la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 29, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 6.1 Soil moisture supplies: 38% very short, 32% short, 22% adequate and 8% surplus Field Crops Report Louisiana producers continued battling with the dry conditions early in the week. Rain was received at the end of the week in the northern part of the state, bringing some relief to crops. Planting of sorghum and soybeans was expected to resume in a big way next week after the rain. Rice producers were running wells non-stop to irrigate fields. Water weevils were found in some rice fields. Sugarcane producers were working fallow land. Sweet potato planting continued but was slow due to the dry conditions. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit and vegetable producers continued struggling with the dry conditions. Harvesting of peaches began. Vegetable producers were harvesting crops. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Cattlemen were beginning to irrigate pastures as the drought situation became more critical. Due to the poor pasture conditions, cattlemen were feeding hay. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Corn Silked 12 0 22 24 Cotton Planted 98 97 96 97 Emerged 93 88 92 91 Squaring 5 0 2 7 Hay First Cutting 55 42 41 61 Peaches Harvested 3 0 4 7 Rice Planted 99 98 98 99 Emerged 97 96 96 97 Sorghum Planted 91 89 95 93 Emerged 85 80 89 86 Soybeans Planted 72 65 80 76 Emerged 62 55 68 64 Blooming 2 0 2 0 Sweet potatoes Planted 28 17 24 39 Wheat Turning Color 100 98 99 99 Harvested 59 37 46 57 Land Preparation Spring Plowing 99 99 96 98 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Corn 6 16 33 45 0 Cotton 4 10 40 43 3 Rice 0 4 50 41 5 Sorghum 1 17 46 36 0 Soybeans 6 18 42 34 0 Sugarcane 6 14 55 20 5 Wheat 0 1 40 53 6 Livestock 3 9 48 35 5 Vegetables 6 27 39 22 6 Pasture 11 29 37 23 0 LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 05/23/05 TO 05/29/05 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 96 60 78 75 1.06 1.11 16.70 22.80 Minden 94 59 77 74 0.42 0.86 17.18 25.11 Mooringsport 95 61 77 MM 0.33 0.48 14.39 19.94 Extreme/Average 96 59 77 75 0.60 0.82 15.55 23.29 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 93 59 75 75 3.11 3.80 20.56 26.12 Homer/Hill Farm 92 57 75 73 0.54 0.88 19.73 25.04 ULM-Monroe 96 58 77 75 2.91 3.75 20.33 27.80 Winnfield 93 57 77 74 0.76 0.95 17.49 26.84 Extreme/Average 96 57 76 75 1.83 2.35 19.53 26.41 3. Northeast Lake Providence 94 60 76 75 3.47 3.73 22.08 29.01 LSU-St Joseph 97 60 78 76 1.41 2.12 19.19 28.13 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 96 58 77 75 1.62 1.78 20.74 27.36 Tallulah 93 58 76 75 3.03 3.51 23.04 28.45 Extreme/Average 97 58 77 76 2.38 2.47 20.99 28.12 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 97 (55) 78 75 0.90 2.11 15.55 25.24 LSU-Rosepine 97 59 79 75 0.00 2.00 18.19 25.01 MM MM MM Natchitoches 95 61 78 76 0.30 0.50 16.77 25.42 Extreme/Average 97 55 78 75 0.60 1.31 16.77 25.14 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 97 59 78 77 0.08 0.20 16.80 26.67 Brusly 94 63 79 76 0.02 0.37 15.02 26.85 Bunkie 97 64 81 77 0.40 0.69 19.00 28.46 LSU-Alexandria (98) 58 78 76 0.04 0.11 16.41 25.69 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 98 58 79 77 0.14 0.34 16.81 26.94 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 96 61 78 76 0.05 0.12 21.92 29.00 LSU-Baton Rouge 95 63 81 77 0.66 0.73 13.84 26.05 LSU-Clinton 92 63 78 75 0.05 0.25 18.69 28.46 LSU-Hammond 95 59 79 76 0.00 1.02 16.43 27.66 MM MM MM Slidell 91 62 79 77 0.03 0.32 25.09 27.59 Extreme/Average 96 59 79 76 0.16 0.49 19.19 28.51 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 94 63 79 77 0.00 1.47 16.61 25.35 Jennings 94 68 81 77 0.00 0.36 16.84 23.63 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 97 69 82 78 2.56 2.86 19.34 24.54 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 97 63 80 77 0.85 1.56 18.09 23.89 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 93 67 80 77 0.40 2.32 16.38 24.96 LSU-Jeanerette 92 67 79 77 0.01 0.35 16.04 23.38 Morgan City 93 69 80 77 0.00 0.38 17.83 24.14 Extreme/Average 93 67 80 78 0.14 1.02 16.75 24.23 9. Southeast Galliano 93 67 80 77 0.03 0.38 24.19 25.77 Houma 94 70 81 78 0.10 1.77 27.58 24.43 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park 95 70 82 79 0.18 0.81 25.61 25.16 Reserve 94 68 81 77 0.00 0.39 23.92 27.41 Extreme/Average 95 67 81 78 0.08 0.84 25.33 25.71 MM MM MM State State Averages 98 55 79 76 0.74 1.22 18.96 25.88 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through May 29, 2005