ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 13, 2007 Issue GA-CW1907 Agricultural Summary May 14, 2007 RAINFALL NOT ENOUGH TO IMPROVE CROP CONDITIONS The State experienced warm temperatures and scattered showers this week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Average highs were in the 80's this week. Lows ranged from the upper 40's to the lower 60's. Scattered showers and thunderstorms provided little relief from the drought. However, some of the driest areas to the south still did not receive any rain. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 57% very short, 32% short, 11% adequate, and 0% surplus. Scattered showers and thunderstorms were welcomed this week, but the rainfall was not enough to improve crop conditions. Deterioration continued for all crops, pastures, and hayfields not being irrigated. Hay and grazing shortages persisted. Some farmers harvested rye and oats to feed livestock. There has been talk of cattle producers culling cows and selling yearlings early. Nearly all land preparation and planting has stopped due to dry soils. Wild fires continued to burn in south Georgia. They have caused tremendous timber and wildlife loss. Due to the dry conditions, growers began dusting in crops while continuing to irrigate where possible. Small grain harvest was just getting underway. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 05/13/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Planted : 95 94 97 98 Corn Emerged : 91 86 90 93 Soybeans Planted : 8 4 18 21 Soybeans Emerged : 4 3 9 11 Sorghum Planted : 23 17 25 31 Cotton Planted : 22 11 54 48 Winter Wheat Harvested : 2 NA 1 2 Onions Harvested : 58 33 63 54 Peaches Harvested : 2 1 3 4 Peanuts Planted : 13 5 22 29 Watermelons Planted : 94 92 95 97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 05/13/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 8 27 39 25 1 Sorghum : 14 28 43 15 0 Cotton : 4 16 61 19 0 Winter Wheat : 13 19 35 31 2 Range and Pasture : 33 37 25 5 0 Apples : 89 8 3 0 0 Hay : 30 41 23 6 0 Onions : 0 19 38 42 1 Peaches : 74 6 8 12 0 Pecans : 13 16 48 19 4 Tobacco : 5 23 46 25 1 Watermelons : 8 20 50 19 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture for Week Ending 05/13/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 57 46 7 Short : 32 41 25 Adequate : 11 14 56 Surplus : 0 0 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture for Week Ending 05/13/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 20 61 19 0 District 2 (NC) : 25 52 23 0 District 3 (NE) : 45 27 28 0 District 4 (WC) : 75 23 2 0 District 5 (C) : 73 20 7 0 District 6 (EC) : 43 41 16 0 District 7 (SW) : 58 40 2 0 District 8 (SC) : 85 11 4 0 District 9 (SE) : 63 32 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. Pasture Condition for Week Ending 05/13/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 10 30 55 5 0 District 2 (NC) : 12 29 43 16 0 District 3 (NE) : 22 42 32 4 0 District 4 (WC) : 25 48 25 2 0 District 5 (C) : 40 45 13 2 0 District 6 (EC) : 32 44 24 0 0 District 7 (SW) : 35 33 20 11 1 District 8 (SC) : 66 26 7 1 0 District 9 (SE) : 37 46 15 2 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 05/13/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albany : 91 50 74 0.53 1 2.55 3.21 13.54 84 Alma : 91 51 72 0.15 1 0.18 0.38 6.34 74 Alpharetta : 91 45 69 0.36 2 2.33 3.83 12.28 72 Arlington : 93 47 72 0.13 2 1.31 2.84 13.19 77 Attapulgus : 91 49 72 0.00 0 0.42 0.52 7.16 85 Blairsville : 86 38 66 0.19 3 1.26 4.28 11.01 67 Williamson : 88 45 70 0.25 2 2.08 3.36 12.75 74 Bowen : 90 51 72 0.00 0 0.71 0.94 7.91 81 Brunswick : 82 53 71 0.33 2 1.02 1.56 7.86 72 Byromville : 91 49 72 0.00 0 2.77 3.36 11.15 75 Byron : 89 47 71 0.00 0 1.34 2.16 10.24 74 Cairo : 92 50 73 0.00 0 0.75 0.78 7.63 72 Calhoun : 91 40 70 0.00 0 0.31 2.44 7.89 74 Pine Mountain : 89 42 69 1.81 1 3.01 4.64 16.25 71 Camilla : 92 45 73 0.00 0 1.23 1.56 11.93 81 Clarks Hill : 90 44 69 0.49 1 1.39 2.03 11.00 72 Cordele : 91 48 72 0.00 0 3.79 4.44 10.97 76 Covington : 88 48 70 1.23 1 2.18 3.06 12.45 74 Dahlonega : 86 41 67 0.44 2 2.39 4.94 14.85 68 Dallas : 90 45 70 1.06 2 2.58 4.37 11.66 71 Dawson : 91 51 72 0.00 0 3.80 4.65 10.50 74 Dearing : 90 45 70 0.24 1 1.79 2.92 11.04 70 Dempsey : 89 50 70 0.20 2 1.30 2.24 11.28 76 Dixie : 93 51 74 0.00 0 0.46 0.62 8.11 83 Dublin : 90 49 70 1.77 2 5.12 6.01 14.47 73 Duluth : 91 45 70 1.22 2 3.18 4.54 13.88 69 Dunwoody : 88 50 71 0.03 2 1.97 3.95 12.15 71 Eatonton : 90 43 69 0.03 1 0.83 1.21 11.07 75 Elberton : 88 46 69 0.88 2 3.41 5.09 15.40 70 Ellijay : 86 41 68 0.02 1 0.82 3.10 10.38 71 Rome : 92 43 70 0.00 0 0.58 2.31 7.00 75 Fort Valley : 90 50 72 0.00 0 1.16 1.57 7.23 79 Gainesville : 86 46 69 0.05 1 1.99 3.59 