mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released September 19, 2005 Week Ending Date September 18, 2005 Issue MI-CW3905 Agricultural Summary Harvest Continues Six days were suitable for fieldwork during the week ending September 18, according to the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Precipitation amounts ranged from 0.26 inches in the northeast Lower Peninsula to 0.88 inches in the southwest Lower Peninsula. Average temperatures ranged from 4 degrees above normal in the southwest Lower Peninsula to 9 degrees above normal in the eastern and western Upper Peninsula. Rains this week were welcomed by farmers across the State. A farmer in the northeast said, "We would like to start planting wheat, but it's either too dry on some fields or we haven't harvested the beans." A farmer from the southwest mentioned, "The 1.6 inches of rain this week settled the dust for a few days, but everything is still dry under the surface." Field Crops Report Field Crops Rain this past week did little to improve soil moisture conditions. Corn continued to mature. High moisture corn was being harvested. Soybean harvest began in early planted soybean fields, and the remaining fields were maturing rapidly. The third and fourth cuttings of alfalfa continued. For sugarbeets, harvest began in a limited number of fields. Harvest of dry beans continued. There were reports of farmers spraying to kill the plant because the bean pods had turned brown but the vegetative part of the plant was still green. A lack of sufficient rainfall continued to limit farmers from planting their wheat fields. Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit Gala and McIntosh apple harvests neared completion. Empire and Jonagolds will be the predominant apple varieties harvested this week. Peach harvest neared completion in the west central. Concord grape harvest will begin in the southwest this week. Vegetables Vegetable crops throughout the State continued to be harvested. Carrot harvest continued. Harvest continued for celery and onion crops. Pepper harvest was wrapping up with plants still showing some virus symptoms. Potato harvest continued. Pumpkin plants looked good with harvest underway in many areas. Snap bean and sweet corn harvests were in full swing. Squash, cucumber, and zucchini harvests continued in some areas. Tomatoes for processing harvest neared completion in some areas, while fresh market harvest continued. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 09/18/05 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 34 48 18 0 Subsoil : 35 43 22 0 --------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 09/18/05 ---------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ---------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 81 76 75 75 All hay, fourth cutting : 30 20 18 15 Apples, harvested : 25 20 20 NA Corn, dent : 96 85 53 69 Corn, mature : 52 28 9 19 Corn, harvested : 6 0 0 1 Corn silage, harvested : 81 52 18 36 Dry beans, dropping leaves : 100 80 62 66 Dry beans, harvested : 48 17 15 19 Peaches, harvested : 95 90 98 NA Potatoes, harvested : 37 28 29 NA Soybeans, turning leaves : 97 81 47 70 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 79 42 14 32 Soybeans, harvested : 8 1 0 1 Sugarbeets, harvested : 1 0 0 0 Winter wheat, planted : 9 5 8 9 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 09/18/05 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All Hay : 10 22 27 34 7 Corn : 1 6 23 51 19 Dry beans : 0 10 28 48 14 Pasture : 16 32 34 18 0 Soybeans : 3 9 29 43 16 ----------------------------------------------------------- Percent of Fall season (1961-1990) in which first freeze occurred on or before the