la-crop-weather State Louisiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date October 30, 2005 Days suitable for fieldwork: 7.0 Soil moisture supplies: 70% very short, 29% short and 1% adequate Field Crops Report Drought conditions throughout the state began hindering producers; no rain was received again last week. Field activities were slowing down due to dry fields. Cotton and soybean harvesting edged closer to completion. Sugarcane harvesting has been going well with the dry conditions, remaining in line with last year. Harvesting of sweet potatoes made excellent progress last week. Wheat planting was slow last week, while producers were hoping for rain. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report Citrus producers continued harvesting and selling fruit. Harvesting of pecans progressed but still remained behind last year and the 5-year average. Vegetable producers were in need of rain to complete planting of fall crops. Livestock, Pasture, and Range Report Some cattlemen continued clean-up of pastures from the hurricanes. Many cattlemen were waiting for rain before planting ryegrass. Crop Progress Table PERCENT OF PROGRESS Last CROP STAGE 2005 Week 2004 5 YR AVG Cotton Harvested 99 98 87 87 Pecans Harvested 25 19 35 31 Soybeans Harvested 99 98 91 88 Sugarcane Harvested 30 20 30 34 Sweet potatoes Harvested 89 78 68 79 Wheat Planted 20 11 30 36 Emerged 3 0 4 15 Crop Condition Table CONDITIONS IN PERCENTAGES CROP VERY POOR POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT Sugarcane 19 33 39 9 0 Sweet potatoes 4 9 39 48 0 Livestock 8 29 45 16 2 Vegetables 26 43 28 3 0 Pasture 35 41 22 2 0 LOUISIANA OFFICE OF STATE CLIMATOLOGY, LSU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LOUISIANA WEATHER SUMMARY FROM 10/24/05 TO 10/30/05 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 70 35 51 61 0.00 0.00 31.00 42.00 Minden 71 33 51 61 0.00 0.10 29.84 44.75 Mooringsport 69 37 53 MM 0.00 0.02 29.59 38.31 Extreme/Average 71 33 52 61 0.00 0.04 30.30 42.99 2. North-Central LSU-Calhoun 73 (30) 49 61 0.00 0.00 33.26 45.29 Homer/Hill Farm 68 35 51 60 0.00 0.00 36.25 45.26 ULM-Monroe 72 30 50 61 0.00 0.00 29.78 46.86 Winnfield 75 31 51 61 0.00 0.00 38.08 48.02 Extreme/Average 75 30 50 61 0.00 0.00 34.34 46.23 3. Northeast Lake Providence 71 37 52 61 0.00 0.00 35.74 47.80 LSU-St Joseph 79 30 52 63 0.00 0.00 36.91 45.69 MM MM MM LSU-Winnsboro 77 33 52 62 0.00 0.00 38.20 45.47 Tallulah 74 33 52 61 0.00 0.00 35.07 47.20 Extreme/Average 79 30 52 62 0.00 0.00 36.95 46.52 MM MM MM 4. West-Central Leesville 79 30 51 62 0.00 0.00 31.32 46.26 LSU-Rosepine 79 32 53 63 0.00 0.00 30.24 47.66 MM MM MM Natchitoches 75 30 51 63 0.00 0.00 30.46 44.25 Extreme/Average 79 30 52 62 0.00 0.00 30.46 45.38 MM MM MM 5. Central Alexandria 78 39 55 64 0.00 0.00 24.86 49.12 Brusly 78 33 53 63 0.00 0.00 43.71 52.89 Bunkie 78 35 55 64 0.00 0.00 43.67 49.83 LSU-Alexandria 79 30 52 63 0.00 0.00 34.22 47.54 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 79 30 54 64 0.00 0.00 40.53 49.38 MM MM MM 6. East-Central Bogalusa 79 37 55 63 0.00 0.00 35.68 53.71 LSU-Baton Rouge 79 34 54 64 0.00 0.00 39.00 51.36 LSU-Clinton 77 35 54 63 0.00 0.00 40.58 52.48 LSU-Hammond (80) 34 54 64 0.00 0.00 34.50 53.72 MM MM MM Slidell 78 38 55 65 0.00 0.00 58.96 52.71 Extreme/Average 80 34 54 64 0.00 0.00 39.00 53.69 MM MM MM 7. Southwest De Ridder 74 39 55 64 0.00 0.00 31.11 49.31 Jennings 78 38 55 65 0.00 0.19 42.63 50.01 MM MM MM LSU-Crowley 78 40 55 66 0.00 0.06 43.64 49.90 MM MM MM Extreme/Average 78 38 55 66 0.00 0.08 43.64 50.84 MM MM MM 8. South-Central Donaldsonville 77 38 55 65 0.00 0.00 42.61 52.18 LSU-Jeanerette 78 40 55 65 0.00 0.53 48.19 52.87 Morgan City 79 45 59 67 0.00 0.00 36.24 55.33 Extreme/Average 79 38 56 66 0.00 0.18 45.40 53.33 9. Southeast Galliano 77 44 59 67 0.00 0.06 63.51 56.65 Houma MM MM MM 67 0.00 0.18 60.00 54.61 MM MM MM NO Audubon Park MM MM MM 68 0.00 0.00 53.88 53.94 Reserve 80 36 56 65 0.00 0.44 50.81 55.20 Extreme/Average 80 36 58 67 0.00 0.23 MM.MM 54.58 MM MM MM State State Averages 80 30 54 64 0.00 0.06 38.14 48.76 MM MM MM M = Missing ( ) = Extremes Yr. To Date = Through October 30, 2005