ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date October 7, 2007 Issue GA-CW4007 Agricultural Summary October 8, 2007 WEATHER CONDITIONS AFFECT FIELDWORK Significant rain fell in the southeast corner of the State this week, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Elsewhere in the state, widespread scattered showers were received. Average high temperatures were in the low to mid-80's. Average lows ranged from the lower 60's to the lower 70's. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 28% very short, 28% short, 39% adequate, and 5% surplus. Extremely dry conditions delayed planting of winter grazing in north Georgia. In southeast Georgia, abundant rainfall prevented peanut digging and combining and was also a concern for cotton quality. Across the state, harvest of most crops was about a month behind normal due to the drought. Some peanuts and cotton may take until the first frost to mature. The pecan crop was shaping up well and soybeans continued to show good potential. Armyworms were still a problem in some pastures and hayfields. There were reports of stinkbugs in some fields. Producers continued planting small grains and pastures for winter grazing, moisture level permitting. Other activities included harvesting corn and sorghum for grain, digging and combining peanuts, cutting and baling hay, mowing and harrowing tobacco stalks, and cotton defoliation. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 10/07/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Harvested for Grain : 93 90 97 95 Soybeans Dropping Leaves : 32 20 60 58 Soybeans Harvested : 1 0 6 6 Sorghum Harvested : 25 21 56 53 Cotton Bolls Opening : 77 65 94 90 Cotton Harvested : 7 3 26 19 Winter Wheat Planted : 4 2 5 5 Apples Harvested : 46 41 36 55 Peanuts Dug : 26 12 36 53 Peanuts Combined : 15 5 24 38 Pecans Harvested : 1 NA 1 2 Rye Planted : 21 11 24 21 Other Small Grains Planted : 15 6 16 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 10/07/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Soybeans : 5 10 39 37 9 Sorghum : 9 10 32 45 4 Cotton : 6 15 34 37 8 Range and Pasture : 22 25 32 18 3 Apples : 70 22 8 0 0 Hay : 24 28 28 18 2 Peanuts : 3 9 30 43 15 Pecans : 9 9 27 37 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 10/07/07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 28 33 9 Short : 28 31 27 Adequate : 39 34 53 Surplus : 5 2 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 10/07/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 98 2 0 0 District 2 (NC) : 57 38 5 0 District 3 (NE) : 78 22 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 18 53 28 1 District 5 (C) : 23 39 38 0 District 6 (EC) : 29 34 32 5 District 7 (SW) : 24 27 47 2 District 8 (SC) : 3 14 69 14 District 9 (SE) : 0 3 79 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 10/07/07, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 65 29 6 0 0 District 2 (NC) : 32 42 26 0 0 District 3 (NE) : 44 45 11 0 0 District 4 (WC) : 42 26 22 10 0 District 5 (C) : 11 20 46 19 4 District 6 (EC) : 15 33 41 11 0 District 7 (SW) : 19 25 34 15 7 District 8 (SC) : 2 4 41 47 6 District 9 (SE) : 2 2 22 66 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 10/07/07, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albany : 87 64 76 0.29 5 3.20 9.66 31.30 80 Alma : 86 66 75 3.23 5 7.11 12.24 32.79 77 Alpharetta : 87 51 72 0.00 0 0.51 1.89 20.88 73 Arlington : 89 51 73 0.40 3 1.83 6.47 29.14 77 Attapulgus : 88 61 75 1.09 5 3.05 6.54 21.23 80 Blairsville : 84 40 67 0.00 0 1.54 2.98 27.03 71 Williamson : 82 51 71 0.54 2 2.51 5.42 26.79 75 Bowen : 86 65 74 1.00 5 3.07 10.20 26.52 79 Brunswick : 85 71 77 1.09 5 4.27 7.92 29.93 79 Byromville : 85 57 74 0.36 3 2.07 9.57 29.27 76 Byron : 85 56 72 0.70 3 4.72 12.39 31.87 76 Cairo : 88 65 77 1.71 4 5.22 8.57 28.64 77 Calhoun : 92 44 71 0.13 2 2.11 3.37 18.38 74 Pine Mountain : 86 52 72 0.17 2 2.37 7.36 31.28 74 Camilla : 88 61 76 0.41 5 2.77 7.79 30.09 79 Clarks Hill : 86 53 73 0.43 2 1.75 5.60 23.17 75 Cordele : 86 58 74 0.06 3 1.10 7.17 28.19 76 Covington : 84 54 72 0.19 2 2.81 4.11 24.69 74 Dahlonega : 83 52 70 0.67 2 1.91 3.15 24.44 71 Dallas : 85 51 72 0.22 3 1.15 3.77 23.06 74 Dawson : 86 60 75 0.09 3 1.33 3.94 18.61 77 Dearing : 87 55 73 0.13 2 1.30 2.49 20.21 76 Dempsey : 82 56 71 0.41 3 3.22 6.01 21.90 74 Dixie : 88 66 75 1.80 5 4.80 10.54 33.91 79 Dublin : 87 58 74 0.74 3 1.90 