ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 28, 2008 Issue GA-CW1708 Agricultural Summary April 28, 2008 DRY CONDITIONS Much of state experienced sunny temperatures and dry conditions, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Daily average high temperatures fluctuated between the high-70's and low-80's. Average lows were in the 50's most of the week. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 6% very short, 39% short, 52% adequate, and 3% surplus. Due to the dry conditions, many fields were too dry to plant. Land preparation and planting had almost stopped. Cattle farmers were feeding hay at a time when they usually have plenty of grazing. The low top soil moisture caused crops to slowly develop. Peach conditions continue to decline due to the low temperatures during February, March and April. Corn planting continues and some hay producers prepare for their first cutting of hay. Other activities included transplanting tobacco, spreading litter on cotton land, applying herbicides and bedding the land for peanuts. Wheat continues to look very promising with high yield potential. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 04/27/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Planted : 92 85 90 88 Corn Emerged : 80 67 81 78 Soybeans Planted : 3 1 3 4 Sorghum Planted : 19 17 12 12 Cotton Planted : 6 1 3 10 Winter Wheat Boot : 97 88 99 95 Winter Wheat Headed : 83 59 91 84 Apples Blooming : 95 59 93 79 Onions Harvested : 21 7 23 17 Peanuts Planted : 2 0 2 3 Tobacco Transplanted : 78 51 76 78 Watermelons Planted : 91 83 89 86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 04/27/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 0 3 29 65 3 Winter Wheat : 0 3 20 55 22 Range and Pasture : 2 10 42 44 2 Apples : 0 0 1 32 67 Hay : 3 11 44 40 2 Onions : 0 0 27 45 28 Peaches : 8 10 21 61 0 Tobacco : 0 1 32 67 0 Watermelons : 0 1 43 52 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 04/27/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 6 3 14 Short : 39 23 28 Adequate : 52 71 50 Surplus : 3 3 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture (%) at 12" Soil Depth Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 04/27/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 7 39 53 1 District 2 (NC) : 3 22 70 5 District 3 (NE) : 3 22 75 1 District 4 (WC) : 0 25 74 1 District 5 (C) : 8 58 33 1 District 6 (EC) : 10 50 40 0 District 7 (SW) : 12 39 38 11 District 8 (SC) : 4 43 51 3 District 9 (SE) : 8 36 48 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. Pasture Condition for Week Ending 04/27/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 0 15 60 26 0 District 2 (NC) : 0 3 21 71 5 District 3 (NE) : 3 7 41 46 3 District 4 (WC) : 0 21 34 45 0 District 5 (C) : 14 11 35 40 0 District 6 (EC) : 4 6 52 38 0 District 7 (SW) : 0 12 46 37 5 District 8 (SC) : 0 8 43 48 1 District 9 (SE) : 0 6 30 64 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 04/27/08, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:---------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day : Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alma : 84 52 68 1.29 2 3.47 5.67 14.63 70 Alpharetta : 83 43 66 0.44 3 3.21 7.52 16.34 65 Arlington : 87 49 69 0.00 0 1.40 3.22 12.38 71 Attapulgus : 83 50 68 0.00 0 4.40 8.30 22.28 75 Blairsville : 68 19 40 1.05 4 4.52 9.19 9.19 46 Williamson : 72 22 48 0.78 1 3.25 8.02 8.02 50 Bowen : 84 51 68 0.04 1 2.09 4.25 12.27 75 Brunswick : 81 54 69 0.00 0 1.47 4.20 10.98 70 Byromville : 86 51 69 0.17 1 3.84 6.61 15.25 70 Byron : 86 48 67 0.33 1 2.81 5.33 15.41 69 Cairo : 84 52 69 0.80 1 3.67 6.96 21.26 69 Calhoun : 83 40 65 0.85 1 3.89 7.68 13.61 68 Pine Mountain : 83 44 66 0.47 2 3.02 5.55 14.77 66 Camilla : 87 49 69 0.00 0 3.35 7.09 