ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 26, 2007 Issue GA-CW3407 Agricultural Summary August 27, 2007 CROP CONDITIONS ON DECLINE Thunderstorms late in the week brought some relief from the extreme heat the State has experienced over the last month, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Average high temperatures ranged from the lower 90's to the lower 100's. Average low temperatures were in the lower 70's. Rainfall averaged 1.13 inches. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 36% very short, 39% short, 24% adequate, and 1% surplus. Thunderstorms received late in the week were spotty. More generalized rains were needed. Crop conditions continued to decline due to the heat and dry weather. Cotton, soybeans, and peanuts were at a critical stage and were particularly stressed by the lack of water. The heat has affected crops' ability to fill normally. Livestock producers were dealing with a hay and forage shortage and some were selling cows at reduced prices. There was an increase in limbs breaking in commercial pecan orchards. Some transplanted vegetables were having a hard time getting established. Silverleaf whiteflies have caused damage and stress to cotton and commercial vegetables. Other activities included picking tobacco, spraying cotton for worms, checking peanuts for worms, baling hay, feeding hay to livestock, irrigating crops, spraying fungicides and insecticides on peanuts, planting fall vegetables, and the routine care of poultry and livestock. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 08/26/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Dent : 96 93 98 98 Corn Mature : 84 75 90 90 Corn Harvested for Grain : 37 21 45 41 Soybeans Blooming : 92 82 95 97 Soybeans Setting Pods : 67 54 80 83 Soybeans Dropping Leaves : 1 0 7 6 Sorghum Harvested : 3 1 27 16 Cotton Bolls Opening : 14 8 31 23 Apples Harvested : 11 8 14 16 Peanuts Dug : 0 NA 0 1 Tobacco Harvested : 68 60 81 86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 08/26/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 17 19 28 30 6 Soybeans : 7 19 41 29 4 Sorghum : 11 10 42 35 2 Cotton : 7 15 35 34 9 Range and Pasture : 30 33 24 11 2 Apples : 42 17 35 6 0 Hay : 32 32 25 10 1 Peanuts : 5 16 35 36 8 Pecans : 5 12 31 41 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 08/26/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 36 33 11 Short : 39 41 29 Adequate : 24 26 53 Surplus : 1 0 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 08/26/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 83 17 0 0 District 2 (NC) : 49 45 6 0 District 3 (NE) : 61 39 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 51 31 16 2 District 5 (C) : 28 52 19 1 District 6 (EC) : 35 49 16 0 District 7 (SW) : 30 29 39 2 District 8 (SC) : 5 38 55 2 District 9 (SE) : 8 41 51 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 08/26/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 42 42 10 6 0 District 2 (NC) : 30 33 30 7 0 District 3 (NE) : 60 32 8 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 43 38 15 4 0 District 5 (C) : 27 38 25 10 0 District 6 (EC) : 20 40 27 12 0 District 7 (SW) : 33 24 23 14 6 District 8 (SC) : 2 25 41 26 6 District 9 (SE) : 2 8 32 49 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 08/26/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albany : 100 72 85 0.62 1 2.73 6.28 23.96 90 Alma : 96 71 83 0.00 0 7.60 11.98 22.43 85 Alpharetta : 102 66 83 0.03 1 0.40 4.66 19.02 82 Arlington : 101 69 83 0.76 1 5.44 9.37 24.86 84 Attapulgus : 97 70 82 0.89 2 4.78 7.30 15.90 87 Blairsville : 96 59 76 0.00 0 3.96 8.71 24.05 79 Williamson : 100 66 83 0.26 1 1.49 7.01 21.63 88 Bowen : 96 69 82 0.37 3 2.23 4.77 17.31 90 Brunswick : 97 75 84 0.00 0 6.84 10.50 22.58 86 Byromville : 100 70 84 0.66 1 2.70 5.72 20.77 87 Byron : 103 68 85 1.70 2 2.02 7.22 21.18 86 Cairo : 97 71 83 0.11 1 4.75 6.68 20.52 84 Calhoun : 104 63 84 0.00 0 2.07 4.52 15.01 87 Pine Mountain : 100 68 82 0.77 2 1.63 5.08 25.03 83 Camilla : 99 62 82 1.96 3 6.61 11.21 24.54 87 Clarks Hill : 103 67 83 0.15 2 1.46 3.06 17.85 87 Cordele : 101 70 83 0.59 1 2.65 8.48 22.51 86 Covington : 103 66 84 0.08 2 2.69 5.99 20.66 88 Dahlonega : 98 63 80 0.00 0 1.49 4.10 21.29 84 Dallas : 101 67 83 0.13 2 1.16 6.15 19.42 