mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released September 19, 2011 Week Ending Date September 18, 2011 Issue MI-CW3811 Agricultural Summary Cool Fall Six days were suitable for fieldwork during the week ended September 18, according to the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Precipitation ranged from 0.70 inches to 1.17 inches in the Upper Peninsula and 0.12 to 0.52 inches in the Lower Peninsula. Temperatures were 3 to 4 degrees below normal in the Upper Peninsula and ranged from 3 to 6 degrees below normal in the Lower Peninsula. Scattered frost hit some areas of the state; however, no major damage reported in heavy crop growing regions. Field activities included winter wheat planting, third and fourth cutting of hay, and harvesting of silage, potatoes, dry beans, apples, sugarbeets, peaches, and various vegetable crops. Field Crops Report Field Crops Corn continued to mature and was mainly in the R4 to R6 stage. Some corn is drying due to lack of rain rather than maturity. Silage harvest was in full swing, especially in areas which experienced frost. Soybeans also continued to mature where progress was not stopped by frost. Many plants were beginning to color. Alfalfa cutting continued where appropriate. Sugarbeet harvest began this past week on a limited basis. Field conditions were reported to be dry, making harvest difficult. Piling will not begin until cooler temperatures arrive. The dry bean crop continued to mature, and was quickly approaching harvest in some areas. Alternatively, harvest was underway in other areas. Winter wheat planting is just beginning in select fields. Many growers were waiting to harvest other crops to plant wheat. Potato harvest continued. Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit Early varieties of apples were beginning to be harvested in the northwest. Harvest of Gala, McIntosh, and Honeycrisp apples continued in the other areas of the state. Pear and fresh peach harvest was complete. However, processing peach harvest neared completion in Oceana County. Stanley plum harvest continued. Blueberry harvest was complete. Fall raspberry harvest continued. Niagara and Concord grape harvest was underway. Vegetables Below average temperatures and some frosts were experienced by vegetable growers this past week. Sweet corn harvest was wrapping up. In East Michigan, excellent quality sweet corn was reported. Celery and onion harvest continued. In the west central region, carrot harvest began on early varieties and plantings. Tomato and pepper harvest continued. In East Michigan, tomatoes are ripening quicker than can be picked. Processing tomato harvest was approaching 75% complete. Harvest of winter squash and pumpkins continued. Cauliflower and broccoli have been of good quality, although worm pressure was high. Processing broccoli harvest was in full swing. Cabbage harvest continued. There have been reports of an excellent crop. Cucumber for pickle harvest was all but wrapped up. Snap beans continued to be harvested. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 09/18/11 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 10 38 50 2 Subsoil : 7 34 58 1 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 09/18/11 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All Hay : 5 9 29 45 12 Corn : 4 10 27 46 13 Dry beans : 4 12 27 39 18 Pasture : 6 20 33 37 4 Soybeans : 2 7 26 52 13 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 09/18/11 ---------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ---------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 