Mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released May 16, 2005 Week Ending Date May 15, 2005 Issue MI-CW2105 Agricultural Summary Timely Rains Five days were suitable for fieldwork during the week ending May 15, according to the USDA-NASS-Michigan Statistical Office. Cool weather, with some frost reported, prevailed across northern Michigan, while southern districts averaged above normal. Rain fell across the State at the end of the week. Precipitation amounts ranged from 0.52 inches in the northeast Lower Peninsula to 1.05 inches in the west central Lower Peninsula. Average temperatures ranged from 3 degrees below normal in the western Upper Peninsula to 2 degrees above normal in the southern Lower Peninsula. Dry weather helped the planting progress of all crops, while emergence has been hindered by the cool temperatures. A farmer in northeast Lower Peninsula mentioned that "we are good on moisture, what we need is heat. It's been perfect weather for oats to get started." Another farmer in west central commented, "Corn planting is well along, but nothing is emerging because of cold, dry soil conditions." Field Crops Report Rain returned to the State but temperatures remained cool. Planting of most field crops continued to be ahead of normal while emergence and growth lagged behind. Windy conditions restricted applications of pesticides. In most areas, corn planting was wrapping up. There has been little emergence and growth due to low soil temperatures. Some fields that had emerged were damaged by early May frosts and many were being replanted. Soybean planting continued to progress nicely. There were limited reports of emergence. Sugarbeet emergence also continued. Growth varied from emerged to early four leaves. There were reports that some sugarbeets have been or will be replanted due to frost damage from earlier weeks. Alfalfa growth progressed nicely with some signs of winter kill. Winter wheat stands remained variable across the State. Cool temperatures limited insect and pest activity. The weather has been ideal for oats and barley. Both crops looked good. Fruit Crop Report Growers were still assessing potential damage from the freezing temperatures in early May. Most varieties of apples were at petal fall last week in the southwest. Frost damage was highly variable. In the west central, apples were mostly in full bloom to beginning petal fall depending on variety. Rain and cool temperatures led to some apple scab infection. In the southeast, apple flowering continued. In the southwest, tart cherries continued blooming and sweet cherries were out of the shuck. In the west central, tart cherries were in full bloom, and sweet cherries advanced to petal fall. Tart cherries were in full bloom stage and sweet cherries were past full bloom in the northwest. In the southeast, tart cherries were in full bloom to early petal fall, and sweet cherries were in the shuck. In the southwest, peach fruit was in the shuck. In the southeast, the peach crop was at full to late bloom or in the shuck, while in the west central it was in full bloom. Apricot fruit set looked good in the southwest. Pears in the southeast were at full bloom with a good crop coming along. In the southwest, blueberry bloom started, while in the southeast the crop was at late pink bud. Vegetables Crop Report Vegetable growers continued to plant various crops throughout the State. In some areas, the much needed rain helped soil moisture, but the growers now need heat to get the crops growing. Asparagus production has progressed throughout the week. In the west central, asparagus harvest began. For some growers the asparagus quality is good, but some are struggling to maintain good spear quality. Carrot planting continued on schedule with some carrots now emerged. Early sweet corn that was previously damaged has now begun to regrow. Early plantings of peas progressed to the first flower. Onions have emerged and look good at this time. Transplanting of squash and cucumbers under tunnels began in some areas. Also, direct seeding of cucumbers has begun. Planting also started for both fresh market and processing tomatoes. