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 28, 2009 Volume 09 No. 30 Days suitable for fieldwork: 2.3 Soil moisture supplies: 4% short, 56% adequate and 40% surplus Field Crops Report Rain slowed most agriculture activities across the state. Harvest of the first crop of rice neared completion. The ratoon crop was reported to be in good condition. Soybean producers sprayed defoliants. Sugarcane farmers waited on dry weather to finish planting Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Vegetable producers continued to harvest cucumbers and greenhouse tomatoes. Strawberry producers were busy with planting. Citrus producers scouted for insects and began to harvest satsumas. Sweet potato producers were still concerned about the risk of spoilage in flooded fields Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Cattlemen sprayed pastures for armyworms. There were scattered reports of anaplasmosis in cattle. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2009 Week 2008 5 YR AVG Corn Harvested 99 99 98 99 Cotton Bolls Opening 89 86 97 96 Harvested 5 5 25 28 Hay Second Cutting 96 95 94 98 Pecans Harvested 1 0 0 1 Rice Harvested 88 87 85 94 Sorghum Harvested 97 96 94 98 Soybeans Turning Color 94 89 91 94 Dropping Leaves 78 73 81 85 Harvested 50 49 54 64 Sweet Potatoes Harvested 19 16 23 28 Sugarcane Planted 90 89 54 85 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Cotton 1 13 38 42 6 Soybeans 1 21 44 31 3 Sugarcane 3 9 30 40 18 Livestock 1 5 45 45 4 Vegetables 2 21 42 33 2 Pasture 1 10 47 37 5 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 09/21/09 TO 09/27/09 AIR PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURE WEEKLY FOUR YR. TO MAX MIN AVG NRM TOTAL WEEKS DATE NORM AIR PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURE WEEKLY FOUR YR. TO MAX MIN AVG NRM TOTAL WEEKS DATE NORM 1. Northwest LSU-Bossier City 89 65 74 74 0.29 3.43 39.76 37.37 Minden 89 65 73 73 0.48 5.35 42.21 40.46 Mooringsport 90 63 73 MM 1.24 6.60 45.28 33.82 Extreme/Average 90 63 73 74 0.67 5.13 42.42 38.36 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 88 64 75 74 2.29 9.14 38.22 40.84 Homer/Hill Farm 89 64 72 72 1.14 11.19 43.49 40.81 ULM-Monroe 88 66 76 74 0.66 9.99 38.82 42.36 Columbia Lock 88 66 75 MM 0.45 4.56 36.86 43.97 Extreme/Average 89 64 74 73 1.14 8.72 39.35 41.75 3. Northeast Lake Providence 86 66 75 74 0.71 4.60 39.72 43.13 LSU-St Joseph 87 66 77 74 2.62 4.00 36.33 42.02 LSU-Winnsboro 88 65 77 74 1.87 8.48 39.27 41.31 Tallulah 86 64 75 73 1.52 4.59 44.78 43.27 Extreme/Average 88 64 76 74 1.68 5.42 40.28 42.37 4. West-Central Leesville 89 63 75 74 1.01 3.29 33.12 42.22 LSU-Rosepine 88 (62) 74 75 0.88 3.39 32.49 43.26 Natchitoches 92 71 78 75 1.56 5.56 37.53 39.92 Extreme/Average 92 62 74 74 0.95 3.34 32.81 41.08 5. Central Alexandria 88 68 77 76 1.06 2.70 34.83 44.05 Brusly 91 69 81 75 1.58 5.63 34.15 48.47 Bunkie 90 67 79 75 0.75 3.98 37.55 45.36 LSU-Alexandria 89 66 77 75 1.06 2.75 36.06 42.88 Extreme/Average 91 66 78 75 1.11 3.77 35.92 44.74 6. East-Central Franklinton 5SW MM MM MM MM M.MM 5.89 40.15 MM.MM LSU-Baton Rouge 91 70 81 76 0.87 5.28 33.75 47.50 Amite (93) 67 81 75 2.80 5.78 33.30 51.12 LSU-Hammond 92 69 81 75 3.18 7.06 31.13 49.93 Slidell 90 70 80 76 1.02 9.40 38.79 49.34 Extreme/Average 93 67 81 75 1.97 6.88 34.56 49.83 7. Southwest DeRidder 88 65 76 75 0.58 4.71 38.55 44.84 Jennings 91 71 80 76 2.08 4.12 37.85 45.35 LSU-Crowley 90 71 81 76 1.46 5.09 41.47 45.51 Extreme/Average 91 65 79 76 1.37 4.64 39.29 46.16 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 91 70 80 76 1.51 9.10 43.77 47.98 LSU-Jeanerette 92 71 81 75 4.21 12.77 51.76 48.60 Morgan City 90 74 81 77 2.73 5.09 35.61 51.30 Extreme/Average 92 70 81 77 2.82 8.99 43.71 49.05 9. Southeast Galliano 91 73 82 77 1.22 10.30 42.42 52.63 Houma MM MM MM 77 M.MM 2.47 27.94 51.13 Terrytown 3S 93 74 83 MM 1.65 10.20 48.90 MM.MM Reserve MM MM MM 76 M.MM MM.MM 10.08 51.47 Extreme/Average 93 73 83 77 1.44 10.25 45.66 50.87 State State Averages 93 62 78 75 1.41 6.28 39.19 45.17 M = Missing( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through September 27, 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.