ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date September 17, 2007 Issue GA-CW0107 Agricultural Summary September 17, 2007 SHOWERS IMPROVE CROP CONDITIONS The State welcomed cooler temperatures and frequent widespread rain showers this week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Average high temperatures were in the 80's and lower 90's. Average low temperatures were in the 60's. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 22% very short, 35% short, 39% adequate, and 4% surplus. Light showers throughout the week improved crop conditions. Some producers began digging peanuts this week and cotton defoliation was underway. There was a lot of variability in dryland cotton, with the crop ranging from very poor to very good. Corn yields have been good. Limbs were breaking on pecan trees from the large crop this year. Worm pressure built in pastures, hayfields, and soybeans. Whiteflies increased in cotton. Producers prepared to plant pastures for winter grazing and small grains. Other activities included peanut maturity checks, cutting and baling hay, and spraying soybeans for worms and diseases. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 09/16/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Harvested for Grain : 81 68 87 81 Soybeans Setting Pods : 97 91 98 99 Soybeans Dropping Leaves : 11 6 27 25 Sorghum Harvested : 15 9 45 37 Cotton Bolls Opening : 42 31 80 67 Cotton Harvested : 0 0 5 4 Apples Harvested : 30 19 30 32 Peanuts Dug : 4 2 5 12 Peanuts Combined : 1 0 2 6 Rye Planted : 4 0 6 5 Tobacco Harvested : 89 83 97 99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 09/16/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Soybeans : 5 12 42 36 5 Sorghum : 11 10 41 36 2 Cotton : 7 14 33 38 8 Range and Pasture : 26 21 34 16 3 Apples : 65 11 14 10 0 Hay : 29 26 29 13 3 Peanuts : 5 9 31 42 13 Pecans : 10 10 27 37 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 09/16/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 22 29 12 Short : 35 35 28 Adequate : 39 33 44 Surplus : 4 3 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 09/16/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 67 32 1 0 District 2 (NC) : 27 60 13 0 District 3 (NE) : 84 16 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 26 49 23 2 District 5 (C) : 7 32 54 7 District 6 (EC) : 20 28 50 2 District 7 (SW) : 24 36 39 1 District 8 (SC) : 7 28 55 10 District 9 (SE) : 0 16 80 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 09/16/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 58 31 11 0 0 District 2 (NC) : 31 32 36 1 0 District 3 (NE) : 75 24 1 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 42 23 29 6 0 District 5 (C) : 8 15 51 19 7 District 6 (EC) : 16 27 47 10 0 District 7 (SW) : 23 27 26 17 7 District 8 (SC) : 2 9 46 38 5 District 9 (SE) : 0 1 32 63 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 09/16/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albany : 94 64 79 0.45 3 4.59 7.45 28.55 86 Alma : 93 69 78 1.93 5 5.18 13.03 27.61 81 Alpharetta : 92 55 73 0.51 1 1.86 2.39 20.88 77 Arlington : 95 60 76 1.13 5 3.58 9.08 28.44 82 Attapulgus : 92 64 77 0.89 3 3.18 7.95 19.07 84 Blairsville : 88 48 68 1.45 4 2.89 6.87 26.94 75 Williamson : 91 54 73 1.71 4 4.36 6.47 25.99 79 Bowen : 92 65 78 0.24 2 6.55 8.61 23.69 87 Brunswick : 92 72 80 0.83 5 3.91 11.11 26.49 82 Byromville : 92 61 77 0.73 3 7.82 10.11 27.93 81 Byron : 92 62 75 1.55 4 6.50 9.54 28.70 80 Cairo : 93 64 78 1.91 4 4.81 9.92 25.33 81 Calhoun : 96 48 72 1.66 3 2.92 5.55 17.93 79 Pine Mountain : 91 50 73 1.82 2 5.71 7.76 30.73 78 Camilla : 94 62 78 0.96 3 3.75 10.35 28.28 83 Clarks Hill : 95 62 76 0.26 4 3.83 5.29 21.68 80 Cordele : 91 59 77 0.08 3 4.66 8.13 27.17 81 Covington : 94 62 74 2.06 5 3.29 6.26 23.94 79 Dahlonega : 91 54 70 0.77 3 2.01 3.54 23.30 76 Dallas : 92 51 72 0.90 3 3.50 5.14 22.81 78 Dawson : 94 61 78 0.34 1 1.65 3.39 17.62 82 Dearing : 94 64 76 0.64 3 1.81 2.91 19.55 81 Dempsey : 91 56 74 2.29 4 4.87 6.07 20.97 79 Dixie : 92 66 78 2.16 3 8.43 15.56 39.93 83 Dublin : 93 63 77 1.01 2 3.91 5.76 31.47 82 Duluth : 93 55 73 1.06 4 3.34 4.48 25.30 78 Dunwoody : 91 56 73 0.39 2 3.42 5.93 27.17 78 Eatonton : 93 62 74 3.87 5 6.15 9.99 26.89 80 Elberton : 97 63 75 