in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date July 19, 2009 IN-CW072009 AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY Scattered rains brought some relief to drier areas of the state but lower temperatures have created some concern with crop growth, according to the Indiana Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Wheat harvest is practically wrapped up throughout the state with decent yields being reported. The slow season did not discourage a few operators who put in double cropped soybeans last week. Some soybean fields were still being sprayed. Farmers worked on odd jobs, reported FSA acres, baled hay and straw, and attended county fairs. FIELD CROPS REPORT There were 5.3 days suitable for field work during the week. 28 percent of the corn crop has silked compared with 34 percent last year and 64 percent for the 5-year average. Corn condition is rated 65 percent good to excellent compared with 63 percent last year at this time. Thirty-three percent of the soybean acreage is blooming compared with 36 percent last year and 55 percent for the 5-year average. Soybean condition is rated 63 percent good to excellent compared with 58 percent last year at this time. Ninety-six percent of the wheat acreage has been harvested compared with 90 percent last year and 96 percent for the 5-year average. By area 90 percent of the winter wheat crop has been harvested in the north, 98 percent in the central region, and 99 percent in the south. LIVESTOCK, PASTURE AND RANGE REPORT Pasture condition is rated 70 percent good to excellent compared with 66 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) 28 11 34 64 Soybeans Blooming 33 12 36 55 Winter Wheat Harvested 96 83 90 96 Alfalfa - 2nd Cutting 69 54 58 74 Crop Condition Table ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ----------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn 2 7 26 53 12 Soybean 2 8 27 52 11 Pasture 1 5 24 48 22 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable for Fieldwork Table ---------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : ---------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 2 2 2 Short 22 21 14 Adequate 62 61 76 Surplus 14 16 8 Subsoil Very Short 2 2 1 Short 17 14 9 Adequate 69 73 76 Surplus 12 11 14 Days Suitable 5.3 5.2 6.1 Contact Information --Greg Preston, Director --Kif Hurlbut, Agricultural Statistician E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Indiana ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Other Agricultural Comments And News CORN GROWERS: TIPS TO DECIDE IF A FUNGICIDE APPLICATION IS WARRANTED - Written Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Now is the time of year when corn growers need to decide if a fungicide should be applied and a Purdue University expert has a few guidelines to help in the decision making process. "Deciding whether to apply a fungicide is not a straight forward question," said Kiersten Wise, Purdue Extension field crops disease specialist. "There are several things that must be taken into consideration." University research from across the Midwest shows consistent yield advantages from a fungicide application occur when there is a significant amount of disease in a field, Wise said. "This is the time to get out there and scout and determine the amount of disease in the field," she said. "This will really help you decide if a fungicide application is justified." Wise recommends farmers take into account hybrid susceptibility, the level of disease in the field, previous crop and cropping system, late planting and if weather conditions are favorable for disease development. Hybrids vary in their susceptibility to foliar disease of corn, and hybrids susceptible to diseases such as gray leaf spot are at a greater risk of disease development than hybrids with moderate or high levels of resistance, she said. "As far as limiting yield potential, gray leaf spot is the main disease we are concerned about," Wise said. "However, if you see a little bit of gray leaf spot in the field when scouting, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need a fungicide application." Growers should look through the entire field, consider the type of field and where the lesions are located on the plant, she said. "Check to see if lesions are on the ear leaf or if the disease is on a few leaves below the ear leaf and determine the percentage of plants affected," she said. "Fungicide application should be considered on fields where the hybrid is rated as susceptible or moderately susceptible, and 50 percent or more of the plants display disease lesions on the third leaf below the ear and higher prior to tasseling." So far, Wise said she has seen gray leaf spot on lower leaves in some susceptible hybrids. When looking at the previous crop and cropping system, it’s important to remember that most fungal diseases, such