la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 17, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 5.3 Soil moisture supplies: 7% short, 83% adequate and 10% surplus Field Crops Report Excellent weather conditions continued to prevail over most of the state last week. However, heavy rains were received in the northern part of the state early in the week, slowing some field activities. Corn planting edged closer to completion as cotton and soybean planting got underway. Rice producers continued planting and began flooding seedling rice. Sorghum planting reached 35 percent, surpassing the 5-year average of 18 percent. Sugarcane producers were off-barring and applying herbicides and fertilizers to fields. Wheat fields continued to show signs of leaf rust. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Strawberry harvest continued as vegetable producers began selling produce. Citrus growers began spraying fungicides. Producers were still reporting good crawfish production. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Hay cutting got underway with more favorable weather conditions last week. Cattlemen continued working cattle and fertilizing pastures. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Corn Planted 98 93 99 94 Emerged 67 41 91 76 Cotton Planted 6 1 6 5 Hay First Cutting 2 0 4 4 Rice Planted 62 46 77 74 Emerged 41 24 63 56 Sorghum Planted 35 25 29 18 Emerged 11 0 15 5 Soybeans Planted 7 0 9 5 Wheat Headed 64 39 84 76 Land Preparation Spring Plowing 72 56 72 78 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Corn 0 1 25 74 0 Sugarcane 1 14 39 35 11 Wheat 0 9 45 42 4 Livestock 0 7 35 54 4 Vegetables 0 12 57 28 3 Pasture 2 13 38 44 3 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 04/11/05 TO 04/17/05 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 81 48 64 64 4.25 6.25 15.23 16.25 Minden 80 44 62 63 4.82 7.46 15.58 17.82 Mooringsport 79 47 64 MM 2.29 4.95 13.32 14.92 Extreme/Average 81 44 63 64 3.79 6.22 14.71 16.57 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 82 45 62 64 1.40 5.19 15.18 19.02 LTI-Ruston 78 44 61 63 1.58 5.30 18.56 18.33 ULM-Monroe 81 47 63 64 1.19 4.28 14.60 20.07 Winnfield 83 45 63 63 1.40 4.32 15.70 19.27 Extreme/Average 83 44 63 64 1.39 4.77 16.01 19.01 3. Northeast Lake Providence 80 50 63 63 1.42 4.79 16.09 20.87 LSU-St Joseph 84 43 64 65 0.88 3.63 15.78 20.67 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 82 47 64 64 2.00 4.43 16.83 19.98 Tallulah 81 48 63 64 1.63 4.51 16.28 20.54 Extreme/Average 84 43 64 65 1.48 4.34 16.25 20.44 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 83 42 62 65 1.11 3.45 13.30 18.09 LSU-Rosepine (87)(37) 63 65 1.38 3.41 16.11 17.91 MM MM MM Natchitoches 81 49 64 64 1.92 4.38 15.00 17.93 Extreme/Average 87 37 63 65 1.47 3.75 15.00 17.90 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 82 49 65 66 1.00 2.54 16.51 19.57 Brusly 83 48 65 66 0.80 2.19 13.03 20.20 Bunkie 81 50 66 66 1.40 4.04 17.11 20.22 LSU-Alexandria 83 45 63 65 0.92 2.63 15.92 18.66 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 83 45 65 66 1.03 2.85 15.64 19.51 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 81 46 65 66 3.47 7.72 17.95 21.54 LSU-Baton Rouge 84 46 65 66 1.40 2.10 11.74 18.89 LSU-Clinton 78 46 63 65 1.90 5.42 17.57 20.80 LSU-Hammond 79 47 64 65 2.43 4.01 14.29 21.12 MM MM MM Slidell 78 49 65 66 2.59 7.58 21.62 20.06 Extreme/Average 84 46 64 66 2.36 5.37 16.63 20.85 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 83 42 65 66 2.04 3.99 14.68 18.54 Jennings 82 50 66 66 0.42 0.92 15.83 16.61 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 83 52 66 67 0.34 1.27 13.97 17.17 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 83 42 66 67 0.93 2.06 14.90 16.73 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 83 49 66 67 0.87 1.08 12.58 18.68 LSU-Jeanerette 82 50 66 67 0.54 0.89 14.58 16.54 Morgan City 81 53 67 67 0.17 0.87 15.97 17.25 Extreme/Average 83 49 66 68 0.53 0.95 14.38 17.43 9. Southeast Galliano 82 52 67 67 0.00 4.23 21.48 18.46 Houma 82 54 68 68 1.03 1.49 25.21 17.48 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park 83 54 68 69 2.95 5.16 22.48 18.35 Reserve 82 51 66 67 1.69 2.44 20.51 20.45 Extreme/Average 83 51 67 68 1.89 3.03 22.73 18.96 MM MM MM State State Averages 87 37 65 66 1.58 3.61 16.42 18.65 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through April 17, 2005