la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 10, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 5.2 Soil moisture supplies: 5% short, 75% adequate and 20% surplus Field Crops Report Excellent weather conditions prevailed over most of the state last week. Showers were received in the central part of the state during the middle of the week; these slowed some field activities. Most producers were able to progress with field activities as weather conditions were in their favor. Planting of corn increased after getting off to a slow start, surpassing the 5 year average and coming close to last year. Cotton planting began. Planting of rice advanced to 46 percent as field conditions improved. Sorghum planting continued with excellent progress made last week. Sugarcane producers were off-barring and applying herbicides and fertilizers to fields. Some wheat fields were still showing signs of leaf rust. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Harvesting of strawberries continued, and producers were spraying to control spider mites. Vegetable producers were working fields and planting crops. Producers were still reporting good crawfish production. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Spring pastures were improving as the state had more favorable weather conditions last week. Cattlemen were fertilizing pastures. Spring calving was winding down and cattlemen continued working cattle. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Corn Planted 93 58 97 81 Emerged 41 14 82 61 Cotton Planted 1 0 4 2 Rice Planted 46 19 71 60 Emerged 24 6 48 39 Sorghum Planted 25 2 24 9 Wheat Headed 39 14 77 59 Land Preparation Spring Plowing 56 35 82 64 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Sugarcane 2 12 37 39 10 Wheat 0 12 35 49 4 Livestock 0 7 46 41 6 Vegetables 0 13 55 28 4 Pasture 3 13 53 28 3 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 04/04/05 TO 04/10/05 AIR PRECIPITATION 4 INCH SOIL TEMPERATURE WEEKLY FOUR YR.TO TEMPERATURE MAX MIN AVE NRM TOTAL WEEKS DATE NORM MAX MIN AVE 1. Northwest LSU-Bossier City 83 50 65 62 0.19 2.11 10.98 15.20 Minden 82 42 64 61 0.22 2.08 10.16 16.63 Mooringsport 81 47 65 MM 1.03 2.67 11.03 14.01 Extreme/Average 83 42 64 62 0.48 2.29 10.72 15.52 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 80 45 64 62 1.44 4.40 13.78 17.92 LTI-Ruston 80 44 64 61 1.40 4.30 17.02 17.28 ULM-Monroe 80 (40) 64 62 1.78 4.49 13.43 18.81 Winnfield 83 44 66 62 0.75 4.25 13.43 17.98 Extreme/Average 83 40 64 62 1.20 4.33 13.61 17.86 3. Northeast Lake Providence 81 47 65 61 1.86 4.01 14.67 19.41 LSU-St Joseph (84) 48 66 63 0.26 4.34 14.90 19.41 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 82 51 66 62 1.14 3.67 14.83 18.65 Tallulah 81 41 64 62 1.39 3.64 14.65 19.28 Extreme/Average 84 41 65 63 1.16 3.92 14.76 19.11 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 82 46 65 63 0.20 3.60 12.19 17.11 LSU-Rosepine 81 47 65 63 0.11 2.44 14.73 16.97 MM MM MM Natchitoches 83 44 66 63 0.30 3.44 13.08 16.94 Extreme/Average 83 44 65 63 0.20 3.16 13.08 16.90 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 82 49 65 64 0.22 3.27 15.51 18.44 Brusly 84 43 65 64 0.20 2.21 12.23 18.81 Bunkie 83 51 66 64 0.74 4.26 15.71 18.95 LSU-Alexandria 84 45 64 63 0.28 2.50 15.00 17.66 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 84 43 65 65 0.36 3.06 14.61 18.37 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 80 40 64 64 0.55 5.71 14.48 20.28 LSU-Baton Rouge 82 45 64 65 0.13 2.54 10.34 17.63 LSU-Clinton 80 42 63 63 0.67 4.54 15.67 19.40 LSU-Hammond 79 44 64 64 0.43 2.96 11.86 19.79 MM MM MM Slidell 75 46 64 65 3.21 7.67 19.03 19.01 Extreme/Average 82 40 64 65 1.00 4.68 14.28 19.52 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 81 49 66 64 0.35 2.80 12.64 17.63 Jennings 80 48 65 65 0.04 2.12 15.41 15.73 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 80 50 65 65 0.23 2.00 13.63 16.19 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 81 48 65 66 0.20 2.46 15.41 15.78 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 81 45 66 65 0.07 1.60 11.71 17.44 LSU-Jeanerette 80 46 65 65 0.04 2.01 14.04 15.42 Morgan City 80 49 65 66 0.56 1.83 15.80 16.30 Extreme/Average 81 45 65 66 0.22 1.81 13.85 16.31 9. Southeast Galliano 78 47 67 66 4.12 8.45 21.48 17.48 Houma 79 48 67 67 0.45 3.89 23.18 16.48 NO Audubon Park 78 52 68 67 1.86 4.56 19.48 17.16 MM MM MM Reserve 80 46 65 65 0.20 2.94 18.33 19.26 Extreme/Average 80 46 67 67 1.66 4.96 20.62 17.84 MM MM MM State State Averages 84 40 65 64 0.73 3.48 14.86 17.52 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through April 10, 2005