ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date March 9, 2008 Issue GA-CW1008 Agricultural Summary March 10, 2008 BENEFICAL RAINS A cold front came through the state on Friday dropping temperatures significantly, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Saturday was windy and cold. Daily average high temperatures were in the mid 60's for most of the week, except Saturdays high in the 40's. Average lows ranged in the mid 30's. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 2% very short, 6% short, 53% adequate, and 39% surplus. Rains during the week were most beneficial to subsoil moisture levels. Some pastures in the northern part of the State are in poor condition due to being over grazed. Wet soil conditions hampered applications of nitrogen on wheat and other small grains. Wet conditions slowed early corn planting. Wheat looked good, especially where farmers were able to apply fertilizer. Spring vegetable planting should begin this week. Other activities included getting equipment ready for planting corn, clipping tobacco plants in greenhouses, and the routine care of poultry and livestock. County Extension Agents reported an average of 3.7 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 03/09/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Planted : 2 0 6 2 Winter Wheat Jointing : 34 0 27 11 Winter Wheat Boot : 2 0 2 1 Peaches Blooming : 10 0 19 5 Watermelons Planted : 0 0 2 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 03/09/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Winter Wheat : 1 3 28 48 20 Range and Pasture : 11 20 44 23 2 Onions : 0 0 3 92 5 Peaches : 0 0 27 73 0 Vegetables : 0 3 45 50 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 03/09/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 2 3 0 Short : 6 8 0 Adequate : 53 62 0 Surplus : 39 27 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Soil Moisture Map is 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. Soil Moisture (%) at 12" Soil Depth Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 03/09/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 8 22 49 21 District 2 (NC) : 2 6 77 15 District 3 (NE) : 5 12 79 4 District 4 (WC) : 3 10 69 18 District 5 (C) : 5 4 46 45 District 6 (EC) : 0 9 52 39 District 7 (SW) : 0 0 43 57 District 8 (SC) : 0 0 27 73 District 9 (SE) : 0 0 57 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 03/09/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 19 26 49 6 0 District 2 (NC) : 4 16 45 34 1 District 3 (NE) : 16 33 44 7 0 District 4 (WC) : 11 35 39 15 0 District 5 (C) : 19 19 33 28 1 District 6 (EC) : 1 12 60 26 1 District 7 (SW) : 7 9 50 30 4 District 8 (SC) : 6 14 41 31 8 District 9 (SE) : 11 9 47 32 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 03/09/08, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 March 9, 2008 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Wet and colder temperatures for late week and the weekend. We received some great rains this week. Almost 1 inch of slow, ground soaking rains. Just keep them coming. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Heavy rain this week, major activities are routine care of livestock and poultry DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Up to 1.5 inches of rain this week with more expected Friday. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Recent rains a great help with soil moisture and retention of. Liming pastures, hayfields, some weed control in forage crops. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Many pastures remain in poor condition since the stocking rate has remained unchanged and they have been over grazed. We have gotten more than our share of rainfall over the past week or so. We are still in somewhat of a deficit with rainfall, yet we're improving by leaps and bounds. We should be able to monitor the weather conditions in Hancock as we are looking to bring a computerized weather station on line shortly. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Wheat, overall, looks very good, no sign of insect damage. Very wet, pouring down rain as I type this message. Barely able to get wheat fertilized but we did. Farmers watching commodity prices closely, peanut acreage will be up but planting of soybeans, cotton and corn is still somewhat undecided. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Received 2.13" of rainfall. Topsoil moisture excellent. Ponds full. Wheat growing rapidly due to above warm temperatures. Slow early corn planting due to wet field conditions. Rain and flooding today. Wheat is looking good. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Wet soil conditions are hampering soil preparation. Spring vegetable planting for bell peppers, squash, etc. beginning this week. Still wet. Heavy rainfall continues to fall on Friday morning and moisture conditions continue to grow toward the surplus range. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available.