ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 16, 2009 Issue GA-CW3309 Agricultural Summary August 17, 2009 SCATTERED SHOWERS Scattered showers, throughout the State, provided relief to some crops, while other crops still experienced dry conditions, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Daily average high temperatures were in the high 80's and low 90's. Average lows were in the high 60's and low 70's. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 2% very short, 33% short, 58% adequate, and 7% surplus. Despite scattered showers, which relieved dry conditions in some areas, much of the State still needed more rain. Corn growers were ready to begin harvesting. In an effort to avoid high drying cost, growers were waiting for the crop to dry naturally. There have been reports of corn yield being better than anticipated. Some peanut crops were experiencing white mold pressure. Farmers were spraying for stinkbugs in cotton. Other activities included irrigating crops and applying insecticides and fungicides to soybeans. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork. Crop Progress for Week Ending 08/16/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Stage : This Week : Prev Week : Prev Year : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn Dent : 95 87 94 93 Corn Mature : 74 57 66 72 Corn Harvested for Grain : 16 6 13 16 Soybeans Blooming : 89 77 83 86 Soybeans Setting Pods : 59 42 53 61 Cotton Setting Bolls : 92 81 94 96 Cotton Bolls Opening : 1 0 4 6 Apples Harvested : 7 5 7 9 Peanuts Pegging : 97 91 99 99 Tobacco Harvested : 52 42 54 66 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition for Week Ending 08/16/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 1 9 36 45 9 Soybeans : 1 7 41 48 3 Sorghum : 1 5 48 44 2 Cotton : 2 8 34 44 12 Range and Pasture : 3 12 39 41 5 Apples : 0 5 9 38 48 Hay : 3 10 40 41 6 Peanuts : 0 3 27 57 13 Pecans : 0 2 34 48 16 Tobacco : 10 21 34 28 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 08/16/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This Week :Previous Week : 5 Year Avg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Very Short : 2 7 14 Short : 33 35 30 Adequate : 58 54 47 Surplus : 7 4 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture for Week Ending 08/16/09, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Short : Short : Adequate : Surplus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 0 43 56 1 District 2 (NC) : 3 63 34 0 District 3 (NE) : 2 53 45 0 District 4 (WC) : 6 45 39 10 District 5 (C) : 6 33 58 3 District 6 (EC) : 1 23 66 10 District 7 (SW) : 0 10 74 16 District 8 (SC) : 1 17 73 9 District 9 (SE) : 0 23 76 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * A list of the counties in each of the nine Georgia Agricultural Statistics Districts is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Georgia/Publications/County_Esti mates/index.asp. Pasture Condition for Week Ending 08/16/09, by District -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : District 1 (NW) : 6 17 26 47 4 District 2 (NC) : 8 17 46 24 5 District 3 (NE) : 4 7 51 37 1 District 4 (WC) : 3 31 38 27 1 District 5 (C) : 3 13 56 24 4 District 6 (EC) : 0 9 35 55 1 District 7 (SW) : 0 3 28 56 13 District 8 (SC) : 0 1 33 55 11 District 9 (SE) : 1 3 44 50 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * A list of the counties in each of the nine Georgia Agricultural Statistics Districts is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Georgia/Publications/County_Esti mates/index.asp. Weather Summary for Week Ending 08/16/09, by Station Location ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Temperature : Precipitation : Location :-----------------:-------------------------------------:Soil : Max : Min : Avg :Weekly : Days :30 Day :60 Day:Season :Temp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alapaha : 90 70 80 0.64 4 1.97 6.21 35.39 82 Albany : 91 73 82 1.83 4 4.81 9.85 37.68 87 Alma : 91 72 82 3.45 5 4.23 7.52 36.48 83 Alpharetta : 92 69 80 0.21 2 1.10 6.70 30.77 81 Arabi : 90 71 81 3.09 4 6.43 9.21 37.69 84 Arlington : 91 70 81 2.41 4 5.09 9.90 38.49 84 Atlanta : 90 72 81 0.32 1 1.81 3.18 22.27 NA Attapulgus : 90 71 80 0.76 4 4.37 8.05 35.34 87 Baxley : 90 70 80 1.39 5 3.76 6.32 34.25 85 Blairsville : 82 63 73 0.91 5 3.44 7.72 30.85 78 Blue Ridge : 86 65 75 0.84 6 3.74 5.62 34.58 82 Byromville : 91 71 81 0.76 3 3.29 5.84 30.30 83 Byron : 91 70 80 1.38 5 3.06 5.17 30.63 83 Cairo : 91 73 82 0.25 4 3.59 7.85 33.02 82 Calhoun : 91 66 78 0.06 2 3.56 5.55 31.11 79 Camilla : 91 72 81 3.23 6 4.72 10.24 39.24 86 Cordele : 90 71 81 3.39 4 6.02 8.71 29.07 83 Covington : 90 66 78 1.49 3 2.40 4.67 31.68 83 Dahlonega : 86 66 76 0.75 3 2.38 5.14 36.30 78 Dallas : 89 69 79 0.49 5 2.32 4.67 27.56 83 Danielsville : 90 68 79 0.32 4 1.37 2.01 25.90 88 Dawson : 91 71 81 1.20 3 4.60 8.07 33.17 84 Dearing : 91 71 81 2.00 3 4.22 7.64 31.49 83 Dixie : 90 72 81 0.42 3 2.38 6.43 29.91 85 Douglas : 89 71 80 2.28 5 4.21 6.95 35.95 84 Dublin : 93 72 82 0.94 3 2.61 