ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date September 7, 2008 Issue GA-CW3608 Agricultural Summary September 8, 2008 LACK OF RAIN Lack of rain deprived crops of moisture, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Daily average high temperatures were in the high 80's. Average lows were in the 60's most of week. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 4% very short, 24% short, 62% adequate, and 10% surplus. Some hay producers were watching for hurricanes and trying to decide whether or not to cut hay. Army worms and stink bugs have been cited in some fields. Some producers had to rely on peanut hay for cattle. Boll rot has still been reported in cotton and white mold has been sited in peanuts. Scattered showers where reported in some areas of the state. Other activities included spraying late peanuts with fungicide, stripping tobacco and cutting hay. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 09/07/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Mature : 96 92 94 97 Corn Harvested for Grain : 59 42 64 64 Soybeans Blooming : 97 94 99 100 Soybeans Setting Pods : 88 79 87 94 Soybeans Dropping Leaves : 5 2 5 12 Sorghum Harvested : 28 25 8 27 Cotton Bolls Opening : 37 19 28 42 Apples Harvested : 13 11 17 22 Peanuts Dug : 1 NA 2 3 Tobacco Harvested : 81 71 81 93 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 09/07/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 6 21 31 33 9 Soybeans : 2 12 45 37 4 Sorghum : 1 6 34 56 3 Cotton : 4 13 42 34 7 Range and Pasture : 6 16 39 37 2 Apples : 0 4 13 28 55 Hay : 8 17 44 30 1 Peanuts : 2 4 30 52 12 Pecans : 6 14 39 37 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 09/07/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 4 3 8 Short : 24 9 26 Adequate : 62 62 54 Surplus : 10 26 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 09/07/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 7 35 56 2 District 2 (NC) : 7 51 41 1 District 3 (NE) : 13 32 55 0 District 4 (WC) : 1 17 61 21 District 5 (C) : 2 28 68 2 District 6 (EC) : 12 35 53 0 District 7 (SW) : 0 11 62 27 District 8 (SC) : 0 8 83 9 District 9 (SE) : 0 11 66 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 09/07/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 10 14 34 42 0 District 2 (NC) : 7 17 49 26 1 District 3 (NE) : 21 42 33 4 0 District 4 (WC) : 6 16 28 51 0 District 5 (C) : 3 13 49 32 3 District 6 (EC) : 12 15 56 17 0 District 7 (SW) : 1 11 34 46 8 District 8 (SC) : 0 4 31 63 2 District 9 (SE) : 0 5 37 57 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 09/07/08, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:-------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day:Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alapaha : 89 67 78 0.28 3 6.79 11.41 33.12 80 Albany : 91 71 81 0.97 3 11.67 18.01 39.37 80 Alma : 88 71 80 0.06 2 6.06 11.24 34.08 80 Alpharetta : 88 65 76 0.03 2 4.12 5.35 28.11 79 Arabi : 89 69 79 0.61 2 6.93 8.43 31.07 83 Arlington : 91 68 80 0.00 0 13.71 16.73 33.99 82 Atlanta : 85 69 77 0.00 0 2.97 5.48 24.92 0 Attapulgus : 90 70 80 0.56 1 21.70 25.99 59.34 84 Baxley : 87 69 78 0.22 1 7.21 13.22 35.33 82 Blairsville : 81 59 70 0.00 0 4.22 7.21 35.33 82 Blue Ridge : 84 60 72 0.00 0 4.50 9.62 36.92 77 Brunswick : 86 71 79 0.12 3 6.92 11.93 31.07 82 Byromville : 89 68 78 0.16 1 8.16 16.38 38.68 82 Byron : 90 68 58 0.06 3 5.96 7.64 31.00 79 Cairo : 89 72 80 0.23 1 18.50 21.69 54.52 81 Calhoun : 88 62 75 0.00 0 3.75 7.72 28.77 79 Camilla : 90 70 80 0.25 1 12.42 17.92 47.68 87 Clarks Hill : 91 65 78 0.00 0 2.04 3.87 21.73 83 Cordele : 89 69 78 0.71 2 5.43 7.56 26.62 81 Covington : 84 69 76 0.14 2 2.64 6.65 23.38 79 Dahlonega : 84 62 73 0.00 0 11.25 14.63 42.90 77 Dallas : 85 66 76 0.00 0 4.10 6.92 29.18 79 Danielsville : 88 64 76 0.00 0 3.04 5.42 23.27 85 Dawson : 89 63 72 2.39 3 13.97 23.16 43.78 82 Dearing : 90 68 79 0.00 0 5.02 7.89 30.45 82 Dixie : 89 68 78 0.31 3 13.13 16.46 42.13 83 Douglas : 89 70 79 0.00 0 4.56 10.93 31.14 82 Dublin : 89 68 79 0.11 3 7.18 8.08 30.50 82 Dunwoody : 86 66 76 0.00 0 6.47 9.13 33.14 78 Eatonton : 87 65 76 0.77 2 4.09 8.46 32.33 79 Elberton : 90 65 78 0.02 1 3.94 7.14 26.60 80 Ellijay : 85 61 73 0.00 0 4.02 9.29 37.12 80 Ft Valley : 88 68 78 0.05 1 6.45 12.58 31.12 81 Gainesville : 86 66 76 0.00 0 7.23 9.07 31.74 83 Georgetown : 89 69 79 0.86 1 13.36 16.19 37.73 83 Griffin : 85 66 75 0.02 1 4.92 7.85 26.34 79 Hatley : 86 69 78 0.11 1 6.40 9.23 26.72 81 Homerville : 90 68 79 0.00 0 8.69 13.35 40.94 82 Jeffersonville : 87 67 77 0.04 1 5.63 8.38 31.05 82 Johns Creek : 87 62 74 0.00 0 4.18 6.17 29.36 79 Jonesboro : 86 66 76 0.03 1 3.50 7.96 27.47 80 Lafayette : 85 64 75 0.06 1 6.26 9.95 32.55 78 Lake Seminole : 88 75 81 0.63 3 11.68 21.01 49.04 83 Mcrae : 89 67 