mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released April 9, 2012 Week Ending Date April 8, 2012 Issue MI-CW1512 Agricultural Summary Field Crops Report Field Crops Lack of rain last week allowed farmers to make progress in preparing fields for planting. Fertilizer and herbicide applications were made to wheat. Overall, wheat appears to have weathered the winter very well and is looking good. Sugarbeet planting continued. Emergence in early planted sugarbeets was very good. Temperatures at night have not been cold enough to negatively affect the sugarbeets that have emerged. Alfalfa and oat planting continued. Livestock producers took advantage of the dry weather to apply manure. The week of warm weather in March caused some enthusiasm to begin planting corn early, but with a return to more seasonal weather, this enthusiasm has waned. There was a small amount of corn planted last week. Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report Fruit Unusually high temperatures during most of March caused fruit development to be about one month ahead of normal. The return of seasonable weather the past two weeks has resulted in widespread freeze damage. The severity of potential crop loss varies by fruit, area, and elevation. Tart cherries were in bloom. A heavy snow storm in the northwest the weekend of March 3 caused extensive tree damage. Sweet cherries were in white bud to full bloom. Some buds were killed in many tart and sweet cherry blocks. Peaches were in shuck in the southwest and in bloom in the southeast. Strawberry flower trusses began emerging from crowns. Apples were in early bloom stages in southern areas. Blueberries were mostly in early to late pink bud. There have been no significant bud damage reports for apples or blueberries. Leaves were out on juice grapes. Wine grapes were at bud burst in the south. Freeze damage has been moderate to severe in many vineyards. Vegetables Vegetable growers were taking advantage of the warm spring weather. In southeast Michigan, soils were in good condition for early April and some cabbage, sweet corn and potatoes were planted. In west central Michigan, recent below-normal temperatures delayed asparagus harvest until the latter part of April. Onion planting was now in full swing. Some onions that were planted in mid-March are already in the loop stage. Some early celery was planted under tunnels and row cover. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 04/08/12 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 1 12 76 11 Subsoil : 1 10 74 15 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 04/08/12 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Pasture : 3 8 32 47 10 Winter Wheat : 1 4 29 52 14 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 04/08/12 ----------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year :average ----------------------------------------------------------------- : Days : Days Suitable for Fieldwork : 6 4 -- -- : : Percent : Corn, planted : 3 2 0 NA Oats, planted : 46 28 3 17 Oats, emerged : 11 5 1 1 Sugarbeets, planted : 85 52 2 12 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Information U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Michigan Field Office P.O. Box 30239 Lansing, MI 48909 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 04/08/12 1/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : :Cumulative growing: : Temperature : degree days 2/ : Precipitation :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : : : : : : : : Normal Station : : :Departure: : : :This:Last :Last : Since :------------- :Maximum :Minimum : from :2012 :2011 :Normal:week: two :four :April 1: Since : For : : : normal : : : : :weeks:weeks: :April 1:month ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ironwood : 61 21 18 7 0.16 0.29 0.80 0.17 Marquette : 62 19 13 7 0.35 0.43 0.83 0.35 Stephenson : 63 20 36 8 0.11 0.24 1.09 0.11 Western UP : 63 15 9 24 7 5 0.16 0.27 0.75 0.17 0.58 2.28 : Cornell : 58 24 9 4 0.24 0.27 0.49 0.24 Sault St Marie : 60 25 7 4 0.14 0.25 1.41 0.14 Eastern UP : 60 23 7 8 4 0 0.24 0.28 0.75 0.24 0.55 2.43 : Beulah : 62 25 27 11 0.15 0.53 1.47 0.15 Lake City : 65 22 30 6 0.05 0.30 1.59 0.05 Old Mission : 60 24 14 5 0.20 0.28 1.26 0.20 Pellston : 62 17 17 5 0.05 0.06 0.89 0.05 Northwest : 65 17 5 18 6 8 0.14 0.28 1.21 0.14 0.67 2.69 : Alpena : 58 22 15 1 0.07 0.09 0.69 0.07 Houghton Lake : 65 24 31 3 0.13 0.30 1.32 0.13 Rogers City : 54 21 6 0 0.06 0.14 0.41 0.06 Northeast : 65 17 6 20 2 8 0.08 0.14 0.83 0.08 0.64 2.52 : Fremont : 65 25 43 6 0.18 0.60 2.12 0.18 Hart : 60 23 31 9 0.30 0.56 1.77 0.30 Muskegon : 64 30 37 9 0.62 1.30 2.43 0.62 West Central : 65 23 6 34 9 13 0.38 0.81 2.09 0.38 0.75 3.16 : Alma : 64 27 34 1 0.05 0.50 1.53 0.05 Big Rapids : 64 25 33 2 0.19 0.55 2.60 0.19 Central : 64 25 7 34 3 14 0.16 0.55 1.97 0.16 0.75 3.07 : Bad Axe : 61 26 16 6 0.00 0.08 1.34 0.00 Pigeon : 63 24 17 4 0.00 0.06 1.45 0.02 Saginaw : 64 29 31 2 0.01 0.19 1.32 0.01 Standish : 62 27 27 3 0.01 0.20 1.58 0.01 East Central : 64 24 4 21 4 15 0.01 0.19 1.47 0.01 0.66 2.55 : Fennville : 68 26 41 13 0.36 0.71 1.94 0.36 Grand Rapids : 65 30 40 9 0.67 1.04 2.83 0.67 Holland : 68 31 23 16 0.24 0.58 1.41 0.24 South Bend, IN : 79 30 60 20 0.03 0.34 0.84 0.04 Watervliet : 71 29 48 12 0.23 0.50 1.62 0.23 Southwest : 79 25 7 44 14 21 0.28 0.62 1.54 0.28 0.86 3.41 : Belding : 66 27 39 5 0.23 0.71 2.54 0.23 Coldwater : 70 28 45 12 0.07 0.42 2.08 0.07 Lansing : 64 26 33 8 0.18 0.55 2.07 0.18 South Central : 70 25 5 37 10 21 0.29 0.75 2.44 0.29 0.86 3.19 : Detroit : 64 30 37 8 0.19 1.47 2.45 0.19 Flint : 65 25 37 10 0.02 0.49 1.57 0.02 Romeo : 66 26 36 8 0.00 0.48 0.59 0.00 Tipton : 68 18 41 14 0.26 1.76 3.21 0.26 Toledo, OH : 64 28 37 7 0.14 0.67 1.86 0.14 Southeast : 69 18 5 38 9 18 0.18 0.80 1.93 0.18 0.90 3.21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.