85 Dawson : 100 70 83 0.38 1 1.50 3.51 15.97 86 Dearing : 103 69 85 0.02 1 1.09 3.57 17.74 86 Dempsey : 102 68 84 0.21 1 0.80 3.68 16.10 90 Dixie : 97 69 82 2.31 2 7.41 16.91 31.78 88 Dublin : 101 70 83 0.69 3 1.65 5.45 27.56 86 Duluth : 101 65 83 0.03 1 0.98 6.75 21.96 84 Dunwoody : 100 66 83 0.65 1 2.51 9.62 23.75 83 Eatonton : 104 63 83 0.00 0 3.72 7.06 20.74 91 Elberton : 105 64 86 0.00 0 0.50 2.24 20.31 88 Ellijay : 99 62 79 0.00 0 2.44 4.49 16.51 86 Rome : 104 65 84 0.00 0 0.65 4.56 14.82 86 Fort Valley : 103 70 84 1.81 1 2.38 6.67 18.29 88 Gainesville : 101 69 84 0.00 0 2.11 5.17 18.03 90 Georgetown : 100 69 83 0.68 1 6.87 11.14 29.43 88 Griffin : 101 70 84 0.40 1 1.54 5.55 19.13 85 Homerville : 97 66 82 0.02 1 7.15 12.27 25.14 85 Jonesboro : 102 67 84 0.00 0 0.79 3.38 17.29 89 Jeffersonville : 101 69 83 0.38 1 1.64 5.09 22.84 89 Lafayette : 102 65 83 0.00 0 2.54 4.85 16.67 85 McRae : 99 68 82 0.99 2 3.57 5.73 22.51 87 Midville : 101 70 84 0.42 2 1.67 4.02 22.08 89 Newton : 100 71 83 0.78 2 3.95 5.51 19.99 88 Plains : 100 69 83 0.92 1 1.77 7.12 21.52 90 Sasser : 98 70 82 0.51 3 2.73 7.29 24.29 86 Savannah : 97 71 82 0.00 0 4.65 8.42 23.86 87 Skidaway : 96 70 82 0.04 4 7.65 12.09 26.28 85 Sneads : 98 73 84 0.00 0 3.89 6.51 13.92 89 Statesboro : 98 69 82 1.35 2 5.60 8.01 27.18 88 Tifton : 98 71 83 0.30 2 2.77 6.70 19.03 85 Tiger : 96 60 76 0.00 0 3.55 8.01 32.84 85 Valdosta : 97 72 84 0.02 1 5.43 7.43 24.23 84 Vidalia : 97 71 83 0.48 1 5.81 9.34 28.19 87 Roopville : 103 67 83 0.14 1 1.39 7.79 20.83 88 Watkinsville : 103 69 85 1.35 1 1.95 4.78 19.00 89 Woodbine : 98 69 82 0.00 0 8.45 10.41 27.04 86 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 August 26, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST It is extremely dry again. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Scattered showers and slightly cooler temperatures brought some relief. Some spotty rain showers fell late in the week. More generalized showers are needed. Crop conditions continue to decline due to dry weather. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Residents in some parts of the county have had no water. Hay & forage situation becoming desperate with no rain in sight. Farmers are selling cows at reduced prices as a result. Widely (very widely) scattered showers are mostly on the eastern and southern parts of the county. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Need rain desperately. Another week of extreme temperatures, no rain, and busted hopes. Forecast for this week is at least optimistic. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL It is still very dry and we need rainfall. We have averaged temperatures in the range of 100 to 103 over the past two weeks. Conditions are terrible due to the extreme heat and drought of August. One cutting of hay produced from the July rains. Doubtful if anymore will be harvested. Send rain! DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Hot and dry with scattered showers. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST An excellent rain was received August 23, 2007. We received 2.13" of rainfall. Corn harvest at full blast. Hay shortage critical. Drought causing a backyard pecan tree nut drop. Limb breakage increasing from pecan crop set in commercial orchards. Dry topsoil moisture along with extreme heat placing stress on cotton soybeans and peanuts which are all under high water requirements due to reproduction stage of growth. Even with scattered rains and irrigation we appear to always be within 3 days of a drought unless more watering occurs. The heat is affecting crops' ability to fill out normally which will probably result in a below normal crop yield for this year. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Picking tobacco. Spraying cotton for worms. Checking peanuts for worms. Most crops in critical need for rainfall. Got some yesterday but not enough. Cotton and peanuts wilting in the heat of the day. Spraying peanuts with fungicides and insecticides. Baling hay. Daytime temperatures extremely hot for past three weeks. Some transplanted vegetables hard to establish. Silverleaf whiteflies causing damage and stress to cotton and commercial vegetables. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available.