LA-WEATHER United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, Louisiana Field Office Crop Weather Cooperating with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture Louisiana Field Office · 5825 Florida Blvd · Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (225) 922-1362 · (225) 922-0744 FAX www.nass.usda.gov/la Released: April 2, 2007 Volume 07 No. 05 Days suitable for fieldwork: 6.2 Soil moisture supplies: 14% very short, 45% short, 38% adequate and 3% surplus Field Crops Report Most of the state received rain late in the week which brought some relief to producers. Corn planting continued to make good progress, jumping to 87 percent planted and 59 percent emerged, far surpassing last year and the average. Rice producers made good progress with planting last week. Sugarcane producers were spraying herbicides and began to fertilize the crop. Sorghum planting also made good progress increasing to 26 percent. Soybean producers continued to prepare their fields for planting. Fruits, Vegetables and Specialty Crops Citrus growers were finishing up fertilizer application. Vegetable producers were planting and irrigating field crops. Crawfish farmers were harvesting crawfish with reports of good yields. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Calving continued as well as some feeding. Cattlemen were cutting hay and fertilizing pastures throughout the week. Spring plowing continued with reports of ryegrass growing well. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2007 Week 2006 5 YR AVG Corn Planted 87 79 62 58 Emerged 59 14 27 24 Hay First Cutting 1 0 0 0 Rice Planted 36 10 37 33 Sorghum Planted 26 20 6 4 Wheat Headed 55 12 50 26 Land Preparation Spring plowing 68 58 63 54 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Sugarcane 4 18 43 26 9 Wheat 0 6 41 46 7 Livestock 1 7 48 41 3 Vegetables 1 13 45 40 1 Pasture 2 12 54 30 2 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 03/26/07 TO 04/01/07 AIR PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURE WEEKLY FOUR YR.TO MAX MIN AVE NRM TOTAL WEEKS DATE NORM 1. Northwest LSU-Bossier City 84 52 70 59 0.28 0.46 10.64 13.85 Minden 84 58 70 59 0.92 1.33 12.04 15.10 Mooringsport 82 52 69 MM 3.41 4.60 15.30 12.79 Extreme/Average 84 52 70 60 1.54 2.13 12.66 14.17 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 84 52 67 60 0.36 1.17 10.63 16.45 Homer/Hill Farm (87) 51 70 58 0.99 1.87 13.08 15.38 ULM-Monroe 85 51 69 60 0.43 1.09 8.64 17.17 Winnfield MM MM MM 60 M.MM M.MM 6.37 16.27 Extreme/Average 87 51 69 60 0.59 1.38 10.78 16.33 3. Northeast Lake Providence 84 57 71 59 0.51 0.51 9.41 17.52 LSU-St Joseph 86 (49) 70 61 0.01 0.02 11.14 17.74 LSU-Winnsboro 86 54 71 60 2.92 2.97 12.16 16.94 Tallulah 84 56 70 60 1.32 1.34 9.82 17.58 Extreme/Average 86 49 71 61 1.58 1.61 10.46 17.38 4. West-Central Leesville 85 56 71 62 2.04 3.64 10.95 15.78 LSU-Rosepine 83 58 70 61 0.69 2.38 12.56 15.68 Natchitoches 84 52 70 61 0.31 1.31 8.69 15.59 Extreme/Average 85 52 70 61 1.01 2.44 10.73 15.55 5. Central Alexandria 85 61 73 62 1.20 1.66 13.51 16.90 Brusly 84 57 71 63 0.21 1.42 12.01 17.11 Bunkie 85 58 71 63 2.50 2.67 12.39 17.28 LSU-Alexandria 85 55 71 62 0.00 0.17 9.94 16.30 Extreme/Average 85 55 72 63 1.30 1.92 12.20 16.84 6. East-Central Bogalusa 87 56 71 62 0.31 2.13 10.46 18.58 LSU-Baton Rouge 86 57 72 63 0.27 1.97 11.12 16.08 LSU-Clinton 84 58 71 62 0.34 1.22 10.17 17.67 LSU-Hammond 84 55 71 62 0.22 0.39 8.14 17.99 Slidell 82 56 70 63 0.26 1.78 10.54 17.56 Extreme/Average 87 55 71 63 0.28 1.50 10.07 17.81 7. Southwest De Ridder 84 61 73 63 1.65 3.95 14.29 16.35 Jennings 83 61 71 63 0.79 2.19 13.08 14.56 LSU-Crowley 84 58 72 64 0.69 1.94 12.91 14.93 Extreme/Average 84 58 72 64 1.04 2.69 13.43 14.57 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 85 58 72 64 0.95 2.63 10.25 15.82 LSU-Jeanerette 83 58 71 63 0.00 1.56 10.82 14.04 Morgan City 81 59 71 64 0.42 2.74 9.87 15.04 Extreme/Average 85 58 71 65 0.69 2.69 10.06 14.88 9. Southeast Galliano 80 57 71 65 0.00 1.52 8.92 16.13 Houma 84 59 72 65 0.22 1.88 10.38 15.13 NO Audubon Park 83 62 73 66 0.07 1.20 7.22 15.63 Reserve 82 57 70 64 0.35 1.77 11.04 17.65 Extreme/Average 84 57 72 65 0.16 1.59 9.39 16.37 State State Averages 87 49 71 63 0.90 1.97 11.24 16.05 M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through April 1, 2007