in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date July 12, 2009 IN-CW071309 AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY Many portions of the state welcomed rain showers during the week as soils were beginning to dry out, according to the Indiana Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Several of the earlier planted corn fields have now entered into the silking stage. Wheat harvest continues in northern counties with decent yields being reported. Many operators were certifying crop acreage at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. Farmers continued planting double crop soybeans, baling hay and straw, applying herbicides to soybean fields, monitoring irrigation systems and preparing for county fairs. FIELD CROPS REPORT There were 5.2 days suitable for field work during the week. Eleven percent of the corn crop has silked compared with 7 percent last year and 38 percent for the 5-year average. Corn condition is rated 62 percent good to excellent compared with 63 percent last year at this time. Twelve percent of the soybean acreage is blooming compared with 16 percent last year and 36 percent for the 5-year average. Soybean condition is rated 62 percent good to excellent compared with 59 percent last year at this time. Eighty-three percent of the wheat acreage has been harvested compared with 64 percent last year and 85 percent for the 5-year average. By area 61 percent of the winter wheat crop has been harvested in the north, 91 percent in the central region, and 95 percent in the south. LIVESTOCK, PASTURE AND RANGE REPORT Pasture condition is rated 70 percent good to excellent compared with 69 percent last year at this time. Livestock remain in mostly good condition. Crop Progress Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn Silked (Tasseled) 11 2 7 38 Soybeans Blooming 12 3 16 36 Winter Wheat Harvested 83 55 64 85 Alfalfa - 2nd Cutting 54 28 35 57 Crop Condition Table ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ----------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn 2 8 28 50 12 Soybean 2 7 29 52 10 Pasture 1 4 25 49 21 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable for Fieldwork Table ---------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : ---------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 2 1 1 Short 21 14 3 Adequate 61 67 77 Surplus 16 18 19 Subsoil Very Short 2 1 1 Short 14 7 3 Adequate 73 78 73 Surplus 11 14 23 Days Suitable 5.2 5.8 4.5 Contact Information --Greg Preston, Director --Andy Higgins, Agricultural Statistician E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Indiana ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Other Agricultural Comments And News RAGGED LEAF EDGE SYMPTOM IN CORN -Published 8 July 2009 The coffeeshops and Internet chat rooms are abuzz these days with talk about an odd leaf symptom that has shown up in quite a few corn fields over the past several weeks. Affected leaves exhibit a ragged or notched edge that looks a little like somebody did a poor job at attempting to cut paper dolls out of the leaves. There was one descriptive comment from an Internet post that it "looks like some kids found an old set of ear notchers left over from the "Hog" days." Sometimes the notching occurs only on one leaf edge with the other normal, other times the notching occurs on both leaf edges. The symptom seems to be most commonly reported on corn that is well into its rapid growth phase (sometime after leaf stage V7). While it is tempting to blame this symptom on the feeding activities of certain insects (e.g., armyworm, stinkbug, corn borer), the symptomology is different. Some have also blamed nutrient deficiencies (e.g., calcium) for the symptom. The ragged leaf edge symptom seems to occur more commonly in some hybrid families than others. Indeed, feedback from some of my seed industry colleagues indicates that the ragged leaf edge symptom is a genetic characteristic that seems to express itself during periods of rapid crop development. The thought is that, for some unknown reason, the edges of one or more leaves deep down in the whorls of plants become "sticky" and so the leaves cannot unwrap normally during their continued expansion from the whorl. The leaf edges become damaged as the leaves continue to unwrap; thus leading to the ragged or notched leaf edge symptom when fully emerged from the whorl. This symptom is likely only a genetic oddity with little consequence to further development of the crop canopy. The percent loss in photosynthetic leaf represented by these ragged leaf edges is minor and will likely have no effect on ultimate grain yield of the plant. For other timely crop management info... Chat 'n Chew Cafe: http://www.kingcorn.org/cafe CNN Archives: http://www.kingcorn.org/news/archive.html URL: http://www.kingcorn.org/news/articles.09/RaggedLeaf-0708.html R.L. (Bob) Nielsen, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 Email address: rnielsen at purdue.