mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released October 18, 2010 Week Ending Date October 17, 2010 Issue MI-CW4210 Agricultural Summary Harvest Ahead of Normal Six days were suitable for fieldwork during the week ending October 17, according to the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Precipitation ranged from 0.12 to 0.13 inches in the Upper Peninsula and 0.06 to 0.45 inches in the Lower Peninsula. Temperatures in the Upper Peninsula averaged 1 degree above normal, while temperatures in the Lower Peninsula ranged from 1 degree below normal to 1 degree above normal. It was fairly dry this week which was good for harvesting activities. One reporter in the west central Lower Peninsula stated, "The good harvest weather is making for a very speedy and enjoyable harvest." There was a report from Kent County of combine fires due to the dry conditions. Field Crops Report Field Crops An Indian summer gave farmers another week of favorable conditions for field crop harvest. Conditions continued to allow for a speedy and enjoyable harvest which was already well ahead of average pace. "This has been the type of harvest conditions most dream about," said a reporter from Isabella County. Rain showers in the middle of the week did little to slow progress. Corn and soybean harvest were moving along with excellent quality being reported. Some fields in the north are being left to dry down more while harvest continued at a steady pace in southern counties. Long term storage of sugarbeets was expected to start this week. If temperatures stay low enough, then full harvest and permanent piling will begin. Winter wheat planting was beginning to wrap up. Little had emerged, but what was up was helped by rain showers during the week. "Early planted wheat after oats and alfalfa looks great. It is two inches high and thick and lush," said a reporter from Shiawassee County. Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit Braeburn, Winesap, and Law Rome apples continued to be harvested. Cortland, Jonathan, Empire, Idared, Northern Spy's, Crispin, Golden Delicious, and Fuji harvest have been completed in many blocks. Late varieties of Red Delicious continued to be harvested in the southeast. Late varieties of wine grapes continued to be harvested in the southwest. Harvest of fall raspberries continued. Vegetables Recent frost has ended the harvest of warm season vegetables. In the northwest, those vegetables left in the field were frozen and fields were being prepared for the winter. Crops harvested included: cabbage, celery, pumpkins, gourds, hard squash, carrots, winter squash, potatoes, peppers, cool season crops and tomatoes for fresh and processing. Some late season phytophthora blight was present; on hard squash in the Grand Rapids area. Additionally, growers in that area were moving onions from field crates to storage. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 10/17/10 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 10 30 58 2 Subsoil : 9 37 53 1 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 10/17/10 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All Hay : 1 5 34 44 16 Corn : 2 7 20 46 25 Pasture : 4 21 36 31 8 Soybeans : 2 7 24 46 21 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 10/17/10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ---------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 97 92 93 96 All hay, fourth cutting : 65 59 53 56 Apples, harvested : 91 86 59 75 Corn, harvested : 60 45 3 22 Dry beans, harvested : 98 95 77 90 Potatoes, harvested : 84 72 78 75 Soybeans, harvested : 84 66 25 53 Sugarbeets, harvested : 35 33 21 19 Winter wheat, planted : 89 73 50 71 Winter wheat, emerged : 55 25 22 34 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 10/17/10 1/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : :Cumulative growing: : Temperature : degree days 2/ : Precipitation :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : : : : : : : : Normal Station : : :Departure: : : :This:Last :Last : Since :------------- :Maximum :Minimum : from :2010 :2009 :Normal:week: two :four :April 1: Since : For : : : normal : : : : :weeks:weeks: :April 1:month ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ironwood : 73 36 2,334 1,848 0.10 0.10 3.15 25.22 Marquette : 66 31 2,244 1,701 0.08 0.08 3.40 25.62 Stephenson : 68 29 2,698 2,099 0.05 0.05 2.64 24.35 Western UP : 73 24 1 2,344 1,791 1,996 0.12 0.13 3.25 25.60 21.33 2.57 : Cornell : 66 34 2,567 1,943 0.14 0.14 3.64 24.24 Sault St Marie : 61 35 2,351 1,726 0.15 0.15 3.68 21.94 Eastern UP : 66 27 1 2,304 1,713 1,756 0.13 0.13 3.01 25.18 20.37 2.57 : Beulah : 68 39 2,795 2,142 0.18 0.18 3.38 21.44 Lake City : 67 28 2,635 2,029 0.06 0.06 1.39 24.75 Old Mission : 66 35 2,686 2,028 0.01 0.01 2.30 20.86 Pellston : 62 26 2,525 1,905 0.00 0.00 2.33 23.20 Northwest : 68 26 0 2,608 1,977 2,288 0.06 0.07 2.08 20.30 19.67 2.75 : Alpena : 64 29 2,602 2,022 0.00 0.00 2.60 21.25 Houghton Lake : 64 27 2,760 2,051 0.07 0.07 0.60 19.27 Rogers City : 77 32 2,432 1,977 0.00 0.00 3.19 25.43 Northeast : 77 27 -1 2,632 2,010 2,210 0.02 0.02 2.03 22.53 19.40 2.40 : Fremont : 78 31 3,010 2,336 0.15 0.15 1.25 16.71 Hart : 75 30 2,879 2,197 0.10 0.10 0.38 19.84 Muskegon : 76 35 3,313 2,549 0.24 0.24 1.31 21.72 West Central : 78 30 0 3,005 2,317 2,504 0.16 0.17 1.09 19.77 19.81 2.94 : Alma : 73 35 3,078 2,389 0.62 0.62 1.58 22.74 Big Rapids : 75 30 2,897 2,206 0.46 0.46 1.46 23.38 Central : 77 30 1 2,983 2,291 2,587 0.45 0.45 1.28 19.93 20.45 2.59 : Bad Axe : 61 37 2,901 2,245 0.14 0.14 2.03 22.18 Pigeon : 62 36 2,870 2,213 0.07 0.07 1.87 17.40 Saginaw : 64 37 3,203 2,463 0.44 0.44 1.39 17.86 Standish : 64 32 2,831 2,192 0.11 0.11 1.57 23.66 East Central : 65 32 0 2,914 2,276 2,603 0.35 0.35 2.17 20.58 18.22 2.41 : Fennville : 75 33 3,114 2,414 0.31 0.31 0.44 28.30 Grand Rapids : 80 35 3,423 2,682 0.52 0.52 1.25 25.40 Holland : 73 36 3,395 2,780 0.16 0.16 1.45 35.48 South Bend, IN : 81 35 3,512 2,830 0.15 0.15 0.74 22.40 Watervliet : 79 34 3,316 2,614 0.29 0.30 0.87 22.47 Southwest : 81 32 0 3,297 2,626 2,844 0.32 0.33 1.07 24.76 21.24 2.99 : Belding : 81 32 3,020 2,352 0.49 0.50 1.48 20.25 Coldwater : 83 32 3,353 2,711 0.17 0.24 0.26 18.38 Lansing : 77 34 3,299 2,533 0.74 0.74 1.61 19.89 South Central : 83 32 1 3,172 2,501 2,792 0.45 0.46 1.22 22.54 20.55 2.41 : Detroit : 81 40 3,558 2,913 0.42 0.42 2.01 23.24 Flint : 74 33 3,263 2,490 0.62 0.62 2.27 18.36 Romeo : 66 39 3,140 2,495 0.58 0.59 3.15 18.19 Tipton : 80 38 3,224 2,593 0.25 0.25 1.08 24.54 Toledo, OH : 80 36 3,535 2,906 0.40 0.40 1.39 23.78 Southeast : 83 29 1 3,271 2,673 2,790 0.38 0.38 1.67 21.70 19.44 2.33 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Issued by the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Michigan State University 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.