ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date September 21, 2008 Issue GA-CW3808 Agricultural Summary September 22, 2008 RAIN NEEDED Dry weather has deprived crops of moisture, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Daily average high temperatures were in the low 80's. Average lows were in the 60's most of week. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 8% very short, 44% short, 46% adequate, and 2% surplus. Army worms have appeared in hay fields, pastures and sorghum. Water shed ponds have dropped significantly due to a lack of rain. The dry weather has had a negative impact on peanuts, soybeans and late planted cotton. Cool temperatures have been beneficial in slowing soil born diseases, but soil moisture has become a concern again. Other activities included irrigating peanuts, harvesting hay and finishing up tobacco. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.4 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 09/21/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Harvested for Grain : 88 76 85 85 Soybeans Setting Pods : 97 94 99 100 Soybeans Dropping Leaves : 17 10 12 27 Sorghum Harvested : 45 37 16 35 Cotton Bolls Opening : 68 53 51 69 Cotton Harvested : 2 1 1 4 Apples Harvested : 23 18 35 33 Peanuts Dug : 14 4 5 14 Peanuts Combined : 6 2 2 7 Rye Planted : 6 1 5 7 Other Small Grains Planted : 5 1 1 4 Tobacco Harvested : 94 89 92 98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 09/21/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Soybeans : 4 13 45 34 4 Sorghum : 2 7 38 49 4 Cotton : 4 13 42 33 8 Range and Pasture : 5 15 44 34 2 Apples : 0 4 12 30 54 Hay : 4 19 44 31 2 Peanuts : 1 5 32 49 13 Pecans : 5 13 41 38 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 09/21/08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 8 5 15 Short : 44 32 30 Adequate : 46 58 42 Surplus : 2 5 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 09/21/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 8 42 50 0 District 2 (NC) : 13 58 29 0 District 3 (NE) : 11 42 43 4 District 4 (WC) : 11 34 45 10 District 5 (C) : 6 51 42 1 District 6 (EC) : 16 44 40 0 District 7 (SW) : 4 42 51 3 District 8 (SC) : 3 35 59 3 District 9 (SE) : 8 41 51 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. Pasture Condition for Week Ending 09/21/08, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 0 19 53 29 0 District 2 (NC) : 4 25 47 24 0 District 3 (NE) : 9 25 53 13 0 District 4 (WC) : 7 18 28 47 0 District 5 (C) : 3 20 45 26 6 District 6 (EC) : 15 11 48 26 0 District 7 (SW) : 1 7 36 51 5 District 8 (SC) : 0 8 45 46 1 District 9 (SE) : 0 2 46 49 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 09/21/08, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:-------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day:Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alapaha : 90 61 74 0.00 0 3.82 10.09 33.66 81 Albany : 93 65 75 0.14 2 6.97 14.63 39.73 83 Alma : 91 63 74 0.13 1 1.52 10.79 34.73 79 Alpharetta : 83 58 68 0.00 0 4.23 0.00 28.41 74 Arabi : 89 61 72 0.15 2 3.87 8.05 31.69 80 Arlington : 91 61 72 0.00 0 10.78 15.05 33.99 79 Attapulgus : 91 64 73 0.04 1 12.68 23.73 59.39 83 Baxley : 92 62 77 0.05 1 5.03 12.20 35.63 85 Blairsville : 79 51 65 0.10 1 3.80 0.00 31.88 74 Blue Ridge : 80 52 65 0.25 1 4.86 0.00 37.32 72 Brunswick : 92 66 75 0.27 3 1.83 10.26 32.42 81 Byromville : 90 61 72 0.08 1 5.82 0.00 38.88 79 Byron : 89 61 70 0.12 1 0.00 6.46 1.28 6 Cairo : 90 66 74 0.00 0 14.18 21.51 56.03 80 Calhoun : 84 54 68 0.17 1 5.03 0.00 30.16 76 Camilla : 92 63 73 0.04 1 9.17 16.42 47.82 84 Clarks Hill : 91 56 69 0.00 0 3.94 6.02 24.61 78 Cordele : 90 61 72 0.04 1 2.52 0.00 26.67 78 Covington : 86 59 69 0.00 0 2.35 0.00 23.65 75 Dahlonega : 81 54 66 0.00 0 10.89 12.69 43.23 74 Dallas : 82 59 68 0.02 1 4.93 6.91 30.34 75 Danielsville : 85 56 68 0.01 1 6.57 0.00 27.08 77 Dawson : 91 64 72 0.34 1 10.20 17.05 44.19 79 Dearing : 90 58 71 0.07 1 0.00 8.31 32.63 79 Dixie : 90 65 74 0.08 2 0.00 15.42 42.51 82 Douglas : 91 61 74 0.06 1 2.05 8.85 32.29 80 Dublin : 90 60 73 0.03 1 4.30 7.69 30.70 80 Dunwoody : 82 59 68 0.01 1 6.48 6.93 33.37 