10.19 69 Georgetown : 91 42 71 0.42 1 3.38 6.92 16.38 80 Griffin : 88 50 70 0.34 2 1.31 2.26 11.31 72 Homerville : 92 49 71 0.05 1 0.11 0.18 7.33 75 Jonesboro : 90 49 71 0.85 2 2.23 3.66 11.77 72 Jacksonville : 89 48 70 0.00 0 2.22 3.36 11.93 76 Lafayette : 89 44 69 0.54 1 2.52 5.99 11.21 71 McRae : 92 44 70 0.31 1 2.30 2.60 11.17 79 Midville : 91 46 70 0.45 2 2.72 3.61 10.81 75 Newton : 92 47 72 0.00 0 1.74 2.59 12.57 78 Plains : 91 50 72 0.00 0 2.00 2.49 11.05 80 Sasser : 89 49 72 0.00 0 4.96 5.88 13.39 76 Savannah : 89 48 71 0.15 1 0.50 0.79 7.41 75 Skidaway : 82 51 69 0.28 6 1.56 1.84 6.90 70 Sneads : 92 57 74 0.00 0 0.00 0.00 7.04 76 Statesboro : 90 47 70 0.11 1 1.57 2.20 9.59 77 Tifton : 89 52 72 0.00 0 0.45 0.80 7.63 73 Tiger : 84 36 64 0.78 3 3.43 6.74 18.79 68 Valdosta : 92 53 74 0.59 1 1.07 1.09 8.63 71 Vidalia : 91 49 71 0.00 0 0.70 1.15 9.34 77 Roopville : 91 44 70 0.21 1 2.88 4.09 11.52 76 Watkinsville : 88 46 70 1.63 2 3.21 3.80 12.87 71 Woodbine : 87 52 70 0.22 2 1.18 1.38 8.45 75 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 13, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Finally received some scattered showers this past weekend. Some areas received 1/3 to 1/2 inch of rain and some areas received none. Thunderstorms at end of week improved soil moisture conditions but additional rain is needed badly - some hay cut this week DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Patches of rain helped some local producers. Most fields and pastures still haven't gotten any rain to help them recover from the cold damage. Thunderstorms didn't produce enough rain to help. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Miss the rain this weekend. Dry, dry, dry! No hay, no pasture. The irrigation pivots have been on since March. Looks like no relief in sight. Essentially no rain. Hot and dry. Everything that is not irrigated continues to deteriorate. Some fescue hay rolled, yield is 1/4 or worse of what it should be. Scattered thunderstorms brought 0.25 to an inch or better to some; talks of culling cattle are common. Extremely dry! Crop conditions, hay fields and pasture conditions continue to decline. Livestock producers still having to feed hay, if they have any. Some hay that has been cut was taken from the hayfield to the hay ring and fed. Pond and stream levels also decreasing. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL It has been bone dry. We need rainfall. Rain occurred on Saturday (5/12) around the county. Trace to 1.0 inch in some areas. Some dusting in of cotton and soybeans going on last week. Most producers waiting on rainfall. Grain harvesting should begin soon. Some rye and oats harvested for livestock feed. Hay and grazing continues to be short. Extreme dry weather taking major toll on pasture, hayfields and livestock farmers. Situation is critical and may get much worse quickly if no rains materialize soon. Virtually no hay supplies available for drought stricken farmers. We need rain desperately. Pasture and hay land is heavily degraded due to drought. Severe drought continues for another week. Farmers irrigated where they could. Some cattlemen are even irrigating pastures. Most cattle producers have no hay and very little stored feed of any kind. Some are selling off cattle due to the drought. Nearly all land preparation and planting has stopped due to dry soils. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Still waiting for rain. Planting progressing very slowly. Dusting in cotton, planting peanuts deep in beds or shallow where completely dry. Replanted corn and freeze retarded corn in 3-4 leaf stage making this crop late. Pasture disappearing very fast. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Cotton stands fair. Dry conditions resulting in dusting in cotton at planting. Peanuts planting delayed due to dry soils. Wheat pastures and hay declining due to dry conditions. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Dry! Farmers are distraught. Tobacco that was treated with Actigard/Admire is suffering from wind and drought stress. Hay is very short and cattle and goats are suffering. Some farmers are planning to dust in cotton and peanuts next week if possible. Irrigation of corn at 3-4 times now. Profit potential is declining. Roundabout fire has cost about 12 million dollars worth of timber and wildlife loss! Worst drought I have experienced in my career. Desert Dry. Dusting in crops for insurance purposes. Extremely dry, forage production at critically low percentage. Cattle producers are culling cows and selling yearlings early. Dry conditions causing planting delays and slows field work. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Dry conditions prevail.