20.75 75 Clarks Hill : 84 42 64 0.58 2 1.87 6.14 13.59 67 Cordele : 86 51 70 0.00 0 3.31 6.48 14.72 70 Covington : 82 45 66 0.32 2 4.31 6.58 12.70 66 Dahlonega : 80 40 64 0.20 1 3.02 9.14 18.53 64 Dallas : 82 47 66 0.54 2 3.69 7.89 14.92 66 Dawson : 85 49 69 0.00 0 2.63 5.74 14.31 72 Dearing : 84 48 67 0.62 2 3.85 7.75 16.64 67 Dempsey : 82 45 66 0.27 1 2.69 4.19 10.18 71 Dixie : 84 50 69 0.02 1 2.21 4.95 18.15 73 Dublin : 85 49 68 0.08 1 2.51 5.47 14.89 70 Duluth : 81 43 65 0.61 2 3.85 7.24 14.72 66 Dunwoody : 81 45 66 1.13 2 3.91 8.21 15.77 65 Eatonton : 82 41 65 0.44 1 4.30 7.31 16.15 68 Elberton : 85 43 66 0.28 2 3.63 6.31 13.25 67 Ellijay : 81 38 64 0.95 1 3.68 6.89 12.35 67 Rome : 73 19 45 0.75 2 3.38 6.33 6.33 47 Fort Valley : 86 51 68 0.26 1 2.53 4.49 13.40 72 Gainesville : 82 45 66 0.15 1 2.38 8.25 16.65 69 Georgetown : 84 47 68 0.14 3 3.81 5.29 18.34 74 Homerville : 84 47 67 0.25 1 6.54 8.71 20.02 72 Jonesboro : 83 46 66 0.58 2 4.12 6.98 13.98 67 Jeffersonville : 86 51 67 0.32 1 2.78 5.97 16.24 70 Lafayette : 82 41 65 1.20 1 4.57 9.38 17.74 66 McRae : 86 45 66 1.58 1 3.13 6.73 17.26 71 Midville : 72 27 49 0.76 1 4.94 8.77 8.77 53 Newton : 86 49 69 0.00 0 2.13 5.04 15.57 76 Plains : 72 24 49 0.51 1 4.05 9.30 9.30 52 Sasser : 32 32 32 0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 32 Savannah : 85 50 67 0.01 1 1.36 2.92 9.03 70 Skidaway : 78 53 67 0.07 2 1.27 2.85 10.84 69 Sneads : 81 57 71 0.00 0 3.73 6.39 21.52 74 Statesboro : 83 52 66 1.74 2 5.01 7.94 16.66 74 Tiger : 80 37 61 0.80 1 3.38 10.61 19.77 65 Valdosta : 85 53 70 0.19 1 3.01 4.45 16.83 69 Vidalia : 83 53 68 0.27 1 1.66 4.23 13.98 70 Roopville : 81 47 65 1.00 2 4.48 8.92 16.78 68 Watkinsville : 81 43 66 1.18 2 4.03 6.57 13.12 68 Woodbine : 85 49 67 1.13 1 3.68 6.59 14.26 71 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 April 27, 2008 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST We received some good rain on Sunday night and early hours of Monday, April 28th. It has become very dry once again. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Routine care of livestock and poultry. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Soaking rains improve soil moisture. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Need rain badly! Corn planting continues and some hay producers prepare for their first cutting of hay. It's beginning to get somewhat dry again. Crops are looking good from the late winter and early spring rains. Peach conditions continue to decline due to February, March and April freezes. Early varieties were hurt most. Soils are very dry now. Land preparation and planting have almost stopped. Cattle farmers are feeding hay at a time when they usually have plenty of grazing. Farmers are irrigating wheat, rye, and oats in the fields where they can. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Wheat continues to look very promising with high yield potential...never did see any disease but cereal leaf beetle population exploded this year and did some pretty fair damage to flag leaves. Preparing cotton land....need rain. Should be planting a lot next week if we get predicted rain on Monday. Scattered showers. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST All crops in good condition. Topsoil moisture low even with up to 1/2 inch rain 5 days ago. Crops slow developing. Some wheat prematurely drying down. Many fields are beginning to get too dry to plant. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Getting dry. Transplanting tobacco, cutting hay and weeds for first time. Spreading litter on cotton land. Applying herbicides and bedding land for cotton and peanuts. Peanut and cotton planting to begin full scale this week. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available.