as gray leaf spot, survive from year to year on crop residue, Wise said. "Planting continuous corn or planting corn into high levels of corn residue, with no-till, will increase the likelihood for a disease to develop," she said. Late planting across much of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio this spring means the crop is at increased risk of gray leaf spot development, according to research from Iowa State University, Wise said. Favorable weather conditions for disease development of gray leaf spot are high humidity and moisture levels, as well as moderate to warm temperatures. Wise cautioned growers to be careful in making the decision about whether to apply a fungicide and also include economics in the list of things to consider. "It’s an added cost and with the price of corn right now, we need to make sure that the fungicide application will pay for itself," she said. Economic return depends on fungicide application costs, drying costs and the price of corn. Wise said an increase of approximately 10 bushels per acre is needed to pay for the cost of fungicide application with corn priced at $3 per bushel and an application cost of about $30 per acre. As the price of corn increases, the additional amount of yield needed to pay for the fungicide application decreases, Wise explained. So when corn is at $3.50 per bushel and application costs $30 per acre, a yield increase of about 8.5 bushels per acre is needed to pay for the cost of application. If corn reaches $4 per bushel, then a yield increase of about 7.5 bushels per acre is needed to cover application costs. For more information about determining whether a fungicide application is warranted, contact Wise at 765-496-2107 or kawise@purdue.edu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 19, 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 85 51 67 -8 0.77 2 | Francesville 84 47 66 -8 1.78 3 | Valparaiso_AP_I 85 47 68 -6 1.32 3 | Wanatah 85 43 66 -8 1.64 3 76| Winamac 84 48 68 -6 0.96 4 77| North Central(2) | Plymouth 86 47 67 -8 0.77 3 | South_Bend 86 49 68 -6 0.48 3 | Young_America 83 46 66 -9 0.13 1 | Northeast (3) | Fort_Wayne 83 49 68 -7 1.67 2 | Kendallville 84 57 70 -4 0.48 3 | West Central(4) | Greencastle 81 50 66 -10 0.32 1 | Perrysville 84 55 69 -6 0.39 1 72| Spencer_Ag 83 53 69 -7 0.85 2 | Terre_Haute_AFB 84 55 70 -7 0.49 2 | W_Lafayette_6NW 85 51 68 -6 0.33 2 78| Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP 83 56 71 -6 0.28 1 | Greenfield 82 54 68 -7 0.19 2 | Indianapolis_AP 83 55 71 -6 0.21 1 | Indianapolis_SE 82 53 68 -9 0.27 1 | Tipton_Ag 82 49 67 -7 0.32 1 80| East Central(6) | Farmland 84 47 67 -7 0.01 1 75| New_Castle 81 52 67 -8 0.02 1 | Southwest (7) | Evansville 87 59 74 -5 2.60 3 | Freelandville 85 59 71 -6 0.79 2 | Shoals_8S 84 54 70 -7 1.10 2 | Stendal 87 60 73 -5 1.26 2 | Vincennes_5NE 87 59 72 -5 1.01 2 79| South Central(8) | Leavenworth 84 55 71 -5 1.07 3 | Oolitic 84 53 69 -6 0.71 2 72| Tell_City 86 58 73 -6 2.10 3 | Southeast (9) | Brookville 85 53 70 -5 0.10 1 | Greensburg 84 54 70 -5 0.09 1 | Seymour 83 52 69 -6 0.16 1 | ----------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table (Continued) Week ending Sunday July 19, 2009 ------------------------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2009 thru Station | July 19, 2009 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W | 15.55 +1.91 46 1398 -195 Francesville | 16.30 +2.49 41 1352 -101 Valparaiso_AP_I | 12.89 -1.68 43 1389 -28 Wanatah | 14.77 +0.72 46 1256 -96 Winamac | 12.26 -1.55 41 1379 -74 North Central(2)| Plymouth | 13.61 -0.86 52 1286 -229 South_Bend | 14.82 +1.29 42 1385 -15 Young_America | 16.00 +2.74 36 1434 -47 Northeast (3) | Fort_Wayne | 14.12 +1.58 44 1481 +10 Kendallville | 14.76 +1.48 49 1480 +99 West Central(4) | Greencastle | 25.66 +10.27 47 1415 -273 Perrysville | 21.67 +6.76 49 1619 +39 Spencer_Ag | 25.24 +9.40 51 1567 -10 Terre_Haute_AFB | 18.93 +3.95 44 1774 +88 W_Lafayette_6NW | 18.58 +4.88 48 1533 +48 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP | 20.42 +6.50 44 1719 +50 Greenfield | 22.84 +7.75 48 1523 -64 Indianapolis_AP | 23.80 +9.88 45 1771 +102 Indianapolis_SE | 25.18 +10.81 48 1518 -128 Tipton_Ag | 20.56 +6.80 48 1436 +1 East Central(6) | Farmland | 14.38 +0.56 42 1446 +55 New_Castle | 16.19 +1.10 43 1402 -22 Southwest (7) | Evansville | 19.14 +4.37 45 2080 +103 Freelandville | 23.98 +8.75 44 1784 +34 Shoals_8S | 22.99 +6.59 44 1623 -53 Stendal | 23.93 +7.52 43 2036 +193 Vincennes_5NE | 23.65 +8.42 47 1867 +117 South Central(8)| Leavenworth | 19.26 +2.69 58 1788 +114 Oolitic | 20.56 +5.02 52 1623 +30 Tell_City | 18.33 +1.78 43 1932 +68 Southeast (9) | Brookville | 14.55 -0.30 43 1680 +187 Greensburg | 20.24 +5.20 50 1750 +189 Seymour | 17.71 +2.82 44 1602 -9 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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.