5.70 32.36 77 Duluth : 86 49 72 0.32 2 1.41 3.72 25.65 74 Dunwoody : 87 55 72 0.32 2 0.87 4.55 27.65 73 Eatonton : 86 50 72 0.10 2 4.23 6.51 27.25 75 Elberton : 87 57 74 0.19 2 1.51 2.51 22.82 75 Ellijay : 86 43 69 0.05 2 1.66 2.49 19.00 73 Rome : 90 45 72 0.02 1 1.48 2.55 17.37 76 Fort Valley : 86 58 73 1.04 4 5.02 10.68 27.11 75 Gainesville : 85 55 71 0.42 2 1.46 2.49 20.52 77 Georgetown : 88 55 75 0.04 1 2.05 6.74 32.76 79 Griffin : 82 53 71 0.68 2 3.53 6.29 25.02 74 Homerville : 86 65 75 2.56 6 4.83 8.58 31.62 79 Jonesboro : 85 50 72 1.00 3 2.53 6.46 23.75 75 Jeffersonville : 86 58 73 0.61 4 3.28 6.87 29.33 77 Lafayette : 85 44 68 0.07 1 4.32 4.45 21.12 73 McRae : 87 55 74 1.33 3 3.93 10.27 31.15 78 Midville : 87 60 74 1.21 3 2.44 5.89 27.55 77 Newton : 89 61 76 0.66 4 1.62 9.15 26.81 80 Plains : 85 58 73 0.07 2 2.70 7.30 27.81 74 Sasser : 85 59 74 0.06 4 2.08 7.09 29.88 75 Savannah : 87 63 75 2.91 6 5.37 15.84 38.34 78 Skidaway : 80 63 71 3.66 5 10.25 22.37 48.59 76 Sneads : 86 67 77 1.40 6 1.91 4.10 17.70 78 Statesboro : 86 56 72 1.23 4 3.58 8.24 33.50 77 Tifton : 85 64 75 0.69 5 2.61 9.09 27.49 77 Tiger : 83 41 66 1.14 4 2.41 7.06 39.90 72 Valdosta : 87 67 77 1.10 4 3.24 7.27 31.06 77 Vidalia : 85 62 74 3.15 5 4.90 10.09 37.32 78 Roopville : 87 49 72 0.01 1 1.84 6.40 27.09 75 Watkinsville : 89 56 75 0.11 2 1.07 2.95 20.60 76 Woodbine : 88 67 76 7.61 6 10.10 13.82 40.33 79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 October 7, 2007 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST It is still extremely dry. We are still missing the area rains. No one has started to plant winter grazing due to dry weather. Some very light cuttings of hay. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Received much needed rain Thursday evening and most of the day on Friday; some parts of the county received more than an inch. Extremely dry. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Light and scattered showers on Thursday night have helped ease the situation and slightly improved pasture conditions. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Baled some hay, fed more, scattered showers mid week, still hot. Perhaps some winter grazing planted soon. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Light showers this week. Less than 1/2 inch accumulation in most areas of the county. Small grain and winter grazing planting continues as well as corn and grain sorghum harvests. Armyworms still a problem in some pastures and hayfields. Pond and stream levels continue to be very low. Need more substantial rain very badly. We are still under the level 2 restrictions in terms of drought standards. Surprisingly our pecan crop is shaping up rather well. We have gotten scattered rainfall over the past few days. Scattered rains fell across the county last week. Peanuts being dug and harvested. Soybeans dropping leaves. Stinkbugs showing up in some fields. Grower spraying as needed. Haying continues. Cotton opening but harvest has not started. Livestock producers planting winter grazing. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Early indications are that peanuts, even dry land, will do some better than expected and cotton will be decent although it looks better after defoliating/boll opening. A lot of 1 bale/A dry land cotton. Soybeans continue to show good potential, especially MG V, VI. Still some hay being cut and looks good, what there is of it. Lots of peanut hay will be baled. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.21" of rainfall. Greenbean fields in southern part of the county with pythium. Cotton defoliation. Fields prepared for wheat plantings. Hay baled including volunteer peanut, Texas millet, etc. Dry weather persists. Warm temperature helping to fill out late peanuts and cotton. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Much needed rainfall is preventing peanut digging and harvest and is of concern for cotton quality. Mowing and harrowing tobacco stalks. Getting land ready to plant small grains. Cutting and baling hay between rains. Crops look good in general. We are about a month behind normal on harvest due to spring and summer drought. Some peanuts and cotton may take until first frost to mature. Some cotton expected to be defoliated next week. Terrible peanut picking weather for the last three days. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available.