mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released April 30, 2012 Week Ending Date April 29, 2012 Issue MI-CW1812 Agricultural Summary Field Crops Six days were suitable for field work last week. Cool conditions during the day and freezes at night kept some farmers from planting. There was little rain except for late in the week. Lack of rain facilitated planting for those farmers that wanted to get seed in the ground. Cool soil temperatures kept crops from emerging. Wheat condition was still very good. Some wheat in poor condition has been plowed down in anticipation of planting those fields to other crops. Sugarbeet stands were very good. Fruit Despite recent cool weather, fruit development was still about three weeks ahead of normal. Freeze damage to most fruit crops became more evident. Pollination conditions were subpar. Apples ranged from early king bloom in the north to petal fall in the south. Dead blossoms and leaf injury were apparent in many orchards, but there is still potential for a decent sized crop. Spotted tentiform leafminers and redbanded leafrollers were caught in traps. The tart cherry crop, however, is likely to be greatly reduced. One grower reported 80 to 90 percent bud kill in areas of the northwest. Sweet cherries ranged from petal fall in the northwest to 8 to 12 mm fruit in the southwest. There was some new growth on juice grape vines in the southwest. Wine grapes in the northwest were in early bud swell. Peaches in the south were at petal fall to shuck split. The pear crop in the south will be small; trees were at late petal fall in the northwest. Strawberries began blooming in the south. There has still been not significant freeze damage to blueberries. Japanese plums were 6 to 8 mm in the southwest. Vegetables Some frosts this past week may have reduced potential vegetable yields. Asparagus harvest continued. Emerged spears were frozen off, but this was a small amount of the crop. Onion and celery planting under row covers continued. In the southeast, cool weather crops such as cabbage were off to a good start. Early planted sweet corn has now emerged in the southwest. Tomato planting may begin this coming week. Carrots appeared to be fine following the frosts. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 04/29/12 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 4 15 72 9 Subsoil : 3 13 77 7 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 04/29/12 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Oats : 1 1 24 59 15 Pasture : 2 6 29 53 10 Winter Wheat : 2 5 27 52 14 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 04/29/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year : average ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Days : Days Suitable for Fieldwork : 6 5 -- -- : : Percent : Corn, planted : 28 11 1 16 Oats, planted : 86 74 16 54 Oats, emerged : 58 44 4 21 Soybeans, planted : 9 2 0 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 04/29/12 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 : 58 21 54 51 0.15 1.27 1.98 1.99 Marquette : 59 19 48 50 0.21 1.16 2.35 2.35 Stephenson : 62 21 106 63 0.08 1.15 1.28 1.28 Western UP : 64 16 -3 73 51 71 0.15 1.21 1.78 1.78 2.19 2.28 : Cornell : 56 24 45 40 0.12 0.86 1.24 1.24 Sault St Marie : 60 28 47 30 0.00 0.56 1.22 1.22 Eastern UP : 63 21 -2 48 34 35 0.10 0.80 1.25 1.25 2.35 2.43 : Beulah : 67 27 109 77 0.16 2.16 3.30 3.30 Lake City : 65 22 117 69 0.02 1.67 2.20 2.20 Old Mission : 60 26 72 60 0.11 2.23 2.64 2.64 Pellston : 62 20 85 64 0.12 1.39 1.59 1.59 Northwest : 67 20 -4 87 63 90 0.08 1.78 2.30 2.30 2.55 2.69 : Alpena : 59 22 77 48 0.09 1.05 1.49 1.49 Houghton Lake : 65 24 119 77 0.11 1.24 1.96 1.96 Rogers City : 56 20 49 22 0.05 1.36 1.48 1.48 Northeast : 65 19 -3 90 55 82 0.09 1.19 1.62 1.62 2.43 2.52 : Fremont : 64 24 135 89 0.21 0.90 2.11 2.11 Hart : 65 21 109 79 0.14 1.08 2.40 2.40 Muskegon : 64 27 131 86 0.22 0.62 2.27 2.27 West Central : 65 21 -4 120 82 111 0.19 1.06 2.19 2.19 2.98 3.16 : Alma : 62 28 129 75 0.11 0.77 1.95 1.95 Big Rapids : 63 22 124 66 0.08 1.50 1.83 1.83 Central : 63 22 -5 128 77 125 0.11 1.18 1.96 1.96 2.89 3.07 : Bad Axe : 59 26 87 79 0.10 0.50 0.82 0.82 Pigeon : 59 24 91 81 0.06 0.92 1.03 1.05 Saginaw : 62 28 136 95 0.07 0.66 1.45 1.45 Standish : 61 26 115 74 0.03 0.86 1.24 1.24 East Central : 62 24 -4 102 82 119 0.05 0.76 1.20 1.20 2.44 2.55 : Fennville : 62 26 120 98 0.39 1.03 2.37 2.37 Grand Rapids : 64 28 155 111 0.40 0.83 2.77 2.77 Holland : 65 28 92 140 0.68 0.68 2.53 2.53 South Bend, IN : 64 28 182 137 0.97 1.26 1.87 1.88 Watervliet : 59 28 146 110 0.46 0.96 2.28 2.28 Southwest : 65 24 -6 142 114 141 0.45 0.88 2.29 2.29 3.25 3.41 : Belding : 63 25 138 92 0.14 1.05 1.94 1.94 Coldwater : 63 28 167 114 0.34 0.61 1.23 1.23 Lansing : 64 25 149 102 0.27 0.70 2.06 2.06 South Central : 66 25 -5 143 102 142 0.28 0.77 1.89 1.89 3.10 3.19 : Detroit : 63 30 169 127 0.07 0.47 1.50 1.50 Flint : 66 22 165 116 0.18 0.35 0.98 0.98 Romeo : 62 24 136 99 0.00 0.46 1.29 1.29 Tipton : 63 29 163 115 0.91 1.23 1.84 1.84 Toledo, OH : 64 27 157 111 0.15 0.46 1.24 1.24 Southeast : 67 19 -5 158 113 132 0.20 0.54 1.30 1.30 3.13 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.