ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 20, 2007 Issue GA-CW2007 Agricultural Summary May 21, 2007 DROUGHT CONDITIONS WORSEN Temperatures were moderate with little rain this week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Average highs were in the upper 70's and lower 80's this week. Lows ranged from the upper 40's to the lower 60's. Rainfall averaged just 0.07 inches this week. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 66% very short, 27% short, 7% adequate, and 0% surplus. The drought continued to have a detrimental impact on agriculture. Crop, pasture, and hayfield conditions declined. Pond and stream levels continued to drop. Planting of cotton and peanuts has nearly ceased because of a lack of soil moisture. Row crops were being dusted in to meet insurance obligations. Farmers were irrigating as much as possible. Corn that survived the Easter freeze is stunted and skippy in fields that weren't replanted. There were reports of chinch bugs in dryland corn and millet and cutworms, splitworms, and budworms in tobacco. Livestock producers were selling off cattle due to the lack of hay and grazing. Other activities included small grain harvest and cutting hay. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.4 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 05/20/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Emerged : 94 91 94 97 Corn Silked : 2 NA 1 3 Soybeans Planted : 16 8 34 34 Soybeans Emerged : 8 4 20 19 Sorghum Planted : 34 23 38 41 Cotton Planted : 41 22 71 66 Winter Wheat Harvested : 11 2 8 8 Onions Harvested : 82 58 75 69 Peaches Harvested : 3 2 7 8 Peanuts Planted : 33 13 47 55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 05/20/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 13 27 32 26 2 Soybeans : 2 19 53 26 0 Sorghum : 13 34 42 11 0 Cotton : 6 20 53 21 0 Winter Wheat : 12 20 34 29 5 Range and Pasture : 40 39 18 3 0 Apples : 74 16 10 0 0 Hay : 37 42 18 3 0 Onions : 0 18 35 46 1 Peaches : 82 1 3 14 0 Peanuts : 3 18 55 24 0 Pecans : 15 18 41 21 5 Tobacco : 5 25 44 25 1 Watermelons : 5 16 44 32 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture for Week Ending 05/20/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 66 57 7 Short : 27 32 29 Adequate : 7 11 55 Surplus : 0 0 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture for Week Ending 05/20/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 53 39 8 0 District 2 (NC) : 49 37 14 0 District 3 (NE) : 44 42 14 0 District 4 (WC) : 71 28 1 0 District 5 (C) : 82 14 4 0 District 6 (EC) : 52 37 11 0 District 7 (SW) : 69 29 2 0 District 8 (SC) : 86 10 4 0 District 9 (SE) : 62 32 6 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 05/20/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 14 57 26 3 0 District 2 (NC) : 20 39 31 10 0 District 3 (NE) : 30 41 28 1 0 District 4 (WC) : 22 56 21 1 0 District 5 (C) : 50 41 7 2 0 District 6 (EC) : 36 37 27 0 0 District 7 (SW) : 56 26 11 6 1 District 8 (SC) : 70 25 4 1 0 District 9 (SE) : 63 29 8 0 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 05/20/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albany : 88 52 73 0.00 0 0.54 3.20 13.54 83 Alma : 87 49 71 0.02 1 0.19 0.20 6.36 75 Alpharetta : 84 42 64 0.15 1 1.50 3.31 12.43 71 Arlington : 88 49 71 0.00 0 0.13 2.65 13.19 79 Attapulgus : 89 50 71 0.19 1 0.22 0.61 7.35 84 Blairsville : 80 32 59 0.10 2 0.95 3.49 11.11 67 Williamson : 83 43 66 0.01 1 1.27 2.91 12.76 75 Bowen : 88 49 71 0.00 0 0.02 0.71 7.91 83 Brunswick : 81 54 70 0.17 3 0.51 1.19 8.03 73 Byromville : 87 47 71 0.00 0 0.12 3.28 11.15 78 Byron : 86 47 69 0.00 0 0.00 2.05 10.24 75 Cairo : 88 53 72 0.24 2 0.26 0.99 7.87 73 Calhoun : 85 36 64 0.06 1 0.14 1.23 7.95 73 Pine Mountain : 84 43 66 0.03 1 2.09 3.88 16.28 73 Camilla : 89 49 72 0.00 0 0.10 1.56 11.93 84 Clarks Hill : 86 44 66 0.00 0 0.95 1.76 11.00 75 Cordele : 86 48 71 0.00 0 0.00 4.28 10.97 78 Covington : 83 44 66 0.02 1 1.50 2.79 12.47 74 Dahlonega : 82 36 62 0.13 1 1.77 3.97 14.98 68 Dallas : 82 41 64 0.05 1 2.04 3.63 11.71 71 Dawson : 87 48 71 0.00 0 0.00 4.60 10.50 76 Dearing : 86 50 68 0.05 1 0.60 2.32 11.09 72 Dempsey : 83 44 66 0.00 0 0.56 1.86 11.28 77 Dixie : 89 52 74 0.02 1 0.02 0.48 8.13 84 Dublin : 87 46 69 0.00 0 2.18 5.46 14.47 75 Duluth : 83 42 64 0.22 1 2.32 4.11 14.10 68 Dunwoody : 82 43 64 0.41 1 1.34 3.38 12.56 71 Eatonton : 86 41 67 0.00 0 0.17 1.10 11.07 79 Elberton : 85 45 67 0.00 0 1.82 4.77 15.40 71 Ellijay : 82 37 61 0.05 1 0.55 2.29 10.43 71 Rome : 85 41 65 0.09 1 0.43 1.62 7.09 73 Fort Valley : 86 46 70 0.00 0 0.10 1.38 7.23 82 Gainesville : 82 45 65 0.00 0 1.25 2.83 10.19 70 Georgetown : 86 46 69 0.00 0 0.62 5.75 16.38 80 Griffin : 82 47 67 0.00 0 0.68 1.87 11.31 73 Homerville : 88 45 70 0.00 0 0.06 0.11 7.33 76 Jonesboro : 84 45 66 0.46 1 2.01 3.82 12.23 72 Jacksonville : 87 46 68 0.00 0 0.17 2.81 11.93 79 Lafayette : 83 39 65 0.04 1 1.99 4.80 11.25 70 McRae : 88 42 69 0.00 0 0.58 2.32 11.17 81 Midville : 