mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released October 20, 2008 Week Ending Date October 19, 2008 Issue MI-CW4208 Agricultural Summary Ideal Harvest Conditions Six days were suitable for fieldwork during the week ending October 19, according to the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Precipitation varied from 0.10 inches in the western Upper Peninsula to 0.42 inches in the southwest Lower Peninsula. Average temperatures ranged from normal in the western Upper Peninsula and the west central, south central and southeastern Lower Peninsula to 3 degrees above normal in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Temperatures this past week were cool but seasonal, and many locations experienced frost. Some light showers fell across parts of the State. A grower in the northwest Lower Peninsula reported, "Very little rain this week. It still is dry. Only a couple light showers that lasted about 5 minutes." Conditions were good for harvest and other farm activities. "It was another good week for fieldwork with the exception of rain showers Wednesday afternoon. Mornings have been frosty, but it warms up to the mid 50's by early afternoon," a reporter in the west central stated. Field Crops Report Field Crops Harvest activities were in full swing during the week. Corn harvest continued while some growers were waiting for the crop to dry down. Plants were mature for the most part. Harvest of soybeans continued rapidly. Third cutting alfalfa was mostly complete while some growers were cutting for a fourth time. Hay continued to be moved to cattle operations. The haying season has come to an end for some farmers. Dry bean harvest was nearing completion. Much winter wheat was planted this week. The crop continued to emerge. Sugarbeet harvest continued. Piling will begin this week. Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit Apple growers continued to pick Red Delicious and Ida Red varieties; harvest of late apple varieties began. Harvest of Concord grapes continued in the southwest. Vegetables It was a good week for vegetable fieldwork with the exception of light rains in the middle of the week. Most crops have been harvested by this juncture of the growing season. Harvesting of processing carrots was in full swing. Celery harvest was completed this week, excluding the harvest of acreage set aside for juice, which is expected to continue through October. Potato harvest concluded in the southeast. Harvest of pumpkins for jack o' lanterns was finishing up. However, the crop did suffer some frost damage late in the week. Harvest of processing squash was progressing well. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 10/19/08 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 6 12 78 4 Subsoil : 6 13 78 3 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 10/19/08 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All Hay : 4 10 29 46 11 Corn : 7 14 30 39 10 Pasture : 10 19 37 30 4 Soybeans : 12 17 34 30 7 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 10/19/08 ---------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ---------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 94 92 99 98 All hay, fourth cutting : 53 44 65 61 Apples, harvested : 79 59 93 NA Corn, mature : 96 87 99 96 Corn, harvested : 24 15 33 28 Dry beans, harvested : 93 77 99 96 Potatoes, harvested : 83 68 80 NA Soybeans, harvested : 74 42 59 62 Sugarbeets, harvested : 19 15 24 22 Winter wheat, planted : 85 54 83 80 Winter wheat, emerged : 41 15 50 42 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 10/19/08 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 : 72 25 1,996 2,477 0.12 0.60 1.50 17.47 Marquette : 77 24 1,867 2,360 0.09 0.80 1.98 18.73 Stephenson : 80 26 2,321 2,666 0.10 0.66 0.94 18.09 Western UP : 80 18 0 2,004 2,457 2,004 0.10 0.58 1.22 16.53 21.41 2.57 : Cornell : 75 29 2,174 2,549 0.31 0.68 1.57 16.14 Sault St Marie : 78 30 1,908 2,310 0.54 0.86 1.92 17.60 Eastern UP : 78 27 3 1,893 2,335 1,762 0.35 0.73 1.94 18.34 20.50 2.57 : Beulah : 73 34 2,529 2,846 0.19 0.58 1.64 21.51 Lake City : 77 28 2,359 2,640 0.28 0.74 1.80 25.42 Old Mission : 80 32 2,419 2,738 0.20 0.48 0.91 14.16 Pellston : 79 22 2,238 2,617 0.20 0.67 1.17 17.76 Northwest : 80 22 2 2,321 2,658 2,296 0.20 0.49 1.20 18.43 19.83 2.75 : Alpena : 83 29 2,343 2,669 0.23 0.55 1.16 19.30 Houghton Lake : 77 26 2,407 2,665 0.20 0.41 0.65 21.71 Rogers City : 80 28 2,259 2,673 0.26 0.53 1.04 20.35 Northeast : 83 23 1 2,330 2,650 2,217 0.24 0.56 0.97 20.79 19.49 2.40 : Fremont : 73 31 2,628 2,950 0.32 1.51 1.77 19.45 Hart : 72 29 2,515 2,831 0.31 0.83 1.29 20.28 Muskegon : 74 35 2,682 3,080 0.38 1.53 2.01 21.34 West Central : 74 25 0 2,572 2,907 2,513 0.32 1.27 1.94 22.06 19.95 2.94 : Alma : 79 35 2,750 3,076 0.39 0.93 1.17 19.45 Big Rapids : 79 29 2,614 2,750 0.22 0.80 1.17 19.78 Central : 79 29 1 2,658 2,914 2,596 0.26 0.92 1.18 18.78 20.54 2.59 : Bad Axe : 82 33 2,639 2,939 0.59 1.04 1.13 23.38 Pigeon : 80 32 2,544 2,834 0.27 0.77 1.07 17.36 Saginaw : 81 35 2,827 3,116 0.35 0.96 1.27 20.19 Standish : 80 30 2,490 2,805 0.13 0.99 1.06 21.15 East Central : 82 29 1 2,599 2,925 2,612 0.30 0.87 1.34 20.64 18.30 2.41 : Fennville : 80 35 2,709 3,033 0.43 1.38 2.78 30.15 Grand Rapids : 79 37 3,042 3,410 0.28 1.13 1.75 27.46 Holland : 80 38 3,078 3,310 0.30 1.74 2.67 28.65 South Bend, IN : 83 39 3,169 3,562 0.68 1.06 1.52 28.11 Watervliet : 81 37 2,904 3,258 0.43 1.01 2.04 26.26 Southwest : 84 30 1 2,933 3,246 2,855 0.42 1.08 2.01 27.80 21.38 2.99 : Belding : 77 32 2,699 2,975 0.25 1.26 1.44 18.56 Coldwater : 83 29 2,928 3,083 0.46 0.75 0.97 22.00 Lansing : 78 35 2,922 3,182 0.39 0.96 2.07 21.97 South Central : 83 29 0 2,830 3,105 2,803 0.36 0.87 1.57 22.90 20.62 2.41 : Detroit : 77 33 3,246 3,476 0.42 0.69 0.95 17.46 Flint : 80 31 2,959 3,160 0.41 0.69 1.80 22.02 Romeo : 68 31 2,810 3,120 0.36 0.73 0.96 20.35 Tipton : 81 32 2,938 3,142 0.30 0.43 0.61 22.98 Toledo, OH : 71 30 3,223 3,418 0.71 0.90 1.48 21.06 Southeast : 83 27 0 2,944 3,214 2,801 0.39 0.66 1.19 21.62 19.52 2.33 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.