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 05/15/05 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 7 25 63 5 Subsoil : 5 24 65 6 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 05/15/05 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Oats : 0 1 26 62 11 Pasture : 2 8 34 42 14 Winter Wheat : 1 2 25 63 9 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 05/15/05 ------------------------------------------------------------ : This : Last : Last :5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ------------------------------------------------------------ : Percent : Asparagus, harvested : 24 12 29 32 Barley, planted : 82 72 78 75 Barley, emerged : 54 38 50 56 Corn, planted : 83 62 64 57 Corn, emerged : 13 3 32 24 Oats, planted : 95 94 90 89 Oats, emerged : 78 69 74 72 Potatoes, planted : 65 56 51 56 Potatoes, emerged : 9 1 9 NA Soybeans, planted : 58 25 31 28 Soybeans, emerged : 5 0 14 8 Winter wheat, headed : 0 0 3 2 ------------------------------------------------------------ Contact Information U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Michigan Statistical Office P.O. Box 26248 Lansing, MI 48909-6248 517-324-5300; or 800-453-7501 Fax 517-324-5299 email: nass-mi@nass.usda.gov Web Page: http:/www.nass.usda.gov/mi Weather Information Table Michigan Weather Summary for Week Ending 05/15/05 1/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : :Cumulative growing: : Temperature : degree days 2/ : Precipitation :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : : : : : : : : Normal Station : : :Departure: : : :This:Last :Last : Since :------------- :Maximum :Minimum : from :2005 :2004 :Normal:week: two :four :April 1: Since : For : : : normal : : : : :weeks:weeks: :April 1:month ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ironwood : 73 27 217 166 0.78 1.11 1.23 1.90 Marquette : 75 28 178 127 0.65 0.80 2.07 3.17 Stephenson : 75 28 196 229 0.94 1.17 1.59 2.44 Western UP : 75 27 -3 187 151 162 0.85 1.21 1.69 2.44 3.84 3.37 : Cornell : 73 26 161 144 0.54 0.71 1.84 2.04 Sault St Marie : 70 27 143 74 1.02 1.51 2.16 2.75 Eastern UP : 77 23 -2 154 102 97 0.82 1.12 2.04 2.57 4.01 3.01 : Beulah : 77 32 276 210 0.75 0.77 2.08 2.08 Lake City : 80 28 234 224 0.66 0.81 1.85 1.86 Old Mission : 80 30 227 177 0.56 0.62 1.81 1.81 Pellston : 83 28 207 189 0.71 0.81 2.03 2.13 Northwest : 83 28 -1 224 188 197 0.61 0.70 1.85 1.87 4.01 2.61 : Alpena : 83 29 170 199 0.41 0.71 2.35 2.43 Houghton Lake : 81 29 244 247 0.55 0.64 1.26 1.32 Rogers City : 82 28 212 177 0.44 0.65 1.91 1.97 Northeast : 84 25 -1 219 220 183 0.52 0.71 1.94 2.00 3.98 2.76 : Fremont : 80 38 301 319 1.00 1.07 1.47 1.47 Hart : 74 36 270 267 0.94 0.94 1.61 1.65 Muskegon : 79 40 281 301 1.67 1.72 2.14 2.15 West Central : 80 35 -1 276 283 234 1.05 1.09 1.52 1.53 4.42 2.67 : Alma : 84 35 291 342 1.09 1.12 1.77 1.77 Big Rapids : 84 35 286 308 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.92 Central : 84 35 0 288 326 259 1.04 1.06 1.56 1.56 4.51 2.79 : Bad Axe : 81 34 229 268 0.93 1.18 2.88 2.92 Pigeon : 84 34 213 254 0.68 0.84 1.68 1.70 Saginaw : 82 37 235 312 1.13 1.41 2.76 2.78 Standish : 81 32 230 286 1.00 1.13 2.49 2.50 East Central : 84 32 0 220 287 245 0.92 1.12 2.45 2.46 3.88 2.63 : Fennville : 83 42 326 318 0.56 0.64 1.22 1.26 Grand Rapids : 83 40 321 399 1.33 1.52 2.32 2.33 Holland : 83 42 322 339 0.45 0.53 1.35 1.35 South Bend, IN : 84 42 385 441 0.36 0.36 1.33 1.39 Watervliet : 83 43 348 370 0.75 0.85 1.62 1.64 Southwest : 85 37 2 343 383 286 0.69 0.78 1.58 1.61 4.86 3.01 : Belding : 81 37 294 349 1.47 1.54 2.77 2.77 Coldwater : 82 39 309 362 0.79 0.86 1.59 1.60 Lansing : 81 37 322 373 0.73 0.85 1.90 1.91 South Central : 83 36 2 319 386 285 0.83 0.90 1.64 1.65 4.68 2.92 : Detroit : 83 40 317 391 0.75 0.79 2.33 2.56 Flint : 81 36 297 388 0.72 0.79 2.09 2.09 Romeo : 82 35 278 347 0.98 0.98 2.96 3.23 Tipton : 82 39 331 368 1.40 1.41 2.76 2.83 Toledo, OH : 84 43 324 426 0.62 0.63 2.88 3.05 Southeast : 85 35 2 308 382 268 0.84 0.90 2.81 2.97 4.61 2.85 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Issued by the Federal/State Michigan Agricultural Statistics Service in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Michigan State University's Cooperative Extension Service, Agricultural Meteorologist, Department of Geography, and Crop Advisory Team ALERTS. 2/ Growing degree days (GDD) is the sum of daily mean temperatures minus 50 per day, 86 maximum And 50 minimum. The GDD is accumulative from April 1.