ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 8, 2007 Issue GA-CW1407 Agricultural Summary April 9, 2007 HARD FREEZE DAMAGES CROPS The State experienced freezing temperatures the latter part of the week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Average highs were in the upper 70's to the lower 80's until a cold front moved through the state mid- week and dropped temperatures down into the 50's and 60's. To start the week, lows were in the upper 50's, but by the week's end low temperatures were at or below freezing. The central and northern regions of the state received some scattered showers this week; the southern region did not receive any. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 27% very short, 44% short, 29% adequate, and 0% surplus. A hard freeze occurred Saturday and Sunday morning. While it was too early to determine the extent of the damage, there were reports of damage or expected damage to many crops. The freeze burned back tender vegetation on pecan and peach trees, as well as some ornamentals. There was damage to blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and other fruits. Damage to vegetables and to corn was expected. Bermuda grass and later planted winter grazing was also affected by the freeze. There were also expectations that the freeze would have a large impact on small grain yields. Evaluation of the freeze damage continued and growers should have a better idea of the extent of the damage by the end of the week. Drought conditions persisted this week. Crop prospects have declined. Planting and land preparation has stopped in some areas due to dry soils. Farmers irrigated, where they could, to try to salvage part of the small grains crop. Corn and vegetables were also being irrigated. Other activities included irrigating land to plant corn and tobacco, land preparation, spreading fertilizer and applying poultry litter, spraying pastures and hayfields for weeds, clipping tobacco transplants in greenhouses, and the routine care of poultry and livestock. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.9 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 04/08/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Planted : 73 61 63 62 Corn Emerged : 50 30 42 44 Sorghum Planted : 2 0 0 2 Winter Wheat Jointing : 91 80 83 88 Winter Wheat Boot : 63 36 50 58 Winter Wheat Headed : 32 7 19 24 Apples Blooming : 51 27 16 23 Onions Harvested : 2 0 2 2 Peaches Blooming : 97 77 88 89 Tobacco Transplanted : 31 14 27 31 Watermelons Planted : 61 45 33 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 04/08/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 0 7 45 47 1 Sorghum : 0 0 91 9 0 Winter Wheat : 1 8 39 47 5 Range and Pasture : 8 27 45 20 0 Apples : 0 11 20 69 0 Hay : 8 32 43 17 0 Onions : 0 18 37 44 1 Peaches : 0 7 10 83 0 Tobacco : 0 10 66 22 2 Watermelons : 2 6 59 31 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture for Week Ending 04/08/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 27 26 NA Short : 44 52 NA Adequate : 29 22 NA Surplus : 0 0 NA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Soil Moisture Map is 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. Soil Moisture for Week Ending 04/08/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 8 28 63 1 District 2 (NC) : 8 43 49 0 District 3 (NE) : 1 44 55 0 District 4 (WC) : 8 51 40 1 District 5 (C) : 29 44 27 0 District 6 (EC) : 28 60 12 0 District 7 (SW) : 32 38 29 1 District 8 (SC) : 59 34 7 0 District 9 (SE) : 34 57 9 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 04/08/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 8 10 36 44 2 District 2 (NC) : 0 16 58 25 1 District 3 (NE) : 0 2 80 18 0 District 4 (WC) : 1 39 52 8 0 District 5 (C) : 16 27 31 26 0 District 6 (EC) : 0 25 63 12 0 District 7 (SW) : 18 34 31 15 2 District 8 (SC) : 5 44 42 9 0 District 9 (SE) : 16 33 34 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. Weather Summary for Week Ending 04/08/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alma : 87 29 60 0.00 0 0.20 2.34 6.16 67 Alpharetta : 81 25 51 0.32 2 1.42 5.47 9.83 59 Arlington : 83 33 59 0.10 1 1.50 5.75 11.85 67 Attapulgus : 86 34 60 0.00 0 0.10 1.51 6.74 76 Blairsville : 80 22 46 1.77 2 2.92 5.67 9.65 58 Williamson : 76 26 52 0.18 2 1.03 4.47 10.42 61 Bowen : 86 31 59 0.00 0 0.23 2.16 7.20 72 Brunswick : 91 34 63 0.00 0 0.54 2.65 6.84 67 Byromville : 85 29 57 0.14 2 0.58 2.69 8.36 66 Byron : 82 28 56 0.55 3 0.73 3.43 8.81 64 Cairo : 87 34 60 0.00 0 0.03 1.27 6.88 67 Calhoun : 82 21 50 0.42 2 2.05 4.10 7.50 58 Pine Mountain : 76 26 52 0.65 2 1.56 7.06 13.17 60 Camilla : 84 32 60 0.00 0 0.31 3.39 10.68 70 Clarks Hill : 85 27 57 0.00 0 0.30 5.03 9.27 62 Cordele : 84 32 59 0.10 2 0.64 2.07 7.17 67 Covington : 80 25 52 0.30 3 0.79 4.43 10.01 61 Dahlonega : 80 24 49 0.32 2 2.21 6.92 12.12 58 Dallas : 80 26 51 0.71 2 1.86 4.34 9.04 61 Dawson : 84 33 58 0.08 2 0.85 2.53 6.70 66 Dearing : 85 28 56 0.07 1 0.73 4.50 8.85 64 Dempsey : 77 25 52 0.18 2 0.84 4.07 9.86 62 Dixie : 89 32 61 0.00 0 0.16 1.46 7.65 74 Dublin : 85 29 58 0.12 2 0.79 2.50 9.25 66 Duluth : 83 25 51 0.29 1 1.40 5.95 10.65 59 Dunwoody : 80 26 51 0.43 3 1.99 5.72 10.09 60 Eatonton : 81 23 54 0.05 2 0.23 4.52 10.08 63 Elberton : 85 25 55 0.03 2 0.46 5.44 10.77 62 Ellijay : 79 20 47 0.78 3 2.24 4.87 