough to get bulk of wheat crop planted, although much land went without subsoiling, and many places have wheat laying in dry ground. Still have about 12-14% of cotton crop in the field. No winter pasture except under pivots. Scattered light showers. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Received .77" of rainfall. Winter grazing has improved with recent rains, however we still do not have adequate subsoil moisture. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL We got .03 tenths of an inch of rainfall. Need a lot more. Mowing cotton stalks and finishing up cotton harvest. Moving bales of hay and peanut hay. Spreading chicken litter. Irrigation of vegetables and small grains where possible. Picking up pecans. Showers across our county were scattered and light .25 to .50 inches of rain. This is not good for all segments of agriculture. We are in need of above average rainfall this winter and spring. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available.