in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date September 27, 2009 IN-CW092709 AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY Farmers were harvesting some of the early maturing corn and soybean fields last week as weather permitted, according to the Indiana Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Some southern areas received heavy amounts of precipitation which caused minor flooding. Many soybean fields have shed their leaves and are ready for harvest. Corn has been slow to mature causing harvest to lag behind. FIELD CROPS REPORT There were 3.0 days suitable for field work during the week. Corn condition is rated 63 percent good to excellent compared with 52 percent last year at this time. Eighty-four percent of the corn is in the dent stage compared to 93 percent last year and 98 percent for the 5-year average. Thirty-one percent of the corn crop is mature compared to 55 percent last year and 73 percent for the 5-year average. Two percent of the corn crop has been harvested compared to 7 percent last year and 15 percent for the 5-year average. Soybean condition is rated 61 percent good to excellent compared with 48 percent last year at this time. Sixty-three percent of the soybean acreage is shedding leaves compared with 77 percent last year and 81 percent for the 5-year average. Three percent of the soybean acreage has been harvested compared with 13 percent last year and 18 percent for the 5-year average. Tobacco harvest is 70 percent complete compared with 76 percent for both last year and the 5-year average. LIVESTOCK, PASTURE AND RANGE REPORT Pasture condition declined from last week and is now rated 55 percent good to excellent compared with 28 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 in Dent 84 72 93 98 Corn Mature 31 14 55 73 Corn Harvested 2 NA 7 15 Soybeans Shedding Lvs 63 40 77 81 Soybeans Harvested 3 NA 13 18 Tobacco Harvested 70 61 76 76 Winter Wheat Planted 2 1 4 6 Crop Condition Table ---------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ---------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn 3 7 27 51 12 Soybean 3 9 27 49 12 Pasture 4 11 30 45 10 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable for Fieldwork Table ---------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : ---------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 3 9 14 Short 19 36 36 Adequate 58 53 48 Surplus 20 2 2 Subsoil Very Short 4 6 12 Short 22 31 32 Adequate 64 62 54 Surplus 10 1 2 Days Suitable 3.0 6.6 6.9 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 LIMING IN DIFFICULT ECONOMIC TIMES When times get tough in crop production, one of the first things that often gets cut or postponed is liming. However, this could be a serious false economy because liming impacts so many other management inputs and practices. This could significantly reduce the returns on these valuable inputs. A few of the more important impacts are listed below: 1. Low pH reduces root growth. If root growth is reduced, plants can’t take up water and nutrients as efficiently. 2. Low pH reduces nutrient availability. Availability of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), and molybdenum (Mo) are all negatively impacted by low soil pH. 3. Liming supplies essential calcium and magnesium. Fertilizing with Ca and Mg is just as important as N-P-K but It is often overlooked because it is normally taken care of a side benefit of liming. 4. Many herbicides are sensitive to low pH. Effectiveness of important herbicides like atrazine can be dramatically reduced at low pH. There are some important considerations that can help in making lime management decisions in these difficult times. Most important is to soil test to determine pH and lime requirement. Don’t waste money on lime for fields that don’t have a low pH, but at the same time make sure that you prioritize your lime dollars to lime fields that really need it. Some criteria for prioritizing your liming dollars are provided below: 1. Always maintain soil pH above 5.5. This is a critical pH for root growth for most of our crops. With limited money to spend on lime, at least try to apply some limestone to any field with a pH near or below pH 5.5. 2. Prioritize fields that will be planted to alfalfa for limestone application. The rhizobia that fix nitrogen in the nodules on alfalfa roots are less productive at low pH. This can result in N deficiency in alfalfa. Since an alfalfa seeding is a long term investment this is an especially critical time in the crop rotation to correct the pH. 3. Maintain pH in long term no-till fields. Because there is no mixing by tillage, regular liming is essential to maintain soil pH in long term no-till fields. If the pH in a no-till field is allowed to get too low, it can take a long time to correct this condition without going back to tillage. In an experiment we did, it took 9 years to raise a soil pH from 5.1 to 6.5 at a depth of 6 inches in continuous no-till. 