78 0.01 1 6.89 10.37 34.64 83 Midville : 88 68 78 0.08 1 6.27 10.10 31.54 82 Moultrie : 88 70 79 1.56 4 8.45 12.41 36.09 81 Nahunta : 89 68 79 0.02 1 7.60 11.20 29.83 83 Newton : 91 71 81 0.00 0 15.46 19.07 38.78 84 Odum : 89 69 79 0.01 1 5.96 11.42 14.23 83 Ossabaw : 89 73 81 1.12 5 6.59 12.75 30.47 85 Pine Mountain : 86 67 76 0.40 2 8.73 10.59 31.38 79 Plains : 88 67 78 1.56 1 12.84 15.55 36.97 79 Roopville : 86 66 76 0.04 1 5.40 8.55 31.94 79 Rome : 88 66 77 0.00 0 4.22 7.73 27.66 79 Sasser : 89 68 79 1.40 3 11.01 16.55 21.67 80 Savannah : 89 70 79 0.36 2 8.04 14.56 28.09 82 Shellman : 90 64 73 2.19 2 13.71 16.56 39.98 87 Skidaway : 86 73 73 0.40 3 5.60 10.58 30.57 81 Sparta : 88 66 77 0.41 1 4.46 7.31 18.87 82 Statesboro : 88 69 78 0.12 3 5.42 8.21 30.47 84 Tennille : 88 67 77 0.01 1 4.88 8.57 30.24 80 Tifton : 88 70 79 0.02 2 10.40 14.58 37.18 80 Tiger : 82 59 71 0.01 1 10.91 13.70 41.64 78 Ty Ty : 88 69 78 0.18 2 9.82 13.60 34.64 83 Unadilla : 88 68 78 0.17 3 5.72 8.02 24.56 80 Valdosta : 90 72 81 0.38 2 11.16 15.64 39.38 82 Vienna : 88 68 78 0.30 2 4.69 9.09 27.97 81 Vidalia : 88 71 79 0.44 2 8.44 14.14 34.25 83 Wat-UGA : 87 66 76 0.00 0 3.40 5.90 22.85 81 Williamson : 86 65 75 0.07 2 3.98 6.52 27.70 79 Woodbine : 88 70 79 0.33 3 8.19 15.37 43.29 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 7, 2008 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Rains last week really help green things. Hopefully the approaching tropical storm will bring some more much needed rains this weekend. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Hay harvesting this week - commercial grape harvest has begun. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Recent showers have temporarily improved pasture and hay situation. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Soil moisture is backing up rapidly. Fertilization, liming, some hay being cut. Thoughts are on adding legumes into pastures and improving cool season stands. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL No rain this week. Weather was hot and humid. Corn harvest continues. Hay producers watching hurricanes and trying to make decisions on whether to cut hay or not. Army worms present in some hayfields and pastures. We were spared from most of the rainfall from Hurricane Gustavo. However, we did get scattered showers which aided a moderate turnaround of our rainfall deficit. Moisture and moderate temperatures make growing forages and hay much better. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Corn harvest running late due to showery weather last week and long waits at the elevators. Overall, corn yields are good, not exceptionally good. Some places were hit by stink bugs and hot, dry weather at pollination. Soybeans have increased in size with last week's rains. No severe worm damage yet but stink bugs continue to be near threshold levels for early pod stage. Peanuts are looking better all the time. Pasture and hay continue to be low but limping along with occasional rains. Will have to rely on peanut hay again this year for cattle. One more good soaking rain could do wonders on our late/double cropped soybeans and really fill out the peanuts. Scattered showers. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Spraying late peanuts with fungicides. Stripping tobacco. Some boll rot in cotton and white mold and TSWV showing up in peanuts. Cutting hay. Farmers concerned about Hurricane Ike. Some irrigation of late peanuts. Checking early May planted peanuts and showing about 14-17 days from digging. A few may be dug early due to disease and stress. Mostly dryland peanuts. Soybean look good and no report of rust as yet. Cotton showing stemphylium which is due to potassium deficiency. Mostly due to drought and then heavy rains and boll set and demand for nutrients. Will affect yield some. Some late cotton treated for stink bugs this week. Most peanut growers applied last fungicide treatment. In general crop looks good. Corn harvest is wrapping up with yields per acre averaging between 140-160 bu per acre which is not bad considering the growing season we had. Hurricane Fay caused severe damage to the remaining tobacco crop. One producer projects 50% crop loss ---while another projects at least 30% loss. The remaining producers (7) project less due to more advanced crop harvest in their fields. This week has been good drying out period for the county growers. The harvesting of tobacco has increase at rapid pace do to Tropical Storm Fay damage to this crop. Corn growers are trying to speed up the harvesting of this crop due to other tropical storm. The peanut growers have started testing this crop for mature/profile, to start digging this crop of peanut! DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available.