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: September 21, 2009 Volume 09 No. 29 Days suitable for fieldwork: 2.4 Soil moisture supplies: 1% very short, 7% short, 58% adequate and 34% surplus Field Crops Report Rain continued to fall across most of the state. Harvest of field crops was slowed by the rain. Sugarcane producers continued to plant in dry areas and prepared for harvest. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Vegetable producers continued to plant fall crops. Citrus producers scouted for insects and prepared for the satsuma harvest. Sweet potato producers were concerned about the risk of spoilage in flooded fields. Crawfish producers remained busy flooding ponds. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Cattlemen continued to harvest hay and planted ryegrass for winter forages. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2009 Week 2008 5 YR AVG Corn Harvested 99 97 93 98 Cotton Bolls Opening 86 81 91 91 Harvested 5 4 9 17 Hay Second Cutting 95 91 93 97 Rice Ripe 100 99 100 100 Harvested 87 86 80 91 Sorghum Harvested 96 94 89 96 Soybeans Turning Color 89 81 79 87 Dropping Leaves 73 61 70 77 Harvested 49 40 40 54 Sweet Potatoes Harvested 16 11 18 22 Sugarcane Planted 89 82 41 78 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Cotton 1 11 36 48 4 Soybeans 2 21 40 33 4 Sugarcane 2 10 30 43 15 Livestock 0 4 45 46 5 Vegetables 1 17 46 34 2 Pasture 2 9 46 37 6 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 09/14/09 TO 09/20/09 AIR PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURE WEEKLY FOUR YR. TO MAX MIN AVG NRM TOTAL WEEKS DATE NORM 1. Northwest LSU-Bossier City 88 70 78 76 1.65 3.37 39.47 36.59 Minden 87 70 76 75 3.63 5.94 41.73 39.55 Mooringsport 82 69 76 MM 2.58 6.84 44.04 32.98 Extreme/Average 88 69 77 76 2.62 5.38 41.75 37.52 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 89 70 78 76 4.61 7.60 35.93 40.00 Homer/Hill Farm 84 69 75 75 7.26 10.61 42.35 39.83 ULM-Monroe 90 70 78 76 7.30 9.85 37.90 41.52 Columbia Lock 90 70 78 MM 1.33 4.11 36.41 43.20 Extreme/Average 90 69 77 76 5.13 8.04 38.15 40.84 3. Northeast Lake Providence 86 70 77 76 2.23 3.39 38.45 42.38 LSU-St Joseph 88 71 79 77 0.89 1.49 33.71 41.32 LSU-Winnsboro 90 71 79 76 2.40 5.35 39.16 40.61 Tallulah 88 71 77 75 2.36 3.12 41.79 42.50 Extreme/Average 90 70 78 76 1.97 2.67 37.98 41.62 4. West-Central Leesville 90 67 76 76 1.14 3.39 32.11 41.24 LSU-Rosepine 89 66 76 77 1.06 2.75 31.61 42.23 Natchitoches (92) 72 80 77 1.79 4.65 35.97 39.17 Extreme/Average 92 (66) 77 76 1.33 3.60 33.23 40.17 5. Central Alexandria 89 71 79 78 0.57 2.01 33.77 43.11 Brusly 92 69 79 77 1.31 4.05 32.57 47.49 Bunkie 90 70 79 77 1.63 3.46 36.80 44.38 LSU-Alexandria 89 69 79 77 0.25 1.95 35.00 41.83 Extreme/Average 92 69 79 77 0.94 2.87 34.79 43.74 6. East-Central Franklinton 5SW 90 69 79 MM 0.95 5.89 40.15 MM.MM LSU-Baton Rouge 89 70 79 78 0.58 4.55 32.88 46.55 LSU-Clinton MM MM MM 76 M.MM 2.10 28.73 47.10 LSU-Hammond 90 69 79 77 0.21 3.97 27.95 48.99 Slidell 88 70 81 78 1.27 8.38 37.77 48.27 Extreme/Average 90 69 79 78 0.75 5.70 34.69 48.81 7. Southwest De Ridder 90 69 78 77 1.42 5.89 37.97 43.76 Jennings 88 70 79 78 0.77 3.84 35.77 44.01 LSU-Crowley 88 70 79 78 1.18 3.84 40.01 44.41 Extreme/Average 90 69 78 78 1.12 4.52 37.92 44.93 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 89 71 79 78 1.70 7.62 42.26 46.77 LSU-Jeanerette 88 70 80 77 3.15 8.58 47.55 47.38 Morgan City 86 72 79 78 0.98 3.00 32.88 49.95 Extreme/Average 89 70 79 78 1.94 6.40 40.90 47.83 9. Southeast Galliano 88 74 81 78 0.74 9.19 41.20 51.29 Houma MM MM MM 79 M.MM 2.47 27.94 49.82 Terrytown 3S 92 74 82 MM 1.12 8.72 47.25 MM.MM Reserve MM MM MM 78 M.MM M.MM 10.08 50.23 Extreme/Average 92 74 82 79 0.93 8.96 44.23 49.56 State State Averages 92 66 79 77 1.81 5.35 38.05 44.13 M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through September 20, 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.