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WESTERN CORN ROOTWORM BEETLES EMERGING Western corn rootworm beetles are beginning their annual emergence from the soil in Indiana. The male beetles are generally first to emerge and feed for several days until females begin emerging a few days later. Females mate, then feed and disperse, sometimes over long distances. After emerging, beetles will begin to feed on corn leaves if pollen is not available. Leaf feeding damage is of no economic importance. However, pollinating plants with high beetle populations could suffer economic losses from the beetles clipping silks prior to the completion of pollination. Pest managers should closely watch their fields for this type of feeding activity when pollination begins. Adult beetles survive for several weeks and are consistently attracted to pollen sources throughout their lifespan. Therefore, late-planted fields are particularly susceptible to silk-clipping in areas with large beetle populations. Because of this year’s staggered planting and replanting, this year may be more unpredictable than most - there is some early corn, but the vast majority in much of Indiana was planted late. Depending upon how many beetles are generated by the early-planted corn, these delayed areas should be closely watched for silk clipping. For additional information on rootworm beetles and their control, see Extension Publication E-219-W, Corn Insect Control Recommendations - 2009, which can be viewed at . Christian Krupke, John Obermeyer, and Larry Bledsoe, Department of Entomology, 100 Smith Hall, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The INDIANA CROP & WEATHER REPORT (USPS 675-770), (ISSN 0442-817X) is issued weekly April through November by the USDA, NASS, Indiana Field Office, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite 110, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. For information on subscribing, send request to above address. POSTMASTER: Send address change to the USDA, NASS, Indiana Field Office, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite 110, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Weather Information Table Week ending Sunday July 12, 2009 ----------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|------------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN| Total|Days |Temp ---------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W 83 58 70 -5 0.45 4 | Francesville 82 55 69 -5 0.08 1 | Valparaiso_AP_I 84 57 71 -3 0.12 2 | Wanatah 84 53 68 -4 0.27 3 76| Winamac 84 57 70 -4 0.74 4 73| North Central(2) | Plymouth 83 54 68 -6 0.28 2 | South_Bend 84 53 71 -3 0.46 2 | Young_America 83 53 69 -5 0.66 2 | Northeast (3) | Fort_Wayne 87 53 72 -3 0.61 1 | Kendallville 85 56 72 +0 0.81 2 | West Central(4) | Greencastle 84 56 69 -7 1.96 4 | Perrysville 85 60 72 -4 0.99 4 68| Spencer_Ag 85 58 71 -4 0.67 4 | Terre_Haute_AFB 86 57 73 -3 1.25 3 | W_Lafayette_6NW 85 58 71 -3 0.35 4 76| Central(5) | Eagle_Creek_AP 88 63 74 -3 1.11 3 | Greenfield 86 58 71 -5 1.45 5 | Indianapolis_AP 89 61 74 -2 1.76 3 | Indianapolis_SE 86 57 71 -5 0.94 3 | Tipton_Ag 89 58 71 -3 0.24 3 79| East Central(6) | Farmland 87 53 71 -3 0.48 2 74| New_Castle 86 56 69 -4 0.45 3 | Southwest(7) | Evansville 91 60 76 -3 0.59 3 | Freelandville 86 61 74 -3 0.48 3 | Shoals_8S 87 57 72 -4 0.19 3 | Stendal 89 61 76 -2 0.49 3 | Vincennes_5NE 88 59 75 -2 1.87 2 77| South Central(8) | Leavenworth 88 60 74 -2 1.28 5 | Oolitic 85 56 72 -3 0.76 5 74| Tell_City 88 62 75 -3 0.35 2 | Southeast(9) | Brookville 89 57 72 -3 0.50 2 | Greensburg 88 58 72 -2 0.68 3 | Seymour 87 57 71 -5 0.14 1 | ----------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table (Continued) Week ending Sunday July 12, 2009 ------------------------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2009 thru Station | July 12, 2009 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |14.78 +2.05 44 1275 -145 Francesville |14.52 +1.56 38 1236 -56 Valparaiso_AP_I |11.57 -2.09 40 1261 +5 Wanatah |13.13 +0.05 43 1145 -49 Winamac |11.96 -1.00 39 1253 -39 North Central(2)| Plymouth |12.84 -0.70 49 1168 -179 South_Bend |14.34 +1.65 39 1260 +21 Young_America |16.41 +3.99 36 1322 +9 Northeast (3) | Fort_Wayne |12.45 +0.68 42 1352 +49 Kendallville |14.28 +1.84 46 1341 +119 West Central(4) | Greencastle |25.34 +11.17 46 1299 -208 Perrysville |21.28 +7.39 48 1482 +77 Spencer_Ag |24.39 +9.70 49 1430 +28 Terre_Haute_AFB |18.44 +4.65 42 1630 +126 W_Lafayette_6NW |18.25 +5.46 46 1403 +86 Central(5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |20.14 +7.27 43 1573 +85 Greenfield |22.65 +8.82 46 1392 -20 Indianapolis_AP |23.59 +10.72 44 1626 +138 Indianapolis_SE |24.91 +11.71 47 1390 -74 Tipton_Ag |20.24 +7.46 47 1311 +40 East Central(6) | Farmland |14.37 +1.39 41 1329 +99 New_Castle |16.17 +2.06 42 1285 +25 Southwest(7) | Evansville |16.54 +2.74 42 1908 +133 Freelandville |23.19 +8.94 42 1633 +69 Shoals_8S |21.89 +6.61 42 1484 -13 Stendal |22.67 +7.24 41 1871 +217 Vincennes_5NE |22.64 +8.39 45 1709 +145 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |18.19 +2.74 55 1638 +140 Oolitic |19.85 +5.36 50 1487 +69 Tell_City |16.23 +0.73 40 1772 +102 Southeast(9) | Brookville |14.45 +0.66 42 1539 +214 Greensburg |19.98 +5.92 48 1605 +212 Seymour |17.55 +3.78 43 1469 +31 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2009: Agricultural Weather Information Service, Inc. All rights reserved. DFN = Departure From Normal GDD = Growing Degree Days. Precipitation (Rainfall or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of .01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. For more weather inrformation, visit www.awis.com or call 1-888-798-9955.