75 Eatonton : 87 56 69 0.00 0 4.07 5.40 33.38 76 Elberton : 89 58 70 0.01 1 4.69 4.92 27.50 75 Ellijay : 82 54 66 0.07 1 4.14 5.07 37.29 76 Ft Valley : 90 62 71 0.21 1 6.19 8.97 32.28 76 Gainesville : 85 58 68 0.00 0 7.34 8.17 32.51 77 Georgetown : 89 63 71 0.46 1 11.51 15.85 40.08 77 Griffin : 83 58 69 0.01 1 5.98 7.97 28.27 76 Hatley : 89 62 72 0.45 2 2.02 7.41 27.25 78 Homerville : 92 61 73 0.13 3 3.42 12.21 42.14 79 Jeffersonville : 89 59 70 0.79 3 4.83 7.08 31.84 78 Johns Creek : 82 56 67 0.00 0 5.08 5.99 30.45 76 Jonesboro : 84 59 70 0.33 1 3.33 6.03 27.99 77 Lafayette : 82 56 67 0.02 1 7.20 9.04 33.67 74 Lake Seminole : 88 69 76 0.01 1 5.37 13.05 49.25 82 Mcrae : 91 58 73 0.09 1 2.59 10.17 35.71 81 Midville : 91 59 72 0.02 1 4.06 7.28 32.06 80 Moultrie : 89 64 74 0.01 1 5.86 10.32 36.53 79 Nahunta : 93 60 74 0.02 2 1.30 10.23 29.87 83 Newton : 92 64 73 0.00 0 10.46 18.14 38.82 83 Ossabaw : 93 66 76 0.88 4 2.82 10.70 31.39 81 Pine Mountain : 81 59 69 0.73 1 7.39 9.74 32.36 76 Plains : 89 60 70 0.05 1 9.13 13.45 37.02 77 Roopville : 84 60 69 0.00 0 5.13 7.34 32.39 76 Rome : 84 56 69 0.06 1 5.52 7.13 29.13 76 Savannah : 94 61 75 0.01 1 0.79 13.33 28.48 81 Shellman : 92 64 73 0.49 2 12.49 14.97 40.60 83 Skidaway : 93 65 75 0.05 4 0.87 7.60 30.97 79 Statesboro : 92 59 73 0.00 0 3.71 6.08 30.59 83 Tennille : 90 58 70 0.00 0 1.49 7.13 30.63 79 Tifton : 89 63 73 0.01 1 5.33 13.43 37.30 79 Tiger : 82 50 64 0.01 1 11.22 11.88 42.19 74 Ty Ty : 89 62 73 0.27 1 6.76 13.10 36.36 80 Unadilla : 89 61 71 0.05 1 4.28 6.52 24.81 78 Valdosta : 90 67 76 0.01 1 7.46 16.08 41.38 80 Vienna : 89 62 71 0.08 2 2.95 5.64 28.07 78 Vidalia : 91 62 74 0.24 1 3.91 10.22 34.55 84 Wat-UGA : 84 58 69 0.00 0 3.22 5.15 22.98 78 Williamson : 85 58 69 0.00 0 0.00 5.65 28.31 77 Woodbine : 93 64 75 0.81 4 3.51 11.76 44.36 82 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 21, 2008 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST We have missed out on any rain this week after receiving a couple of showers last week. It is drying off fairly rapidly. Noticed some water shed ponds dropping significantly this week. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Many hay fields were cut this week - commercial grape harvest is continuing. Army worms showed up in hay fields and pastures this past week. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Desperate need for water again. Cooler temperatures helping, but the soil moisture will become critical soon without water. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL No comments available. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL We've gotten 4.64 inches of rain since September 1. Yet the rains of this week bypassed us. Temperatures have cooled off significantly despite not having any rainfall. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Dry weather appears to have set in again. Lack of rain is hurting peanuts, soybeans, and late planted cotton. Pastures and hay fields have slowed again. Army worms are being found in high numbers in hay, pasture and sorghum. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We are attempting to defoliate and pick our early cotton that was blown down and tangled by Tropical Storm Fay. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Dry weather and disease will cause early digging of dryland peanuts. Cool weather should slow down soil born diseases. A fair amount of cotton being defoliated. Irrigation of peanuts and final sprays. Harvesting of hay in full swing. Tobacco wrapping up. Fair yields, quality and prices. This past week has been good for digging peanut, spraying cotton and harvesting peanut. Most of the county received 1-2 inches of rainfall on Monday. The temperature is in the mid 80's, the cooler weather will slow down the peanut and cotton! Peanut and cotton harvest will be approaching full swing in 7-10 days. We need good harvest conditions to help make our yield goals. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Some crops really need rain. Peanuts, cotton, and soybeans would greatly benefit with a rain right now. There has been very little rain since Tropical Storm Fay.