la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date October 09, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 6.6 Soil moisture supplies: 11% very short, 32% short, 55% adequate and 2% surplus Field Crops Report Dry conditions returned across the state as soil moisture from Hurricane Rita depleted. With excellent weather conditions throughout the week, producers were able to harvest mature crops. Low yields were being reported on late soybeans due to dry conditions during the growing season. Sugarcane planting has been slow in the southern parishes due to excessive water in fields. Harvesting of sugarcane continued with reports from producers that tonnage and sugar per ton was down. Sweet potato harvesting made excellent progress, ahead of last year's 33 percent. Land preparation continued for planting of wheat. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Pecan harvesting began last week. Citrus and vegetable producers were assessing damage to crops due to high water and salt content. Some crawfish producers were draining ponds to remove poor quality water but were unable to replenish ponds due to the low quality of water available in canals. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Several parishes had an increase in mosquito pressure on livestock. Cattlemen were feeding hay and supplements due to flooded pastures from the hurricanes. Fall forage planting resumed as well as final cutting of hay. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Cotton Harvested 73 53 42 62 Hay Second Cutting 99 99 100 98 Pecans Harvested 5 0 5 6 Rice Harvested 98 94 100 99 Soybeans Turning Color 99 97 97 97 Dropping Leaves 94 91 89 88 Harvested 82 78 69 65 Sugarcane Planted 98 97 100 99 Harvested 4 1 9 13 Sweet potatoes Harvested 49 38 33 54 Wheat Planted 3 0 3 8 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Sugarcane 16 23 44 17 0 Sweet potatoes 4 10 38 47 1 Livestock 5 18 46 27 4 Vegetables 21 26 44 9 0 Pasture 20 30 36 13 1 LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 10/03/05 TO 10/09/05 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 91 49 74 69 0.00 6.04 31.00 38.91 Minden MM MM MM 68 0.10 5.15 29.84 41.96 Mooringsport 89 49 73 MM 0.02 6.93 29.59 35.36 Extreme/Average 91 49 73 69 0.04 6.49 30.30 39.93 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 91 47 72 69 0.00 2.70 33.26 42.37 Homer/Hill Farm 88 48 72 68 0.00 4.67 36.25 42.40 ULM-Monroe 92 (46) 72 69 0.00 3.12 29.78 43.92 Winnfield 91 48 73 69 0.00 4.48 38.08 45.12 Extreme/Average 92 46 72 69 0.00 4.09 34.70 43.31 3. Northeast Lake Providence 90 53 73 69 0.00 5.32 35.74 44.64 LSU-St Joseph (93) 51 74 70 0.00 7.81 36.91 43.22 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 92 50 73 69 0.00 6.19 38.20 42.65 Tallulah 90 53 72 68 0.00 0.02 33.90 44.59 Extreme/Average 93 50 73 69 0.00 6.44 36.95 43.73 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 92 46 74 69 0.00 0.08 31.32 43.71 LSU-Rosepine 91 53 74 70 0.00 0.02 30.24 44.87 MM MM MM Natchitoches 92 52 74 70 0.00 0.69 26.68 41.36 Extreme/Average 92 46 74 69 0.00 M.MM MM.MM 42.59 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 91 54 76 72 0.00 0.04 24.86 45.76 Brusly 90 54 75 70 0.00 7.41 43.71 50.08 Bunkie 91 54 74 71 0.00 7.45 43.67 46.95 LSU-Alexandria 92 48 73 70 0.00 8.16 34.22 44.52 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 92 48 74 71 0.00 7.67 40.53 46.39 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 91 56 77 70 0.00 1.19 35.68 51.36 LSU-Baton Rouge 91 55 77 71 0.00 8.10 39.00 48.92 LSU-Clinton 88 54 73 70 0.00 5.55 40.58 49.66 LSU-Hammond MM MM MM 71 0.00 0.00 34.50 51.32 MM MM MM Slidell 91 58 77 72 0.00 0.71 58.96 50.68 Extreme/Average 91 54 76 71 0.00 8.10 39.00 51.28 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 91 52 75 71 0.00 0.03 31.11 46.51 Jennings 90 54 76 72 0.19 10.45 42.63 47.22 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 91 54 76 72 0.06 8.62 43.64 47.16 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 91 52 75 72 0.08 8.62 43.64 47.98 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 89 54 76 72 0.00 4.72 41.42 49.68 LSU-Jeanerette 88 55 75 71 0.53 11.00 48.19 50.33 Morgan City 90 61 77 73 0.00 0.40 36.24 53.02 Extreme/Average 90 54 76 73 0.18 7.86 44.81 50.77 9. Southeast Galliano 88 62 78 73 0.06 0.18 55.19 54.34 Houma MM MM MM 73 0.18 5.96 60.00 52.72 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park MM MM MM 74 0.00 2.29 54.32 52.14 Reserve 91 56 77 72 0.44 5.70 44.88 53.04 Extreme/Average 91 56 77 73 0.23 5.83 MM.MM 52.49 MM MM MM State State Averages 93 46 75 71 0.06 6.92 38.93 46.29 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through October 09, 2005