mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released September 22, 2008 Week Ending Date September 21, 2008 Issue MI-CW3808 Agricultural Summary Waiting for Fields to Dry Five days were suitable for fieldwork during the week ending September 21, according to the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Precipitation varied from none in the central Lower Peninsula to 0.10 inches in the east central and southwestern Lower Peninsula. Average temperatures ranged from 1 degree below normal in the east central, south central, and southeastern Lower Peninsula to 2 degrees above normal in the western Upper Peninsula. Little to no rain fell in the past seven days but harvest and other fieldwork were still held up from the rains received on September 13 and 14. Farmers in some areas were still waiting for fields to dry in order to resume fieldwork. A farmer in the south central region reported, "We collected 5.4 inches of rain last weekend and now have water standing in most areas where you would find it in a wet spring. The rain was followed by several nice days, but no fieldwork has been possible due to muddy conditions; those will apparently persist for several more days." A reporter in the southwest stated, "Heavy rains last week ended all fieldwork for several days. Fields have started to dry out and some fieldwork has commenced. Silage harvest continued to ramp up after the rains along with other various activities." Field Crops Report Field Crops Fieldwork was slowed by wet soils. Corn continued to mature with most of the crop in the dent stage. There were reports that a few farmers began harvesting or that harvest will begin as soon as fields dry out. Silage harvest continued. Many soybeans dropped leaves this week and harvest was just beginning in some areas as field conditions permitted. Alfalfa harvest was slow due to damp conditions. Fields that were reseeded have taken hold. Some farmers report that a fourth cutting may not be possible on their fields. Most of the dry bean crop has turned leaves and the majority have shed leaves. Harvest was held up by the damp soils. Planting of winter wheat continued where conditions allowed. More wheat will be planted when the soybeans have been harvested. Sugarbeet harvest has begun. Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit Apple harvest was in full swing across the State. In the southeast, harvest of Honeycrisp and Golden Supreme varieties continued; picking of McIntosh varieties neared completion. Recent heavy rainfall increased concern about fruit bruising. Harvest of Gingergold variety was underway in the northwest. Harvest of peaches and pears was completed; quality was good. Harvest of fall raspberries continued, and plum harvest neared completion. Harvest of Niagara and wine grapes began in the southwest. Vegetables Vegetable growers experienced some crop loss due to the heavy rains received last week, and harvest was slow with the extremely wet field conditions. Sweet corn growers in the State experienced moderate corn earworm pressure this season. Pumpkins and winter squash were maturing rapidly and most will be harvested by the end of September. The harvesting of carrots and onions resumed late in the week. Potato harvest continued. The recent heavy rains took a toll on the remaining celery fields. Some acreage was not being harvested and the rest had reduced yields. Approximately 28 percent of planted acres were left to be harvested. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 09/21/08 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 1 9 59 31 Subsoil : 4 10 62 24 --------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 09/21/08 ---------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ---------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 77 72 82 84 All hay, fourth cutting : 24 19 22 23 Apples, harvested : 26 18 37 NA Corn, dough : 97 93 100 97 Corn, dent : 89 78 93 84 Corn, mature : 34 16 64 43 Corn silage, harvested : 56 41 78 65 Dry beans, turning leaves : 90 81 99 99 Dry beans, dropping leaves : 77 51 88 91 Dry beans, harvested : 19 16 44 47 Peaches, harvested : 94 78 100 NA Potatoes, harvested : 38 34 43 NA Soybeans, turning leaves : 89 70 81 81 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 58 28 46 50 Soybeans, harvested : 2 NA 1 4 Sugarbeets, harvested : 3 NA 2 1 Winter wheat, planted : 3 2 20 13 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 09/21/08 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All Hay : 6 14 33 38 9 Corn : 8 15 33 32 12 Dry beans : 10 13 31 33 13 Pasture : 13 15 37 30 5 Soybeans : 8 17 36 31 8 ----------------------------------------------------------- Percent of fall seasons (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 09/21/08 1/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : :Cumulative growing: : Temperature : degree days 2/ : Precipitation :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : : : : : : : : Normal Station : : :Departure: : : :This:Last :Last : Since :------------- :Maximum :Minimum : from :2008 :2007 :Normal:week: two :four :April 1: Since : For : : : normal : : : : :weeks:weeks: :April 1:month ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ironwood : 79 39 1,806 2,235 0.00 1.72 2.83 15.62 Marquette : 79 34 1,700 2,130 0.00 2.52 2.91 16.98 Stephenson : 81 38 2,100 2,386 0.02 1.46 2.14 17.15 Western UP : 81 31 2 1,829 2,221 1,855 0.01 1.58 2.54 15.28 19.02 3.58 : Cornell : 80 38 1,995 2,293 0.00 1.23 1.75 14.77 Sault St Marie : 73 39 1,752 2,093 0.01 1.23 2.63 15.54 Eastern UP : 80 38 1 1,749 2,103 1,642 0.01 1.38 2.54 16.03 17.96 3.55 : Beulah : 76 43 2,284 2,507 0.00 1.17 2.49 19.86 Lake City : 78 35 2,151 2,353 0.00 1.51 3.23 23.62 Old Mission : 77 42 2,185 2,409 0.00 1.24 2.51 13.26 Pellston : 75 34 2,048 2,303 0.00 0.67 1.85 16.58 Northwest : 78 34 1 2,110 2,347 2,115 0.01 1.02 2.45 17.24 16.85 3.66 : Alpena : 76 38 2,131 2,356 0.00 1.00 3.37 17.64 Houghton Lake : 77 34 2,199 2,362 0.01 1.08 2.82 20.67 Rogers City : 76 37 2,069 2,387 0.06 1.35 3.33 20.36 Northeast : 79 33 0 2,128 2,347 2,046 0.07 1.33 3.42 19.84 16.88 3.47 : Fremont : 80 39 2,390 2,608 0.01 2.05 4.69 17.68 Hart : 78 42 2,274 2,496 0.01 1.20 3.83 18.99 Muskegon : 76 43 2,425 2,705 0.00 2.97 6.51 19.33 West Central : 80 35 1 2,329 2,559 2,309 0.01 1.95 4.49 20.13 17.06 3.19 : Alma : 80 44 2,505 2,732 0.00 4.89 7.61 18.28 Big Rapids : 81 37 2,385 2,439 0.00 1.31 3.56 18.16 Central : 81 37 0 2,418 2,584 2,382 0.00 2.86 5.37 17.49 17.91 3.09 : Bad Axe : 80 45 2,406 2,571 0.00 3.39 3.96 22.25 Pigeon : 79 43 2,309 2,472 0.18 2.69 4.40 16.29 Saginaw : 83 44 2,563 2,734 0.01 3.07 4.23 18.59 Standish : 79 39 2,265 2,463 0.05 2.27 5.11 20.09 East Central : 83 39 -1 2,364 2,563 2,387 0.10 3.40 4.68 19.26 16.01 2.70 : Fennville : 78 44 2,430 2,662 0.10 6.44 9.91 27.37 Grand Rapids : 80 44 2,768 3,006 0.00 5.13 9.25 25.71 Holland : 79 45 2,793 2,910 0.00 5.43 7.91 25.98 South Bend, IN : 81 49 2,855 3,131 0.00 11.92 14.38 26.59 Watervliet : 80 45 2,614 2,866 0.16 6.28 9.06 24.22 Southwest : 82 40 0 2,646 2,855 2,600 0.10 6.54 9.34 25.80 18.35 3.26 : Belding : 80 38 2,450 2,621 0.04 5.60 5.80 17.12 Coldwater : 85 42 2,623 2,708 0.00 7.37 8.04 21.03 Lansing : 80 44 2,670 2,802 0.00 6.46 7.42 19.90 South Central : 85 38 -1 2,568 2,745 2,554 0.01 6.33 7.82 21.09 18.15 2.79 : Detroit : 82 50 2,963 3,043 0.00 4.58 5.98 16.51 Flint : 80 44 2,701 2,762 0.00 5.70 7.71 20.29 Romeo : 81 44 2,562 2,717 0.00 4.32 6.79 19.39 Tipton : 81 46 2,656 2,755 0.01 5.93 6.34 22.49 Toledo, OH : 81 46 2,924 2,989 0.00 3.41 3.63 19.58 Southeast : 88 40 -1 2,675 2,813 2,553 0.02 4.84 5.92 20.36 17.36 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.