0.93 4 1.93 2.43 22.24 79 Ellijay : 90 50 69 1.57 3 2.40 4.90 18.91 75 Rome : 94 51 72 1.46 3 2.53 3.44 17.35 79 Fort Valley : 92 63 76 2.45 2 6.25 8.74 24.54 80 Gainesville : 93 61 74 1.04 1 2.07 4.18 20.10 81 Georgetown : 94 57 77 1.71 4 2.99 9.86 32.42 82 Griffin : 90 59 74 2.71 5 5.07 7.42 24.20 78 Homerville : 94 65 78 0.33 3 2.00 9.13 27.12 81 Jonesboro : 92 59 74 1.50 5 5.43 7.17 22.72 79 Jeffersonville : 92 61 75 2.36 2 5.57 7.71 28.41 81 Lafayette : 95 47 71 4.25 3 4.38 7.20 21.05 78 McRae : 93 61 77 2.00 2 6.71 10.33 29.22 82 Midville : 93 65 77 1.02 3 4.05 5.72 26.13 82 Newton : 95 62 78 0.25 4 5.46 9.40 25.44 84 Plains : 94 60 76 0.33 2 3.92 5.78 25.44 82 Sasser : 90 61 76 0.42 3 3.94 6.73 28.22 80 Savannah : 92 68 78 1.30 4 10.41 15.20 34.27 83 Skidaway : 90 64 75 2.72 5 14.80 23.00 41.06 79 Sneads : 93 69 79 0.11 2 1.10 5.87 15.90 83 Statesboro : 93 62 77 1.79 4 4.55 10.14 31.71 84 Tifton : 91 65 78 0.19 1 6.21 8.81 25.07 81 Tiger : 89 50 67 1.26 3 5.91 10.07 38.75 77 Valdosta : 93 68 79 1.36 3 4.95 10.38 29.18 81 Vidalia : 93 67 77 1.26 4 5.49 11.35 33.68 82 Roopville : 93 53 72 1.61 4 6.17 8.09 26.86 78 Woodbine : 94 68 79 0.68 5 3.87 12.51 30.91 83 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 September 16, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Had about 3 inches of rain on Friday the 14th. Area rain, light showers, moved into the area yesterday (Thursday) evening. Hopefully they will continue throughout today (Friday). DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Received much needed rain late in the week, as much as 2 inches in some parts of the county. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Thunder storms Thursday produced 1/4". DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Some peanuts were dug over the weekend. Producers are getting ready to plant some ryegrass for forage. Armyworms are starting to show up. County desperately needs some rain. Growers pushed hard last week to get in some additional warm season hay ahead of showers; spotty outbreaks of armyworms. Received an inch of rain over most of the county, some in excess of 2.5. Thoughts are on just how early to plant winter grazing, many want to take advantage of this moisture and probably will. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Welcome rains! Rained several different days this week. Some areas of the county got 2-3 inches total while some areas got less. Pasture and hayfield conditions improved slightly due to the rains. Some people preparing to plant winter grazing, small grains and wildlife food plots. Armyworms showing up in some pastures and hayfields. We have been designated as one the disaster counties. That means we will be receiving much needed assistance from USDA. In terms of climatic conditions, we have received several afternoon showers which has cooled things off significantly. Rain received around the county during the week. Haying continues. Armyworms have appeared. Some producers spraying. Cooler weather very nice! DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Starting to defoliate cotton and dig peanuts at same time. Beans could be strong with more timely rain. Dry land cotton ranges from very poor to very good. No pest pressure in beans or peanuts. Some scattered shows has helped. Worm pressure building in soybean and pastures. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.37" of rainfall. Peanut maturity checks started. Cotton defoliation started. Small grain field prep for planting. A lot of areas have been missed by rain. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Daily thunderstorms. Whiteflies increasing on cotton. Peanuts getting close and may need one more irrigation. Spraying soybeans for worms and disease prevention. Cutting and baling hay. Worms are infesting hay fields. Corn yields are good. Early planted dryland cotton will yield about 400 lbs/acre. Peanuts are beginning to be dug now, no yield or grade information yet. Pecan crop is so big that limbs are breaking from the heavy load. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Peanuts are about two weeks away from being ready to dig. Looks like the peanut and cotton crops will be great if the weather cooperates for the harvest.