ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 6, 2007 Issue GA-CW1807 Agricultural Summary May 7, 2007 CROP PRODUCTION HAMPERED BY DRY CONDITIONS The southern part of the state, suffering from extreme drought conditions, received very little to no rainfall this week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Average highs this week were in the upper 70's to upper 80's. Lows averaged from the lower 50's to lower 60's. There were some scattered showers in the northern part of the state, but southern areas of the state received very little to no rain. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 46% very short, 41% short, 13% adequate, and 0% surplus. Lingering drought conditions continued to have a negative impact on crops, hayfields, and pastures. Farmers desperately needed rain to help crops recover from dry weather and freeze damage. Small grains production has been severely affected by the drought. Pastures and hayfields were not growing. Some cattle producers have been forced to begin reducing their herd. Freeze damaged grass and small grains were being harvested for hay to feed starving livestock. Planting of dryland crops has come to a standstill due to the lack of soil moisture. Other activities included pasture weed control and the routine care of poultry and livestock. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.4 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 05/06/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Planted : 94 90 96 95 Corn Emerged : 86 81 87 89 Soybeans Planted : 4 3 10 12 Soybeans Emerged : 3 1 3 5 Sorghum Planted : 17 12 19 22 Cotton Planted : 11 4 39 31 Winter Wheat Headed : 96 92 92 93 Onions Harvested : 33 24 43 38 Peaches Harvested : 1 NA 0 1 Peanuts Planted : 5 2 12 13 Watermelons Planted : 92 90 93 94 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 05/06/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 7 23 43 26 1 Sorghum : 10 28 36 22 4 Cotton : 0 12 63 25 0 Winter Wheat : 12 19 34 33 2 Range and Pasture : 26 39 28 7 0 Apples : 90 7 3 0 0 Hay : 24 37 31 8 0 Onions : 1 1 17 54 27 Peaches : 71 16 12 1 0 Tobacco : 4 27 50 19 0 Watermelons : 7 22 50 18 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture for Week Ending 05/06/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 46 35 7 Short : 41 46 25 Adequate : 13 19 58 Surplus : 0 0 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture for Week Ending 05/06/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 6 61 33 0 District 2 (NC) : 15 61 24 0 District 3 (NE) : 35 43 22 0 District 4 (WC) : 42 51 7 0 District 5 (C) : 59 38 3 0 District 6 (EC) : 35 40 25 0 District 7 (SW) : 52 45 3 0 District 8 (SC) : 83 12 5 0 District 9 (SE) : 60 30 10 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 05/06/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 12 44 31 13 0 District 2 (NC) : 0 41 41 18 0 District 3 (NE) : 0 39 61 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 20 45 32 2 1 District 5 (C) : 15 19 48 18 0 District 6 (EC) : 5 25 56 12 2 District 7 (SW) : 4 14 31 50 1 District 8 (SC) : 6 26 49 19 0 District 9 (SE) : 7 33 52 8 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 05/06/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albany : 92 53 75 0.00 0 2.04 2.68 13.01 83 Alma : 92 52 74 0.02 2 0.03 0.23 6.19 74 Alpharetta : 89 47 67 0.57 1 2.09 3.51 11.92 68 Arlington : 91 53 72 0.00 0 1.21 2.71 13.06 75 Attapulgus : 92 52 74 0.00 0 0.42 0.52 7.16 85 Blairsville : 86 39 65 0.30 1 1.17 4.09 10.82 64 Williamson : 88 49 69 0.93 1 2.08 3.11 12.50 73 Bowen : 91 56 75 0.00 0 0.71 0.94 7.91 81 Brunswick : 87 58 73 0.00 0 0.69 1.23 7.53 72 Byromville : 90 52 73 0.12 2 2.79 3.37 11.15 74 Byron : 90 52 72 0.00 0 1.43 2.16 10.24 73 Cairo : 91 55 75 0.00 0 0.75 0.78 7.63 71 Calhoun : 91 43 68 0.00 0 0.39 2.44 7.89 70 Pine Mountain : 87 49 69 0.12 2 1.27 2.83 14.44 71 Camilla : 92 53 75 0.00 0 1.25 1.56 11.93 81 Clarks Hill : 93 47 67 0.38 1 1.24 1.54 10.51 71 Cordele : 90 53 74 0.00 0 3.80 4.44 10.97 76 Covington : 89 48 68 0.16 2 1.21 2.00 11.22 72 Dahlonega : 86 47 66 0.79 2 2.29 4.50 14.41 66 Dallas : 88 51 69 0.84 3 1.56 3.42 10.60 69 Dawson : 89 54 73 0.00 0 3.80 4.65 10.50 73 Dearing : 91 55 71 0.14 1 1.95 2.68 10.80 70 Dempsey : 88 49 69 0.28 2 1.22 2.06 11.08 75 Dixie : 92 56 76 0.00 0 0.46 0.62 8.11 82 Dublin : 91 52 72 0.41 2 3.45 4.24 12.70 74 Duluth : 89 47 67 0.31 1 2.01 3.41 12.66 67 Dunwoody : 87 49 68 0.52 1 2.03 4.02 12.12 68 Eatonton : 90 46 68 0.00 0 0.82 1.05 10.90 73 Elberton : 92 47 67 0.91 2 3.75 4.21 14.52 68 Ellijay : 87 43 65 0.27 2 0.86 3.10 10.36 67 Rome : 89 47 69 0.17 2 0.58 2.31 7.00 70 Fort Valley : 90 54 73 0.10 2 1.23 1.57 7.23 80 Gainesville : 87 50 67 1.00 1 2.07 3.54 10.14 67 Georgetown : 89 50 72 0.00 0 2.97 6.50 15.96 79 Griffin : 88 52 69 0.28 2 1.12 1.98 10.97 70 Homerville : 92 49 73 0.00 0 0.06 0.13 7.28 75 Jonesboro : 89 50 69 0.58 1 1.64 2.86 10.92 70 Jacksonville : 90 51 71 0.00 0 2.50 3.39 11.93 74 Lafayette : 87 47 69 0.18 3 2.88 5.45 10.67 67 McRae : 91 46 70 0.07 2 1.99 2.29 10.86 78 Midville : 91 53 72 0.00 0 2.42 3.16 10.36 75 Newton : 92 52 73 0.00 0 1.88 2.59 12.57 77 Plains : 90 56 74 0.00 0 2.00 2.49 11.05 80 Sasser : 88 54 73 0.00 0 4.96 5.88 13.39 75 Savannah : 93 51 72 0.27 2 0.35 0.64 7.26 76 Skidaway : 85 57 71 0.79 3 1.34 1.56 6.62 71 Sneads : 90 59 76 0.00 0 0.00 0.00 7.04 77 Statesboro : 91 52 72 0.33 3 1.66 2.09 9.48 79 Tifton : 88 57 75 0.00 0 0.45 0.80 7.63 73 Tiger : 86 43 63 1.24 2 3.03 5.96 18.01 66 Valdosta : 92 59 77 0.00 0 0.48 0.50 8.04 71 Vidalia : 92 54 74 0.00 0 0.70 1.15 9.34 77 Roopville : 88 51 70 0.15 2 2.72 3.88 11.31 74 Watkinsville : 90 49 68 0.49 1 1.72 2.17 11.24 70 Woodbine : 93 51 73 0.00 0 0.96 1.16 8.23 76 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 May 6, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL A lot of freeze damaged grass and small grains are being harvested for hay. Nitrate levels are being questioned due to lack of rain. Rain showers this weekend but much more rain is needed. Routine care of livestock and poultry and pasture weed control are main activities. