la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 8, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 6.7 Soil moisture supplies: 25% very short, 42% short and 33% adequate Field Crops Report Dry, cool and windy weather conditions continued to hinder Louisiana producers last week. The state is currently 5 inches below the normal rainfall for the year. Crop conditions continued to decline as the weather remained uncooperative. Rice planting continued, but the dry conditions were causing problems for producers. Reports of salt water was found in surface water pumped for rice irrigation. Soybean planting was slow last week as conditions were too dry and windy. Many soybean producers have stopped planting until rain is received. Sugarcane producers were fertilizing fields and plowing out old stubble. Sweet potato planting began. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Vegetable producers were working crops and selling turnips, beets and carrots. Rain was needed to help improve vegetable conditions. Crawfish producers continued draining ponds as commercial harvesting was slowing down. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Spring pasture and hay growth was limited due to the dry conditions. Cattlemen were cutting hay and fertilizing pasture. Cattlemen were also busy working cattle. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Corn Emerged 100 99 100 100 Cotton Planted 74 54 74 72 Emerged 47 20 55 47 Hay First Cutting 16 7 15 29 Rice Planted 92 80 92 93 Emerged 80 64 86 83 Sorghum Planted 78 58 78 67 Emerged 65 42 64 51 Soybeans Planted 47 37 52 44 Emerged 35 19 43 31 Sweet potatoes Planted 4 0 6 7 Wheat Headed 99 97 100 99 Turning Color 50 14 51 66 Land Preparation Spring Plowing 97 94 94 95 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Corn 0 11 34 55 0 Rice 0 5 54 37 4 Sorghum 0 4 54 42 0 Sugarcane 1 7 51 33 8 Wheat 0 8 50 40 2 Livestock 1 6 37 51 5 Vegetables 1 17 47 32 3 Pasture 5 14 46 34 1 Weather Information Table LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 05/02/05 TO 05/08/05 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(86) 46 63 70 0.05 4.66 15.64 19.47 Minden 85 (40) 61 69 0.06 5.37 16.13 21.54 Mooringsport 84 45 63 MM 0.05 2.56 13.59 17.42 Extreme/Average 86 40 62 69 0.05 4.20 15.12 19.89 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 81 43 61 69 0.05 3.03 16.81 22.42 Homer/Hill Farm 82 42 60 68 0.00 5.62 18.85 21.65 ULM-Monroe 82 46 62 70 0.01 3.17 16.58 23.89 Winnfield 84 44 62 69 0.00 2.22 16.52 23.05 Extreme/Average 84 42 61 69 0.02 3.51 17.19 22.63 3. Northeast Lake Providence 82 45 63 69 0.00 3.45 18.12 25.07 LSU-St Joseph 85 45 64 71 0.00 2.17 17.07 24.46 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 84 46 63 70 0.00 3.85 18.88 23.79 Tallulah 82 43 62 69 0.00 4.09 19.26 24.42 Extreme/Average 85 43 63 70 0.00 3.39 18.33 24.38 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 85 41 62 70 0.04 1.28 13.48 21.44 LSU-Rosepine 84 44 64 70 0.00 1.44 16.19 21.14 MM MM MM Natchitoches 86 46 62 70 0.00 2.50 15.58 21.38 Extreme/Average 86 41 63 70 0.01 1.28 15.08 21.29 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 83 48 64 71 0.03 1.12 16.63 23.02 Brusly 83 47 64 71 0.00 2.42 14.65 23.85 Bunkie 84 50 65 71 0.00 2.60 18.31 24.28 LSU-Alexandria 85 43 62 71 0.01 1.31 16.31 21.98 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 85 43 64 72 0.01 1.86 16.48 23.16 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 82 47 63 71 0.00 6.76 21.24 25.22 LSU-Baton Rouge 85 48 66 72 0.00 2.77 13.11 22.52 LSU-Clinton 80 48 63 70 0.00 2.50 18.17 24.82 LSU-Hammond 85 46 64 71 0.00 3.55 15.41 24.67 MM MM MM Slidell 79 47 65 72 0.00 4.85 23.88 23.63 Extreme/Average 85 46 64 72 0.00 3.16 14.26 24.74 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 84 49 65 71 0.00 2.04 15.13 21.59 Jennings 82 44 66 72 0.00 1.07 16.48 19.72 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 82 48 66 73 0.00 2.82 16.45 20.57 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 84 44 66 72 0.00 1.98 16.47 19.97 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 83 50 65 72 0.00 1.82 13.53 21.98 LSU-Jeanerette 82 50 65 72 0.00 1.65 15.69 19.79 Morgan City 82 56 68 72 0.00 1.65 17.45 20.42 Extreme/Average 83 50 66 73 0.00 1.65 16.57 20.76 9. Southeast Galliano 80 55 67 73 0.00 1.78 23.26 21.80 Houma 80 54 66 73 0.00 1.63 25.81 20.74 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park 83 57 70 74 0.00 4.26 23.79 21.72 Reserve 81 51 66 72 0.00 2.38 21.20 23.87 Extreme/Average 83 51 68 73 0.00 4.26 23.79 22.22 MM MM MM State State Averages 86 40 64 71 0.01 2.80 17.40 22.24 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through May 08, 2005