la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date September 11, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 6.9 Soil moisture supplies: 49% very short, 31% short and 20% adequate Field Crops Report Louisiana continued experiencing very dry conditions last week. Corn harvest edged closer to completion. Rice harvesting continued, with reports of excellent yields, and second crop was progressing well with the warm temperatures. Soybean producers were harvesting and spraying fields for stinkbugs and worms. Sugarcane producers continued applying ripeners to fields as harvest will begin in the next couple of weeks. Planting of sugarcane was slow last week due to the dry conditions. Harvesting of sweet potatoes was also slow due the dry conditions. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Citrus producers continued scouting trees for insects and preparing for harvest. Vegetable producers were working fall crops. Crawfish producers began flooding ponds. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Pastures and hay growth continued to be hindered due to the dry conditions. Second cutting of hay was near completion. Preparations for planting ryegrass were being made. Cattlemen were busy marketing spring calves. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Corn Harvested 98 85 97 92 Cotton Open Bolls 90 60 58 77 Harvested 15 3 2 6 Hay Second Cutting 98 95 95 94 Rice Ripe 98 95 99 98 Harvested 84 82 92 87 Sorghum Turning Color 100 99 100 100 Ripe 100 91 100 98 Harvested 85 71 95 83 Soybeans Turning Color 79 63 69 68 Dropping Leaves 63 50 58 50 Harvested 43 33 40 26 Sugarcane Planted 66 50 90 76 Sweet potatoes Harvested 15 12 8 18 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Cotton 2 14 27 50 7 Soybeans 3 13 36 45 3 Sugarcane 7 20 38 29 6 Sweet potatoes 4 11 34 50 1 Livestock 2 11 42 43 2 Vegetables 14 17 52 17 0 Pasture 9 29 48 12 2 LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 09/05/05 TO 09/11/05 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 95 61 78 78 0.00 0.61 24.96 35.68 Minden 94 62 78 78 0.00 1.61 24.34 38.38 Mooringsport 93 62 78 MM 0.00 1.25 21.06 31.95 Extreme/Average 95 61 78 78 0.00 1.16 23.01 36.50 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 95 58 77 79 0.00 1.85 30.56 39.00 Homer/Hill Farm 91 62 76 77 0.00 1.40 31.58 38.58 ULM-Monroe 95 (57) 77 79 0.00 1.71 26.44 40.47 Winnfield 94 60 77 78 0.03 4.80 33.60 41.68 Extreme/Average 95 57 77 78 0.01 3.33 32.08 39.73 3. Northeast Lake Providence 90 64 78 78 0.00 3.26 30.42 41.51 LSU-St Joseph 94 59 77 79 0.00 2.76 29.10 40.36 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 94 60 78 78 0.00 2.20 32.01 39.74 Tallulah MM MM MM 78 0.00 1.52 33.88 41.54 Extreme/Average 94 59 78 79 0.00 3.26 30.42 40.72 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville MM MM MM 78 0.00 2.69 31.24 39.93 LSU-Rosepine (97) 61 80 79 0.00 2.62 30.22 40.88 MM MM MM Natchitoches MM MM MM 79 0.00 1.07 22.98 38.27 Extreme/Average 97 61 80 79 0.00 2.66 MM.MM 39.07 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 95 63 80 80 0.00 2.08 24.82 41.94 Brusly 92 64 78 79 0.00 6.92 36.30 46.18 Bunkie 93 64 79 79 0.00 2.84 36.17 43.10 LSU-Alexandria 95 57 77 79 0.00 0.62 26.06 40.45 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 95 57 79 79 0.00 3.12 30.84 42.39 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa MM MM MM 79 0.00 1.50 34.49 47.45 LSU-Baton Rouge 94 64 80 79 0.00 4.63 30.90 45.19 LSU-Clinton 91 65 78 78 0.00 5.08 35.03 45.76 LSU-Hammond MM MM MM 79 0.00 0.60 34.50 47.63 MM MM MM Slidell MM MM MM 80 0.00 2.68 58.25 46.67 Extreme/Average 94 64 79 79 0.00 4.63 30.90 47.34 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 95 65 80 79 0.00 2.70 31.07 42.32 Jennings 93 66 80 80 0.00 2.29 32.17 42.17 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 93 67 80 80 0.00 2.42 34.94 42.90 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 95 65 80 80 0.00 2.47 33.56 43.23 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 91 64 80 80 0.00 4.96 36.70 45.07 LSU-Jeanerette 90 67 78 79 0.56 5.15 36.36 45.65 Morgan City MM MM MM 80 0.00 0.90 33.18 47.95 Extreme/Average 91 64 79 80 0.19 5.06 36.53 46.09 9. Southeast Galliano MM MM MM 80 M.MM M.MM MM.MM MM.MM Houma MM MM MM 81 0.00 7.61 54.04 47.85 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park MM MM MM 81 M.MM M.MM M.MMM MM.MM Reserve MM MM MM 80 0.00 0.54 39.18 48.45 Extreme/Average MM MM MM 81 0.00 M.MM MM.MM MM.MM MM MM MM State State Averages 97 57 79 79 0.01 3.16 31.24 42.33 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through September 11, 2005