4.54 25.63 85 Dunwoody : 89 68 78 0.54 2 1.82 4.47 31.51 81 Eatonton : 91 69 80 0.30 2 3.12 4.58 33.63 84 Elberton : 91 70 80 0.72 4 2.40 4.50 32.80 83 Ellijay : 88 64 76 0.19 2 1.68 3.69 24.54 85 Gainesville : 88 70 79 1.01 2 2.77 3.65 32.11 85 Griffin : 89 71 80 0.01 1 1.69 5.06 31.58 82 Hatley : 90 71 81 2.35 4 5.16 7.50 31.59 83 Homerville : 90 69 79 1.48 5 4.27 10.56 41.71 83 Jeffersonville : 90 70 80 1.87 4 4.57 6.00 26.14 84 Johns Creek : 90 66 78 0.17 3 2.90 6.90 29.86 81 Jonesboro : 91 71 81 0.00 0 3.72 6.03 31.46 84 Lake Seminole : 88 75 82 0.85 2 3.41 9.70 32.74 87 Midville : 91 72 81 3.86 4 5.53 8.97 30.84 83 Moultrie : 90 72 81 0.57 4 3.83 6.95 36.11 88 Nahunta : 92 71 82 0.77 4 4.06 9.55 40.99 85 Newton : 92 72 82 2.66 4 3.85 9.85 40.30 85 Odum : 91 71 81 2.15 5 5.67 8.71 36.41 86 Ossabaw : 90 74 82 2.93 4 6.16 16.18 40.83 82 Pine Mountain : 89 69 79 1.60 4 3.40 5.77 34.52 81 Roopville : 91 69 80 0.34 2 2.20 3.57 28.55 82 Rome : 92 70 81 0.22 1 4.51 6.67 40.56 81 Sasser : 90 71 81 1.14 4 4.47 7.13 32.61 83 Savannah : 91 72 81 4.30 6 11.11 14.83 40.30 85 Shellman : 91 71 81 2.02 3 5.83 10.41 31.31 89 Skidaway : 89 73 81 4.52 4 8.34 14.70 38.23 81 Sparta : 90 69 79 1.16 3 2.10 5.14 30.83 83 Statesboro : 90 71 81 3.07 3 4.31 8.61 27.13 86 Tennille : 91 68 79 3.64 4 5.13 9.56 36.96 84 Tifton : 90 72 81 1.45 3 3.88 10.56 39.26 83 Tiger : 84 64 74 0.63 4 2.79 3.41 37.83 82 Unadilla : 90 70 80 2.51 5 4.62 6.19 28.28 84 Valdosta : 91 74 82 0.91 4 4.84 9.99 34.98 84 Vienna : 91 71 81 1.49 3 3.23 5.08 32.19 83 Vidalia : 91 73 82 0.99 4 2.92 8.00 33.44 84 Wat-UGA : 89 69 79 1.56 4 2.40 3.75 28.05 85 Woodbine : 92 72 82 3.62 4 7.89 16.02 38.15 84 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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 August 16, 2009 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Received 0.3 inches of rain last week. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Some hay harvest this week, spotty showers have not relieved drought conditions across much of the county. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Limited rainfall helping to maintain fields and pasture but soil moisture remains critically low. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Scattered trace amounts of rainfall. Rainfall very scattered and usually only trace amounts. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL We have received 1.09 inches over the past 24 hrs. Welcome rains during the week and weekend. Soybeans podding and blooming. Growers applying dimilin and boron. Peanuts showing signs of improvement. Cotton blooming and still trying to get some additional plant height. Corn harvesting has begun. Haying continues between rain showers. Everyone feeling better with recent rains! We will finish peaches next week. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Most parts of the county had rain showers this week. The amounts were extremely variable. Crop conditions have not improved tremendously, if at all in areas where there was less than half an inch of rain. It is still rather dry in places. Spraying dimilin/boron on soybeans w/o fungicide since threat of Asian rust is still in far SW Georgia. Corn harvest is set to begin but we are still getting moisture readings from 18-24 and growers are hesitating to pick due to the high cost of drying. Corn is physiologically mature but we need less humidity and more bright sunny days to dry it down. August showers are really helping the peanuts. No significant insect problems although we have sprayed some of the sorghum crop for worms in the heads and to prevent sorghum midge. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We are receiving frequent afternoon showers. Cotton crop and peanut crop good yield potential at this time. Corn yields appear to be somewhat better than earlier anticipated. Soybean crop looks quite good. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Finally getting some rainfall but need more. Most all farmers are spraying for stinkbugs in Cotton. Applying fungicides and dimilin/Boron on soybeans. Applying fungicides on peanuts and some beginning to harvest early planted corn. Picking tobacco. Some pastures being sprayed for worms. Weekend rains were a blessing. The rain was scattered, many areas of the county are still in need of a good soaking rain. White mold pressure in peanut. Cotton egg numbers and small worm counts up. Stink bugs pressure hovering just below threshold. This has been a great week for transplanting fall vegetables and harvesting tobacco! Our growers has 6-7 days of good working condition for field work. The pastures and hay crops has armyworms feeding on the grasses and growers are spraying these fields. Scattered showers were beneficial to many of our crops. Harvest preparation, pest management, irrigation are the major activities on the farm. rainfall has helped tremendously. One or two more good rain showers should help us make the best dryland cotton crop of many years. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST