la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 24, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 6.8 Soil moisture supplies: 7% very short, 29% short and 64% adequate Field Crops Report Louisiana producers experienced another week of favorable weather conditions. Field activities made excellent progress. Rain would be beneficial for improving crop growth and field conditions. Corn planting was completed. Cotton and soybean planting continued, slightly behind last year but ahead of the 5-year average. Planting of rice continued and producers were applying herbicides and fertilizers. Sugarcane producers were fertilizing and working fields. Some wheat fields were beginning to turn color. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Harvesting of strawberries continued. Vegetable producers were working crops and beginning to sell produce. Crawfish harvesting continued with reports of good production, but producers were beginning to pump ponds. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Hay cutting was slow last week due to cool, dry conditions. Hay producers were fertilizing pastures and spraying for weed control. Spring calving was ending. Cattlemen continued working cattle and preparing for the breeding season. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Corn Planted 100 98 100 99 Emerged 94 67 97 88 Cotton Planted 31 6 33 21 Emerged 6 0 12 5 Hay First Cutting 4 2 7 10 Rice Planted 71 62 81 80 Emerged 51 41 69 65 Sorghum Planted 47 35 51 32 Emerged 34 11 31 14 Soybeans Planted 21 7 31 18 Emerged 6 0 20 7 Wheat Headed 92 64 95 88 Turning Color 7 0 13 17 Land Preparation Spring Plowing 85 72 92 88 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Corn 0 2 32 62 4 Rice 0 6 56 34 4 Sugarcane 3 13 38 32 14 Wheat 0 8 39 51 2 Livestock 0 6 36 51 7 Vegetables 0 12 46 36 6 Pasture 2 13 40 41 4 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 04/18/05 TO 04/24/05 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 85 40 67 65 0.00 5.32 15.23 17.33 Minden 82 40 67 65 0.00 6.19 15.58 19.07 Mooringsport 86 44 67 MM 0.00 4.05 13.32 15.82 Extreme/Average 86 40 67 66 0.00 5.19 14.71 17.65 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 85 (37) 65 65 0.00 3.29 15.18 20.11 LTI-Ruston 83 39 66 65 0.00 3.72 18.56 19.45 ULM-Monroe (87) 39 67 66 0.00 3.65 14.60 21.33 Winnfield 85 40 68 65 0.00 2.93 15.70 20.53 Extreme/Average 87 37 66 66 0.00 3.40 16.01 20.19 3. Northeast Lake Providence 86 45 68 65 0.00 3.96 16.09 22.27 LSU-St Joseph 87 44 69 67 0.00 1.76 15.78 21.92 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 85 39 68 66 0.00 3.92 17.03 21.30 Tallulah 84 50 68 66 0.00 3.62 16.80 21.80 Extreme/Average 87 39 68 66 0.00 3.32 16.43 21.76 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 84 39 67 66 0.00 1.54 13.31 19.13 LSU-Rosepine 86 45 68 66 0.04 1.77 16.17 18.89 MM MM MM Natchitoches 85 42 68 66 0.05 2.90 15.05 18.98 Extreme/Average 86 39 68 66 0.03 2.07 15.05 18.95 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 85 48 69 67 0.01 1.55 16.52 20.69 Brusly 86 44 69 67 0.06 1.63 13.09 21.53 Bunkie 86 48 69 67 1.20 3.49 18.31 21.55 LSU-Alexandria 86 44 67 67 0.32 2.11 16.24 19.71 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 86 44 68 68 0.40 2.20 16.04 20.70 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 86 45 68 67 0.04 7.53 17.99 22.75 LSU-Baton Rouge 87 43 69 68 0.00 1.93 11.74 20.15 LSU-Clinton 82 44 66 66 0.00 3.35 17.57 22.20 LSU-Hammond 87 42 68 67 0.00 3.88 14.29 22.40 MM MM MM Slidell 83 44 67 68 0.00 7.46 21.62 21.15 Extreme/Average 87 42 67 68 0.01 4.83 16.64 22.15 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 85 46 68 67 0.00 3.79 15.13 19.47 Jennings 83 47 69 68 0.04 0.55 15.87 17.53 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 84 47 70 69 0.00 0.70 13.97 18.21 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 85 46 69 69 0.01 1.68 14.92 17.72 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 84 45 68 69 0.00 1.03 12.58 19.87 LSU-Jeanerette 83 48 68 68 0.02 0.68 14.60 17.66 Morgan City 81 52 69 69 0.02 0.76 15.99 18.23 Extreme/Average 84 45 69 69 0.01 0.82 14.39 18.55 9. Southeast Galliano 85 48 69 69 0.00 5.18 22.48 19.47 Houma 86 49 70 69 0.09 1.58 25.30 18.53 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park 86 51 70 70 0.00 5.01 22.48 19.49 Reserve 84 46 69 68 0.00 2.40 20.51 21.63 Extreme/Average 86 46 70 70 0.02 3.54 22.69 20.01 MM MM MM State State Averages 87 37 68 68 0.07 2.96 16.50 19.79 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through April 24, 2005