date (mo/day) given in the table ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Station : 90% : 70% : 50% : 30% : 10% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Alma : 10/24 10/15 10/08 10/20 9/25 Alpena : 10/07 9/29 9/24 9/18 9/08 Bad Axe : 10/28 10/19 10/13 10/06 9/27 Caro : 10/06 9/27 9/23 9/17 9/07 Chatham : 10/06 9/25 9/17 9/08 8/24 Coldwater : 10/17 10/10 10/05 9/30 9/23 Eau Claire : 11/05 10/28 10/22 10/16 10/07 Grand Rapids : 10/24 10/15 10/09 10/03 9/25 Hesperia : 10/12 10/03 9/26 9/20 9/11 Lansing : 10/15 10/08 10/03 9/27 9/19 Lapeer : 10/16 10/06 9/28 9/19 9/03 Monroe : 11/02 10/26 10/20 10/15 10/06 Saginaw : 10/30 10/22 10/16 10/10 10/02 Sandusky : 10/25 10/16 10/09 9/30 9/16 S.S. Marie : 10/12 10/02 9/25 9/18 9/08 Standish : 10/12 10/01 9/24 9/16 9/05 Stephenson : 9/29 9/23 9/18 9/12 9/03 Traverse City : 10/20 10/10 10/02 9/25 9/13 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Information U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Michigan Field 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 09/18/05 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 : 89 37 2,284 1,633 0.25 0.30 0.77 12.81 Marquette : 89 39 2,186 1,586 0.98 1.03 1.93 13.40 Stephenson : 91 41 2,371 1,931 0.33 0.39 1.20 9.36 Western UP : 91 37 9 2,274 1,665 1,833 0.53 0.57 1.10 12.16 18.53 3.58 : Cornell : 87 43 2,269 1,722 0.46 0.46 1.81 9.43 Sault St Marie : 87 44 2,145 1,462 0.45 0.64 1.92 11.11 Eastern UP : 89 34 9 2,142 1,501 1,621 0.34 0.81 2.03 11.31 17.36 3.55 : Beulah : 86 49 2,588 1,998 1.13 2.95 3.58 16.15 Lake City : 86 40 2,336 1,953 0.15 0.83 0.96 14.65 Old Mission : 89 48 2,442 1,926 0.32 0.63 1.29 11.98 Pellston : 89 39 2,381 1,828 0.41 0.50 1.21 12.36 Northwest : 89 39 8 2,401 1,874 2,084 0.57 1.21 1.69 14.05 16.39 3.66 : Alpena : 90 41 2,283 1,910 0.18 0.20 0.27 13.21 Houghton Lake : 88 37 2,411 2,058 0.01 0.23 0.44 10.45 Rogers City : 89 41 2,315 1,925 0.23 0.39 0.52 15.16 Northeast : 90 36 7 2,350 1,940 2,018 0.26 0.45 0.61 14.09 16.39 3.47 : Fremont : 87 43 2,717 2,274 0.32 0.41 0.66 7.30 Hart : 85 43 2,597 2,123 0.30 0.57 0.88 11.48 Muskegon : 87 47 2,800 2,307 0.84 0.89 1.40 8.65 West Central : 87 43 6 2,675 2,194 2,275 0.42 0.59 0.94 9.72 16.68 3.19 : Alma : 91 46 2,702 2,406 0.34 0.34 0.46 11.10 Big Rapids : 91 46 2,599 2,231 0.00 0.00 0.01 8.62 Central : 91 43 7 2,650 2,312 2,348 0.34 0.34 0.46 9.59 17.48 3.09 : Bad Axe : 91 46 2,677 2,211 0.59 1.09 1.30 13.20 Pigeon : 91 43 2,486 2,181 0.02 0.17 0.20 9.78 Saginaw : 92 47 2,671 2,410 0.30 0.70 0.86 13.56 Standish : 91 46 2,536 2,156 0.27 0.61 1.07 15.66 East Central : 93 43 7 2,582 2,249 2,350 0.28 0.59 0.98 12.67 15.61 2.70 : Fennville : 91 45 2,777 2,349 0.47 0.47 0.78 5.91 Grand Rapids : 91 50 2,923 2,640 1.36 1.39 1.67 17.68 Holland : 93 43 2,881 2,444 0.29 0.29 0.37 3.81 South Bend, IN : 93 48 3,083 2,788 1.41 1.43 1.60 11.26 Watervliet : 92 47 2,954 2,529 0.99 0.99 1.17 10.00 Southwest : 95 43 4 2,898 2,530 2,559 0.88 0.88 1.07 9.72 18.01 3.26 : Belding : 90 43 2,669 2,386 0.98 0.99 1.29 13.38 Coldwater : 90 48 2,784 2,489 0.77 0.85 1.05 12.91 Lansing : 91 51 2,939 2,504 0.83 0.91 0.98 15.77 South Central : 92 43 5 2,836 2,523 2,514 0.61 0.67 0.84 12.00 17.80 2.79 : Detroit : 91 56 3,112 2,807 0.38 0.38 1.15 12.67 Flint : 89 50 2,799 2,555 0.26 0.56 1.08 11.81 Romeo : 89 50 2,762 2,524 0.79 0.83 1.30 13.21 Tipton : 90 51 2,854 2,503 1.14 1.14 1.20 14.08 Toledo, OH : 90 53 3,048 2,850 1.02 1.02 1.44 12.24 Southeast : 92 50 5 2,867 2,634 2,512 0.85 0.91 1.38 13.78 17.06 2.43 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Issued by the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office 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.