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: August 10, 2009 Volume 09 No. 23 Days suitable for fieldwork: 5.3 Soil moisture supplies: 2% very short, 14% short, 73% adequate and 11% surplus Field Crops Report Many areas of the state received much needed rainfall. Rice producers were busy harvesting, although showers interrupted the rice harvest in some areas. Rice yields were reported to be good. A few soybean producers were harvesting early maturing soybeans with reports of decent yields. Despite the dry weather early on, many soybean producers received rain when it was needed, leading to good conditions reported overall. Soybean producers were spraying for stinkbugs and applying fungicides. Sugarcane producers were busy planting and scouting for insects. Sorghum producers were busy harvesting. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Crawfish producers were reporting problems with armyworms in rice planted for crawfish. Vegetable producers were busy harvesting eggplants, watermelons, peas, okra and mustard greens. Tomato producers were planting fall tomatoes. Strawberry producers were preparing their fields. Citrus producers were busy spraying for insects. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Hay producers received much needed rainfall. The rains helped improve hay and pasture conditions, although they delayed some producers from cutting. Some hay producers were reporting problems with armyworms. Cattlemen were fertilizing pastures. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2009 Week 2008 5 YR AVG Corn Mature 87 63 97 94 Harvested 19 6 31 19 Cotton Setting Bolls 99 95 91 98 Bolls Opening 4 2 14 9 Hay Second Cutting 64 54 81 74 Peaches Harvested 96 92 99 98 Rice Headed 92 86 93 93 Ripe 41 26 54 55 Harvested 10 6 23 28 Sorghum Turning Color 91 87 94 86 Harvested 8 5 25 15 Soybeans Blooming 98 93 96 98 Setting Pods 94 81 86 90 Turning Color 31 14 19 29 Sugarcane Planted 10 2 4 5 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Corn 4 20 31 40 5 Cotton 2 12 32 45 9 Rice 0 1 15 57 27 Sorghum 3 23 44 30 0 Soybeans 4 14 34 40 8 Sugarcane 5 11 39 37 8 Livestock 0 6 42 47 5 Vegetables 4 20 41 34 1 Pasture 4 11 36 46 3 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 08/03/09 TO 08/09/09 AIR PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURE WEEKLY FOUR YR.TO MAX MIN AVE NRM TOTAL WEEKS DATE NORM 1. Northwest LSU-Bossier City 95 71 84 83 0.00 11.81 35.24 32.66 Minden 93 70 83 82 0.00 8.02 34.96 35.23 Mooringsport 96 71 84 MM 0.00 13.16 36.37 28.81 Extreme/Average 96 70 84 83 0.00 11.00 35.52 33.35 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 95 72 84 83 0.01 4.82 28.16 35.64 Homer/Hill Farm 93 (69) 81 82 0.45 7.25 31.06 35.24 ULM-Monroe MM MM MM 83 0.00 3.00 26.75 37.29 Colmubia Lock 95 71 82 MM 1.28 7.98 30.97 38.71 Extreme/Average 95 69 82 83 0.58 6.68 30.06 36.33 3. Northeast Lake Providence 96 71 83 82 0.68 6.39 33.16 38.55 LSU-St Joseph 94 69 83 83 3.11 8.37 30.57 37.03 LSU-Winnsboro 97 69 83 82 2.09 5.86 32.20 36.63 Tallulah 95 72 82 82 2.38 7.85 38.04 38.30 Extreme/Average 97 69 83 83 2.07 7.12 33.92 37.57 4. West-Central Leesville 96 70 83 82 0.35 4.98 27.04 35.87 LSU-Rosepine 96 71 84 82 0.04 3.26 27.51 36.58 Natchitoches (98) 73 86 84 0.14 7.10 30.50 34.66 Extreme/Average 98 70 83 82 0.20 4.12 27.28 35.33 5. Central Alexandria 96 73 84 84 0.21 8.55 31.49 37.38 Brusly 94 70 82 82 0.51 2.97 27.31 40.32 Bunkie 96 71 84 83 0.18 3.59 32.25 38.84 LSU-Alexandria 98 72 84 82 0.15 6.93 32.70 36.04 Extreme/Average 98 70 83 83 0.26 5.51 30.75 37.93 6. East-Central Franklinton 5SW 95 71 82 MM 1.20 4.23 28.77 MM.MM LSU-Baton Rouge 94 71 82 82 1.17 4.00 27.34 39.25 LSU-Clinton MM MM MM 81 M.MM 4.56 24.96 40.42 LSU-Hammond 96 71 82 82 0.11 1.90 21.30 41.13 Slidell 95 71 83 82 2.37 4.82 26.35 40.53 Extreme/Average 96 71 82 82 1.21 3.74 25.94 41.63 7. Southwest De Ridder 95 73 84 83 0.05 5.77 31.96 37.73 Jennings 95 74 85 82 0.21 3.06 27.52 36.67 LSU-Crowley 95 72 84 82 2.76 4.19 34.95 37.52 Extreme/Average 95 72 84 83 1.01 4.34 31.48 37.53 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 93 71 82 82 0.22 3.77 30.85 38.97 LSU-Jeanerette 96 73 84 82 0.81 4.08 35.52 38.94 Morgan City 94 74 84 82 0.19 3.51 24.26 40.08 Extreme/Average 96 71 83 83 0.41 3.79 30.21 39.49 9. Southeast Galliano 93 75 84 82 0.68 10.37 29.85 41.79 Houma 97 72 84 83 1.62 6.87 23.36 40.64 Terrytown 3S 97 74 85 MM 2.50 5.59 31.53 MM.MM Reserve MM MM MM 82 M.MM M.MM 10.08 42.43 Extreme/Average 97 72 85 83 2.06 6.23 27.45 40.74 State State Averages 98 69 83 83 0.90 5.73 30.20 37.90 M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through August 9, 2009 The Louisiana Crop-Weather Summary is published weekly beginning the second week of March and ending the first week of December by USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service's Louisiana Field Office. Subscription is free to respondents and cooperators, $12.00 annually to all others. For free automatic e-mail subscription to this publication, go to our homepage at http://www.nass.usda.gov/la and click on "Subscribe to LA reports" on the right hand side of the page. Choose the reports you want to receive, and complete the form.