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 17, 2009 Volume 09 No. 24 Days suitable for fieldwork: 5.3 Soil moisture supplies: 2% very short, 14% short, 73% adequate and 11% surplus Field Crops Report Showers were widespread across the state. Rice producers continued to harvest with yields reported to be good. Soybean producers were harvesting early maturing varieties and respectable yields were being reported in spite of the dry weather earlier in the growing season. Soybean producers applied fungicides and sprayed for stinkbugs. Sugarcane producers remained busy with planting. Sorghum producers continued to harvest. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Crawfish producers reported problems with armyworms in rice planted for crawfish. Vegetable producers continued to harvest eggplants, watermelons, peas, okra, and mustard greens. Strawberry producers prepared their fields Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Cattlemen made preparations for winter pastures and continued to harvest hay. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2009 Week 2008 5 YR AVG Corn Mature 96 87 100 99 Harvested 39 19 41 38 Cotton Setting Bolls 100 99 95 99 Bolls Opening 18 4 28 25 Hay Second Cutting 71 64 84 81 Peaches Harvested 100 96 100 100 Rice Headed 97 92 97 97 Ripe 64 41 64 71 Harvested 31 10 33 44 Sorghum Turning Color 98 91 98 94 Harvested 35 8 37 35 Soybeans Blooming 100 98 99 99 Setting Pods 97 94 90 95 Turning Color 43 31 32 44 Dropping Leaves 19 0 21 26 Sugarcane Planted 22 10 12 14 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Corn 6 23 43 25 3 Cotton 1 15 36 39 9 Rice 1 2 17 57 23 Sorghum 3 23 44 30 0 Soybeans 4 26 53 17 0 Sugarcane 5 10 33 42 10 Livestock 2 7 39 47 5 Vegetables 9 18 46 26 1 Pasture 5 15 34 41 5 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 08/10/09 TO 08/16/09 AIR PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURE WEEKLY FOUR YR.TO MAX MIN AVE NRM TOTAL WEEKS DATE NORM 1. Northwest LSU-Bossier City 95 69 83 83 0.07 9.49 35.32 33.32 Minden 93 69 81 82 0.00 7.57 34.96 35.79 Mooringsport 95 69 82 MM 0.20 9.18 36.57 29.38 Extreme/Average 95 69 82 83 0.09 8.75 35.62 33.98 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 94 66 82 83 0.00 3.96 28.16 36.34 Homer/Hill Farm 94 (64) 79 81 0.05 6.97 31.11 35.82 ULM-Monroe 96 67 83 83 0.04 2.79 26.86 37.92 Columbia Lock 95 68 81 MM 0.19 7.34 31.16 39.48 Extreme/Average 96 64 81 82 0.07 5.27 29.32 36.99 3. Northeast Lake Providence 94 70 83 82 0.00 4.02 33.16 39.18 LSU-St Joseph 95 70 83 82 0.26 8.50 30.83 37.76 LSU-Winnsboro 95 70 83 82 0.26 6.93 33.55 37.33 Tallulah 93 69 82 82 0.05 5.24 38.09 39.00 Extreme/Average 95 69 83 82 0.14 6.17 34.03 38.27 4. West-Central Leesville 94 69 82 81 0.40 3.43 27.44 36.64 LSU-Rosepine 95 69 82 82 0.04 2.52 27.55 37.45 Natchitoches (98) 72 85 83 0.40 6.84 30.90 35.50 Extreme/Average 98 69 83 82 0.28 4.26 28.63 36.10 5. Central Alexandria 98 73 85 83 0.00 7.45 31.49 38.37 Brusly 94 70 82 81 0.14 1.87 27.45 41.68 Bunkie 96 72 84 82 0.00 3.44 32.25 39.68 LSU-Alexandria 95 72 84 82 0.01 4.31 32.71 36.88 Extreme/Average 98 70 83 83 0.05 4.54 30.08 38.84 6. East-Central Franklinton 5SW 95 72 83 MM 1.55 4.66 30.32 MM.MM LSU-Baton Rouge 95 72 83 82 0.39 2.55 27.73 40.58 LSU-Clinton MM MM MM 81 M.MM 3.12 24.96 41.61 LSU-Hammond 95 71 83 82 0.20 1.50 21.50 42.67 Slidell 94 71 83 82 0.26 3.85 26.61 41.85 Extreme/Average 95 71 83 82 0.60 3.14 26.54 42.89 7. Southwest DeRidder 97 72 84 82 0.06 5.02 32.02 38.64 Jennings 95 74 85 82 1.27 3.55 28.79 37.66 LSU-Crowley 95 72 84 82 0.21 3.75 35.16 38.64 Extreme/Average 97 72 84 83 0.51 4.11 31.99 38.65 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 94 71 82 82 1.16 2.53 32.01 40.23 LSU-Jeanerette 94 73 84 81 0.76 3.27 36.28 40.34 Morgan City 93 70 83 81 1.56 2.49 25.82 41.76 Extreme/Average 94 70 83 83 1.16 2.76 31.37 40.89 9. Southeast Galliano 91 73 83 82 1.45 7.31 31.30 43.40 Houma 96 73 84 82 1.10 3.57 24.46 42.13 Terrytown 3S 93 75 84 MM 3.07 7.50 34.60 MM.MM Reserve MM MM MM 82 M.MM M.MM 10.08 43.60 Extreme/Average 96 73 83 83 1.87 6.13 30.12 42.14 State State Averages 98 64 83 82 0.52 4.96 30.69 38.90 M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through August 16, 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.