9.50 58 Rome : 81 25 51 0.54 2 1.73 3.32 6.42 60 Fort Valley : 82 28 56 0.06 2 0.34 2.22 6.00 67 Gainesville : 82 28 52 0.35 2 1.47 4.58 8.07 61 Georgetown : 82 32 57 0.11 2 3.53 6.42 12.99 65 Griffin : 77 27 52 0.18 1 0.86 3.98 9.85 61 Homerville : 89 28 61 0.00 0 0.07 2.17 7.22 69 Jonesboro : 79 27 53 0.72 3 1.22 4.14 9.28 61 Jacksonville : 82 33 59 0.31 3 0.89 3.88 9.43 67 Lafayette : 83 21 49 0.79 2 2.57 4.35 7.79 59 McRae : 87 27 58 0.00 0 0.30 3.04 8.87 70 Midville : 84 29 58 0.24 2 0.74 2.89 7.94 65 Nahunta : 90 28 61 0.00 0 0.03 2.92 6.52 70 Newton : 85 32 59 0.08 2 0.71 3.27 10.69 70 Plains : 84 31 57 0.01 1 0.49 4.01 9.05 67 Sasser : 83 32 58 0.10 2 0.92 3.01 8.43 65 Savannah : 90 26 61 0.00 0 0.29 2.82 6.91 69 Skidaway : 88 33 61 0.04 4 0.22 2.11 5.28 65 Sneads : 84 43 62 0.00 0 0.00 1.80 7.04 68 Statesboro : 87 37 63 0.00 0 0.43 2.19 7.82 72 Tifton : 84 32 59 0.00 0 0.35 2.21 7.18 66 Tiger : 81 22 48 0.49 1 2.93 8.65 14.98 57 Vidalia : 87 31 60 0.00 0 0.45 2.26 8.64 69 Roopville : 78 27 52 0.39 2 1.16 3.06 8.59 64 Watkinsville : 82 25 54 0.08 2 0.45 5.25 9.52 61 Woodbine : 93 31 62 0.00 0 0.20 2.54 7.27 71 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 April 8, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Very cold the last part of the week. Hard freeze over the weekend. Hard freeze expected Friday and Saturday night. Could expect to see damage to some of the emerged young corn. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Snow on Friday night and freezes through weekend may cause damage. Rain this week improved soil moisture - low temperatures damaging to vineyards, small fruits, and strawberry crops. Haven't had a chance to assess possible freeze damage yet. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Freeze has greatly affected fruit & ornamentals in area. Pastures and fields are in need of rain badly. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Had some below freezing temperatures this weekend, still to early to determine extent of freeze damage. Still need rain. In need of soil moisture. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Some light showers early in the week and extremely cold temperatures late in the week. Cold weather really set back some of the young emerging Bermuda grass. Also, there was some later planted winter grazing that was damaged. We have received some much needed rainfall and it has done wonders. We saw an almost immediate green-up and things are looking up. Once the Easter cold snap passes we should be in good shape. Lack of rain causing decrease in conditions of crops. The freeze this weekend burned back tender vegetation on pecan and peach trees, and also some ornamentals. Mild drought conditions persist and soil moisture is short. We need rain! Soil is cracking! Forages and wheat have declined drastically in the past seven days. Drought conditions continued this week. All crop prospects worsened this week. Planting and land preparation has stopped due to dry soils. Farmers are irrigating where they can to try to salvage part of the wheat, oats, and rye crop. Cattlemen are having to feed more hay and feed than normal for this time of year. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Wheat in extreme danger as it is in very critical pollination time with freeze expected. Corn having trouble getting up in dry fields with crusted clay spots. Still need rain. Cold damage. Trying to estimate damage today. Will take a few days for all symptoms to manifest. Looks like corn was bit but will come back. Small grains hit hardest along with pecan, grass, and vegetables. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.4" of rainfall Crops and livestock overall in good condition. Wheat and corn moved up to better rating after general .5-.9 inch slow rains. Cool weather slowing down growth progress of wheat and corn. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Cool and dry. Farmers are irrigating land to plant corn and tobacco. Land preparation. Spreading fertilizer and applying poultry litter. Small grains are suffering due to drought. They are in critical stage of needing water. Irrigated wheat and oats are doing good. On the good side no disease pressure in small grains. Spraying pastures and hayfields for weeds. Clipping tobacco transplants in greenhouses. Need rain. Worried about cold temperatures this weekend. Very dry! Need rain! Cold weather damage too early to fully evaluate. Has the potential of doing a great deal of damage to squash, watermelons, and cucumbers. Damage to pepper also a potential. Drier conditions prevail and soil moisture conditions continue to decline. Irrigating crops and vegetables is in full swing. Frost predictions for the weekend have watermelon growers on edge. Dry weather has already cut into wheat profits wheat is being irrigated for the second and third time in several cases. Chilling/freeze injury is expected to have a large impact on our small grain yields. We will have a better handle on the extent of damage by then end of the week. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Cold damage to blueberries, blackberries, pecans, and vegetables. Freeze damage on blueberries 80% less. .Corn 80%. Only the irrigated wheat is considered excellent. Rain is most needed. There was no rainfall recorded in the county this week.