80 74 80 78 All hay, fourth cutting : 21 9 38 25 Apples, harvested : 19 12 45 26 Corn, dough : 96 89 100 96 Corn, dent : 78 61 99 84 Corn, mature : 17 6 73 41 Corn silage, harvested : 48 21 86 57 Dry beans, turning leaves : 93 86 100 93 Dry beans, dropping leaves : 76 39 94 79 Dry beans, harvested : 14 1 61 34 Peaches, harvested : 90 88 100 92 Potatoes, harvested : 28 19 27 35 Soybeans, turning leaves : 57 31 90 74 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 21 6 62 39 Sugarbeets, harvested : 2 0 15 5 Winter wheat, planted : 2 0 7 6 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 09/18/11 1/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : :Cumulative growing: : Temperature : degree days 2/ : Precipitation :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : : : : : : : : Normal Station : : :Departure: : : :This:Last :Last : Since :------------- :Maximum :Minimum : from :2011 :2010 :Normal:week: two :four :April 1: Since : For : : : normal : : : : :weeks:weeks: :April 1:month ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ironwood : 85 27 2,026 2,133 0.69 0.69 1.42 14.68 Marquette : 86 29 1,975 2,073 0.90 0.90 1.54 15.36 Stephenson : 87 28 2,180 2,428 0.13 0.13 1.41 14.18 Western UP : 87 20 -4 2,002 2,131 1,833 0.70 0.70 1.47 14.19 18.53 3.58 : Cornell : 83 33 2,166 2,328 0.92 1.03 1.46 13.51 Sault St Marie : 79 40 1,992 2,181 1.20 1.35 2.92 21.41 Eastern UP : 86 23 -3 1,954 2,117 1,621 1.17 1.27 2.18 16.93 17.36 3.55 : Beulah : 83 39 2,352 2,562 0.89 0.89 2.28 21.83 Lake City : 85 32 2,251 2,397 0.51 0.51 1.70 19.98 Old Mission : 86 37 2,206 2,457 0.03 0.16 1.09 15.33 Pellston : 82 26 2,129 2,316 0.79 0.79 2.76 18.27 Northwest : 86 26 -3 2,197 2,387 2,084 0.52 0.55 1.75 17.65 16.39 3.66 : Alpena : 85 29 2,159 2,383 0.12 0.12 1.53 20.78 Houghton Lake : 84 28 2,382 2,522 0.38 0.38 1.15 17.23 Rogers City : 79 29 2,018 2,248 0.50 0.50 1.04 14.62 Northeast : 85 28 -5 2,209 2,414 2,018 0.32 0.32 1.34 17.85 16.39 3.47 : Fremont : 80 34 2,501 2,719 0.01 0.01 0.18 15.92 Hart : 82 31 2,373 2,622 0.09 0.09 0.77 15.24 Muskegon : 81 38 2,769 3,011 0.57 0.57 1.54 21.77 West Central : 83 31 -4 2,475 2,728 2,275 0.21 0.22 0.98 18.16 16.68 3.19 : Alma : 84 37 2,482 2,797 0.39 0.39 2.03 25.70 Big Rapids : 83 33 2,356 2,608 0.00 0.02 2.24 28.07 Central : 84 33 -4 2,441 2,692 2,348 0.12 0.13 2.21 22.67 17.48 3.09 : Bad Axe : 83 38 2,414 2,679 0.10 0.15 1.38 22.36 Pigeon : 83 36 2,373 2,635 0.00 0.00 0.29 16.85 Saginaw : 83 42 2,685 2,935 0.23 0.23 1.06 20.57 Standish : 82 32 2,302 2,578 0.05 0.05 0.72 21.90 East Central : 85 32 -5 2,397 2,705 2,350 0.13 0.15 0.86 20.67 15.61 2.70 : Fennville : 83 36 2,552 2,815 0.08 0.24 0.48 21.17 Grand Rapids : 86 39 2,866 3,092 0.31 0.33 1.01 27.04 Holland : 84 41 3,649 3,080 0.73 0.73 1.20 28.48 South Bend, IN : 87 39 2,984 3,152 0.27 0.61 0.85 25.35 Watervliet : 83 38 2,739 2,986 0.17 0.43 0.90 23.04 Southwest : 87 31 -6 2,779 2,972 2,559 0.22 0.38 0.94 23.63 18.01 3.26 : Belding : 84 33 2,513 2,722 0.03 0.03 0.47 22.04 Coldwater : 83 36 2,759 3,004 0.28 0.66 1.97 17.51 Lansing : 83 36 2,710 3,003 0.44 0.69 1.54 23.02 South Central : 84 33 -6 2,615 2,883 2,514 0.32 0.70 1.73 23.22 17.80 2.79 : Detroit : 84 43 3,018 3,227 0.19 2.41 2.97 24.33 Flint : 84 35 2,773 2,965 0.36 0.51 0.86 24.41 Romeo : 79 40 2,643 2,858 0.35 2.10 2.36 21.13 Tipton : 82 40 2,739 2,916 0.48 1.73 2.86 22.38 Toledo, OH : 83 39 2,777 3,203 0.26 1.96 2.68 21.07 Southeast : 84 32 -4 2,720 3,014 2,512 0.30 1.77 2.62 21.57 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 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.