mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released October 17, 2011 Week Ending Date October 16, 2011 Issue MI-CW4211 Agricultural Summary Fall Harvest Continues Five days were suitable for fieldwork during the week ended October 16, according to the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Precipitation ranged from 1.28 to 1.97 inches in the Upper Peninsula, and ranged from 0.38 to 1.03 inches in the Lower Peninsula. Temperatures ranged from 6 to 7 degrees above normal in the Upper Peninsula, and 4 to 7 degrees above normal in the Lower Peninsula. It was a decent harvest week. Weather was dry and warm for most of the week until rain, cool and windy weather arrived Thursday. Field Crops Report Field Crops The corn crop continued to dry down in most areas. Harvest was beginning to ramp up in the southern part of the State. Silage harvest was essentially complete. Soybean harvest was at the halfway point. There have been reports of a good crop. Dry bean harvest is approaching completion. Sugarbeet harvest continued on an "as-needed" basis. Piling was expected to start soon. Planting of winter wheat continued rapidly this past week. The crop was emerging slowly and was behind normal for this stage in the season. Rains at the end of the week helped emergence rates. Alfalfa harvest continued slowly. Many farmers have completed their hay season. Newly seeded alfalfa benefited from the rain at the end of the week. Potato harvest continued. Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit Harvests of Golden Delicious and Cortland apples neared completion. Harvests of Red Delicious, Fuji, and Northern Spy were underway. The clear, sunny days have been excellent for harvesting. Early tree senescence was reported in the Grand Rapids area. Concord juice grape and wine grape harvests continued. Vegetables Rains and damp soils hampered vegetable fieldwork in the latter part of the week. Vegetable harvest continued where conditions allowed for later season crops such as: carrots, cole crops, pumpkins, and winter squash. There have been positive reports regarding the 2011 pumpkin crop. Harvest of summer crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and cabbage continued in some areas that have not received a killing frost. In addition to harvest, growers prepared for winter by removing plastic, drip tape, and stakes from fields, executing tillage activities, cleaning equipment, and planting cover crops where necessary. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 10/16/11 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 3 14 79 4 Subsoil : 3 20 75 2 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 10/16/11 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 3 8 27 47 15 Pasture : 4 19 36 35 6 Soybeans : 1 5 24 52 18 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 10/16/11 ---------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ---------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 95 94 96 96 All hay, fourth cutting : 53 47 64 58 Apples, harvested : 70 59 90 77 Corn, mature : 86 68 99 90 Corn, harvested : 14 8 58 25 Corn silage, harvested : 94 88 100 97 Dry beans, harvested : 91 71 98 88 Potatoes, harvested : 70 59 82 74 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 97 88 99 98 Soybeans, harvested : 50 23 81 50 Sugarbeets, harvested : 19 15 35 23 Winter wheat, planted : 66 40 87 68 Winter wheat, emerged : 19 12 51 32 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 10/16/11 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 : 74 41 2,272 2,333 1.32 1.32 3.63 18.31 Marquette : 75 39 2,202 2,242 1.24 1.24 6.77 22.13 Stephenson : 80 38 2,446 2,693 1.15 1.15 4.01 18.19 Western UP : 80 30 6 2,239 2,331 1,991 1.28 1.28 3.59 17.78 21.29 2.57 : Cornell : 73 36 2,404 2,564 1.76 1.76 4.92 18.43 Sault St Marie : 73 42 2,250 2,349 2.30 2.30 4.47 25.88 Eastern UP : 78 32 7 2,191 2,306 1,753 1.97 1.98 5.05 21.98 20.32 2.57 : Beulah : 81 43 2,628 2,791 0.71 0.71 3.56 25.39 Lake City : 79 41 2,503 2,630 0.76 0.78 2.36 22.39 Old Mission : 81 41 2,479 2,683 0.94 0.94 3.63 18.96 Pellston : 83 38 2,393 2,521 1.72 1.74 4.22 22.49 Northwest : 83 36 7 2,455 2,604 2,283 1.03 1.14 3.22 20.88 19.62 2.75 : Alpena : 74 38 2,415 2,598 0.28 0.28 3.93 24.71 Houghton Lake : 78 40 2,649 2,756 0.56 0.56 3.02 20.25 Rogers City : 80 43 2,257 2,427 0.68 0.68 3.83 18.23 Northeast : 80 38 6 2,462 2,627 2,205 0.55 0.55 3.67 21.48 19.34 2.40 : Fremont : 79 44 2,761 3,004 0.24 0.24 0.36 16.28 Hart : 79 45 2,635 2,875 1.17 1.17 3.10 18.34 Muskegon : 79 49 3,056 3,308 1.10 1.10 3.31 25.08 West Central : 81 38 7 2,743 3,000 2,499 0.87 0.87 2.37 20.54 19.73 2.94 : Alma : 80 44 2,753 3,072 0.46 0.46 1.82 27.52 Big Rapids : 80 42 2,613 2,894 0.58 0.58 2.32 30.64 Central : 80 42 6 2,708 2,974 2,581 0.55 0.55 1.91 24.65 20.41 2.59 : Bad Axe : 81 44 2,681 2,896 0.55 0.55 3.31 25.67 Pigeon : 82 45 2,637 2,864 0.25 0.25 3.31 20.16 Saginaw : 82 46 2,988 3,197 0.25 0.25 1.54 22.11 Standish : 76 44 2,573 2,823 0.52 0.52 2.71 24.99 East Central : 82 42 5 2,667 2,946 2,597 0.39 0.39 2.56 23.27 18.15 2.41 : Fennville : 81 47 2,807 3,107 0.57 0.57 2.69 23.86 Grand Rapids : 80 47 3,170 3,417 0.61 0.61 2.29 29.33 Holland : 81 47 3,909 3,388 0.19 0.19 3.51 31.99 South Bend, IN : 81 49 3,286 3,504 0.98 0.98 3.87 29.22 Watervliet : 81 47 3,021 3,309 0.83 0.83 3.32 26.36 Southwest : 83 43 4 3,061 3,292 2,837 0.76 0.77 3.03 26.77 21.17 2.99 : Belding : 79 43 2,784 3,014 0.89 0.89 2.24 24.28 Coldwater : 80 45 3,040 3,345 0.71 0.71 3.12 20.63 Lansing : 79 45 2,994 3,293 0.54 0.54 1.94 24.96 South Central : 81 43 4 2,890 3,183 2,785 0.68 0.69 2.45 25.71 20.47 2.41 : Detroit : 78 47 3,353 3,550 0.28 0.28 4.01 28.34 Flint : 80 45 3,072 3,253 0.29 0.29 1.80 26.21 Romeo : 77 43 2,921 3,132 0.50 0.50 2.58 24.21 Tipton : 79 42 3,020 3,216 0.31 0.31 3.30 25.68 Toledo, OH : 79 44 3,069 3,527 0.40 0.40 2.90 23.97 Southeast : 82 39 4 3,005 3,321 2,783 0.38 0.38 2.69 24.37 19.36 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.