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST We're still in desperate need of rainfall to help pastures and crops to recover from dry weather and freeze damaged condition. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Dry! Dry! Dry! One small section of the county received some rainfall Saturday night; the rest of the county is bone dry. Small grain production has been severely affected by the dry weather; pastures and hayfields are not growing at all; cattle producers have no hay and some have been forced to begin herd reductions. Planting of dry land crops has drug to a standstill because of a lack of soil moisture. Rolled some fescue hay and folks are lining up to purchase it...every bale of anything is moving...folks are chasing the growers down the road to buy it...cattleman are 'talking' about reducing numbers...property owners renting their land are asking about stocking rates and what the animals on rented ground are grazing on, out of concern. We received 3/10 inch of rain Saturday. Didn't settle the dust. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL No rain! Crop conditions and pasture and hayfield conditions continue to decline. Corn planting completed. Some hay producers cutting first cutting of hay. Quality and quantity very poor. The drought has begun to have some serious effects on us. We are starting to reach a critical point in terms of pasture rejuvenation and hay production. Most of our spring planting has screeched to a halt. It's looking very bad. Ryegrass hay being cut and baled this week. Dry weather conditions exist. Need rainfall for Bermuda grass to start growing. Scattered rain occurred in the county Saturday evening. Hard rain. Trace up to 2 inches in areas of the county. Not sure how much soaked in but glad to see it. Planting may start back in areas that received rain. Haying and grazing still low. Some critical. Italian ryegrass being cut for hay. Need more rain. Wheat drying down due to maturity and dry weather. Harvest probably will begin late this week or next week. Extreme drought conditions have reduced ryegrass and cereal grain hay and silage yields by more than 50%. Extreme drought, cold damage and unseasonably hot temperatures have delayed development of Bermuda and Bahia stands and in some case caused severe damage. Producers are seeking alternative feed and forage sources due to shortages and very poor pasture conditions. If present conditions persist we are in for a world of hurt! Dry soils have stopped land preparation and planting. The drought has drastically cut yields in a lot of fields. Grazing is almost non-existent. Cattlemen are feeding hay if they have any. Some cattlemen have resorted to irrigating pastures for feed. Row crops farmers irrigated a lot this week. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Hoping for rain. Switched to peanuts after planting some cotton but losing moisture quickly. Still seeing oat and wheat fields go downhill from effects of freeze and drought. Dry & cool. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Any crop rating better than fair is due to irrigation. Cotton and peanut planting progressing due to irrigation. All dryland planting has ceased. Crops recovering from freeze damage in very good condition Dry conditions continue to hamper planting of cotton and peanuts. Stands are fair and skimpy. Dry weather taking toll on wheat seed fill. Dry weather also affecting growth of pastures and hay fields. Still dry! Normal planting of cotton and peanuts has ceased. Waiting for rain. Some are baling small grains for hay to feed starving cattle and goats. Hay reserves are almost exhausted and cattle need feed. Dryland corn and tobacco is suffering. Irrigating young corn for 3rd time. Irrigating hay fields and tobacco where possible. Forest fires are a major concern. We are fighting about a 5000 acre forest fire in Kirkland at the Roundabout. Lost various ages of timber. Drought is making forest fires worst and is hurting farmers. Between the freeze, wind, drought and fire, we are in a disaster situation. Fifty percent chance of rain Saturday. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Need more than a good rain we need a tropical storm like Alberto in 2003. No rain to report again this week. Topsoil moisture extremely inadequate and subsoil moisture is minimal at best. It is as dry as I have ever seen. All aspects of agriculture suffering from lack of rain. Cotton and peanut planting has stopped or not started except where ample irrigation is available. No rain. Crops not being planted due to dry soils. Feeding cattle. Grain crops being cut for hay due to lack pasture. Dry weather dominates crop situations. Rain needed very, very badly! DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available.