86 48 69 0.00 0 0.49 3.18 10.81 78 Newton : 90 48 72 0.00 0 0.04 2.57 12.57 82 Plains : 87 49 70 0.00 0 0.00 2.39 11.05 82 Sasser : 85 49 70 0.00 0 0.21 5.78 13.39 77 Savannah : 88 47 69 0.79 1 1.21 1.32 8.20 77 Skidaway : 81 53 68 0.16 4 1.28 1.91 7.06 71 Sneads : 85 60 74 0.00 0 0.00 0.00 7.04 77 Statesboro : 86 51 69 0.00 0 0.44 1.77 9.59 81 Tifton : 87 52 71 0.77 2 0.77 1.22 8.40 75 Tiger : 82 36 60 0.25 1 2.74 5.41 19.04 67 Valdosta : 88 54 74 0.00 0 0.61 1.07 8.63 72 Vidalia : 88 50 71 0.01 1 0.01 0.71 9.35 80 Roopville : 84 43 65 0.32 2 0.76 4.07 11.84 74 Watkinsville : 82 45 63 0.01 1 2.15 3.50 12.88 72 Woodbine : 88 49 70 0.03 1 0.25 1.21 8.48 77 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 20, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST The drought is getting severe. We have missed out on all the recent scattered showers. Water shed ponds are now drying up. Spring fed ponds are low but still being maintained. All planting has stopped. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL This is staking up to be the driest growing season in several years. Rain is needed desperately! Light showers this week - many producers cutting hay this week. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Still dry. No hay for livestock. No moisture to plant crops. We are in bad shape. Dry does not even begin to describe it. Cow herds being sold off every day. Pond and stream levels continue to drop. Bad is getting worse. Grass is not growing in pastures and hayfields; any hay harvested is low quality and yielding 1/4 or less than average. Wheat not damaged by the freeze is almost ripe. Critical drought conditions! No rain! Crop, pasture and hayfield conditions continue to decline and pond and stream levels continue to drop. Some cattle producers selling animals due to lack of grazing and hay. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Rains have been scattered and not significant enough to keep crop conditions from getting worse. It is very dry. We need rainfall and very soon at that. Continues to be dry! Small grain harvest has begun. Some peanuts, soybeans and cotton planted. Hay and grazing continues to be short. Extremely dry weather continues to stress pastures and livestock producers. Hay supplies are very short and little prospects for producing any so far this year. Things are desperate. Hay and other feeds are short. Drought has stopped hay production. Pasture conditions a horrid! Producers are planning on selling cattle shortly. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Continued dry but, fortunately, not real hot. Planting is slow. Planted some more dry land cotton after getting 0.5 - 1" rain in parts of the county but now back to planting peanuts. Corn that survived freeze is stunted and "skippy" in fields that weren't replanted. Cattle feed is low but oats should make good even after rye, wheat, and barley sustained cold damage. Must have rain to continue spring planting. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST About 33% of land area received 0.7 inches of rain. No rainfall. Livestock hay shortage. Dry. conditions persist. No topsoil moisture. Short subsoil moisture. Difficulty in getting up peanut and cotton stands. Growers dusting in crops to meet crop insurance deadlines. Irrigation systems running constantly. Dry! Dry and hot. Some dusting in of cotton and peanuts on irrigated land. Hay is short and irrigating their pastures if possible. Many growers are planting, hoping for crop insurance or possible disaster assistance. Many are only planting only the seed and not applying soil insecticides and herbicides. Some are planting cheaper seed without high technology fees. Insect pest are showing up in tobacco such as cutworm, splitworms, and budworms. Some chinch bugs in dryland corn and in millet. Some farmers are choosing not to plant at all. Worst situation I have seen in my career. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL No rain, not much chance of rain the next ten days. No rain. Very dry field conditions farmers cannot plant crops. Some row crops being planted by dusting in this is to meet insurance obligations. Severe drought is having a detrimental effect on crop conditions, pastures, hay fields, and livestock. Planting cotton and peanuts has nearly ceased. There is little to no chance of seed germination on dryland. The plow will not go in the ground in many places making it impossible to plant. Hay is virtually non existent. A forty acre hay field was cut last week and only yielded fourteen round bales. Pastures are bare and cattle is on the verge of being sold out as a result of no feed. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Drought condition is bad in the county, if this continues much longer we will have a 100% crop failure. Cows are eating dirt balls. Corn is coming out of the ground with tassels, if we try to harvest corn it will be with a peanut digger. Nothing else has been planted.