la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 14, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 6.2 Soil moisture supplies: 20% very short, 42% short, 35% adequate and 3% surplus Field Crops Report High temperatures and humidity continued to deplete the soil moisture. A few isolated showers were received across the state. Harvesting of corn, rice and sorghum was in full swing last week. Some rice producers were flooding and fertilizing their harvested fields for a second (rattoon) crop. Soybean producers were preparing for harvest as the crop was beginning to drop leaves. Planting of sugarcane progressed well despite the dry conditions. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Vegetable producers were harvesting eggplants, cucumbers and other vegetables. Strawberry producers were preparing field ground for planting. Harvesting of peaches was completed. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Dry conditions continued to cause poor growth and browning of pastures. Cattlemen were cutting hay and putting up rice straw for winter feeding. They were also weaning and marketing spring born calves. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Corn Mature 97 87 99 96 Harvested 11 5 34 35 Cotton Setting Bolls 99 99 100 100 Open Bolls 6 2 17 20 Hay Second Cutting 73 66 74 80 Peaches Harvested 100 99 99 98 Rice Headed 95 92 94 96 Ripe 53 38 71 73 Harvested 29 16 52 51 Sorghum Headed 99 96 100 100 Turning Color 87 67 94 90 Ripe 53 28 71 69 Harvested 12 1 27 22 Soybeans Blooming 99 97 100 98 Setting Pods 93 85 95 91 Turning Color 46 20 30 22 Dropping Leaves 23 5 16 6 Sugarcane Planted 13 3 14 11 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Corn 2 13 28 53 4 Cotton 3 11 29 49 8 Rice 0 0 38 42 20 Sorghum 0 13 36 48 3 Soybeans 2 14 32 47 5 Sugarcane 3 15 32 38 12 Livestock 0 7 45 45 3 Vegetables 14 18 43 24 1 Pasture 7 24 47 20 2 LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 08/08/05 TO 08/14/05 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 MM MM MM 83 1.79 3.44 24.35 33.14 Minden 98 71 84 82 0.28 1.08 22.29 35.63 Mooringsport (99) 70 84 MM 0.17 2.30 19.81 29.21 Extreme/Average 99 70 84 83 0.23 1.69 19.81 33.80 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 96 69 82 83 0.00 2.55 28.71 36.14 Homer/Hill Farm 96 69 82 81 1.08 3.97 30.18 35.66 ULM-Monroe 98 70 84 83 0.05 2.44 25.61 37.74 Winnfield 96 70 82 81 0.40 2.15 28.80 38.40 Extreme/Average 98 69 83 82 0.38 2.78 28.33 36.81 3. Northeast Lake Providence 97 71 84 82 0.07 0.69 27.16 39.00 LSU-St Joseph 99 70 84 82 0.00 1.17 26.34 37.56 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 98 70 84 82 0.20 0.49 29.81 37.13 Tallulah 96 70 83 82 0.00 0.86 32.36 38.80 Extreme/Average 99 70 84 83 0.07 0.80 28.92 38.07 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 99 67 83 81 0.31 3.51 28.53 36.42 LSU-Rosepine 98 67 83 82 0.08 2.70 26.10 37.21 MM MM MM Natchitoches 99 69 83 83 0.40 0.40 21.27 35.26 Extreme/Average 99 67 83 82 0.26 2.20 21.27 35.88 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 96 72 84 83 0.00 1.87 22.74 38.08 Brusly 95 70 82 81 0.00 4.87 29.38 41.30 Bunkie 96 69 83 82 0.20 1.53 33.33 39.44 LSU-Alexandria 97 (64) 81 82 0.17 3.38 25.44 36.64 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 97 64 82 83 0.09 2.91 27.72 38.58 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 95 70 82 82 0.43 1.70 32.99 42.92 LSU-Baton Rouge 96 71 83 82 0.09 2.31 26.27 40.20 LSU-Clinton 94 70 82 81 0.07 3.43 29.95 41.27 LSU-Hammond 95 71 83 82 0.00 3.59 33.90 42.23 MM MM MM Slidell 92 72 82 82 1.82 11.29 55.57 41.48 Extreme/Average 96 70 82 82 0.48 4.46 35.74 42.53 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 97 69 83 82 0.44 2.74 24.48 38.38 Jennings 95 70 83 82 0.09 2.85 29.88 37.37 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 95 70 83 82 0.28 3.52 32.25 38.32 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 97 69 83 83 0.27 3.04 31.07 38.33 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 93 71 82 82 0.02 5.21 31.74 39.87 LSU-Jeanerette 94 70 82 81 0.31 2.94 28.32 39.94 Morgan City 93 74 84 81 0.44 5.49 32.28 41.28 Extreme/Average 94 70 82 83 0.26 4.55 30.78 40.49 9. Southeast Galliano 94 74 84 82 0.10 6.93 53.94 42.94 Houma 96 74 85 82 0.00 3.50 46.34 41.71 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park 97 75 86 84 0.14 7.80 51.34 41.63 Reserve 95 72 84 82 0.37 3.61 38.64 43.26 Extreme/Average 97 72 85 83 0.15 5.46 47.57 41.74 MM MM MM State State Averages 99 64 83 83 0.24 3.17 30.85 38.61 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through August 14, 2005