4. Finally, for better nutrient use efficiency and herbicide activity, try to maintain the pH at least above 6.0 if possible. Even if you cannot afford the full recommended rate of lime the next priority would be to get as many fields as possible above 6.0. To determine a limestone recommendation for a target pH of 6.0 multiply the "Exchangeable Acidity" on your soil test times 750. This will give you the pounds of calcium carbonate equivalent to apply. Be aware that low rates of high quality liming materials cannot substitute for applying the recommended amount of limestone. Products like pelletized limestone and fluid lime are excellent liming materials but simple acid neutralization chemistry dictates that you must apply the recommended amount of calcium carbonate equivalent regardless of the form to correct the pH. The benefit of these materials is in the application and they will react faster but they will not neutralize any more acidity than regular limestone on an equal weight basis. Also, don't get taken in by alternative products that claim to have liming value. There are no products that I know of that you can add a few gallons of a product and get the same benefit as a ton of limestone. If you have questions about the claims for one of these products check with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry who register these products or contact your local Penn State Cooperative Extension Office. Even though times are tough and you may be tempted to skip liming to save some money, it is important to think about the broad impacts that liming can have across your crop production system. If you have to cut back, think through the priorities outline above to make better decisions about your liming program. Written by Douglas Beegle, Agronomy Professor, Soil Fertility Specialist, Crop & Soil Sciences, Penn State Univ., 410 Ag. Sci. & Ind. Bldg., University Park, PA 16802. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 September 27, 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 50 65 +3 0.44 6 Francesville 81 49 65 +4 0.38 3 Valparaiso_AP_I 78 50 66 +5 0.47 4 Wanatah 80 48 65 +5 0.79 3 68 Winamac 82 52 66 +6 0.36 3 68 North Central(2) Plymouth 81 52 66 +4 0.34 4 South_Bend 81 52 67 +6 0.31 2 Young_America 82 49 66 +4 0.58 3 Northeast (3) Fort_Wayne 82 53 69 +7 0.62 5 Kendallville 80 55 68 +8 0.82 6 West Central(4) Greencastle 79 55 68 +5 1.13 7 Perrysville 82 51 67 +4 0.66 7 66 Spencer_Ag 81 54 69 +7 3.20 7 Terre_Haute_AFB 80 54 69 +6 0.31 4 W_Lafayette_6NW 84 48 66 +4 0.41 5 71 Central (5) Eagle_Creek_AP 82 56 70 +7 1.57 6 Greenfield 81 56 68 +5 2.13 7 Indianapolis_AP 82 57 71 +8 1.54 5 Indianapolis_SE 81 56 68 +4 1.57 6 Tipton_Ag 84 54 68 +7 0.83 6 74 East Central(6) Farmland 83 54 68 +7 1.09 5 69 New_Castle 81 56 67 +7 1.62 6 Southwest (7) Evansville 85 53 72 +7 1.76 5 Freelandville 82 55 69 +6 5.91 7 Shoals_8S 84 55 70 +6 3.23 7 Stendal 82 56 71 +7 4.49 6 Vincennes_5NE 84 53 71 +7 5.28 7 76 South Central(8) Leavenworth 81 56 71 +7 7.55 7 Oolitic 82 56 69 +7 4.24 7 68 Tell_City 81 57 73 +7 2.83 4 Southeast (9) Brookville 84 57 68 +7 2.50 5 Greensburg 83 57 70 +7 2.22 6 Seymour 82 56 68 +6 5.88 6 ----------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table (Continued) Week ending Sunday, September 27, 2009 ------------------------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2009 thru Station | September 27, 2009 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |20.80 -1.05 70 2583 -413 Francesville |21.73 -0.37 63 2534 -216 Valparaiso_AP_I |17.79 -5.88 65 2677 -58 Wanatah |21.67 -1.22 70 2409 -203 Winamac |17.80 -4.30 61 2615 -135 North Central(2)| Plymouth |20.44 -2.13 84 2538 -354 South_Bend |23.90 +1.97 63 2675 -37 Young_America |20.15 -1.24 52 2637 -207 Northeast (3) | Fort_Wayne |21.51 +1.85 67 2794 -48 Kendallville |19.15 -1.51 79 2845 +173 West Central(4) | Greencastle |30.92 +6.11 76 2626 -580 Perrysville |30.22 +6.92 69 2932 -51 Spencer_Ag |33.86 +8.90 74 2925 -84 Terre_Haute_AFB |22.92 -0.54 61 3178 -4 W_Lafayette_6NW |25.15 +3.31 67 2777 -52 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |28.77 +6.87 69 3194 +40 Greenfield |34.31 +10.35 73 2846 -189 Indianapolis_AP |31.96 +10.06 66 3305 +151 Indianapolis_SE |34.73 +12.36 71 2847 -301 Tipton_Ag |25.98 +3.77 72 2673 -70 East Central(6) | Farmland |18.54 -3.08 68 2721 +42 New_Castle |25.20 +2.30 70 2609 -137 Southwest (7) | Evansville |28.77 +6.66 68 3745 +90 Freelandville |36.85 +13.84 70 3265 -22 Shoals_8S |35.00 +10.15 66 2984 -204 Stendal |38.37 +13.63 66 3645 +199 Vincennes_5NE |35.05 +12.04 72 3403 +116 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |38.62 +13.50 94 3289 +123 Oolitic |31.61 +7.84 78 3025 -20 Tell_City |29.28 +3.95 63 3552 +21 Southeast (9) | Brookville |28.15 +5.10 68 3063 +171 Greensburg |34.26 +10.97 75 3196 +240 Seymour |35.86 +13.15 64 2956 -80 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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.