mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released May 7, 2012 Week Ending Date May 6, 2012 Issue MI-CW1912 Agricultural Summary Field Crops Four days were suitable for field work last week. Rains early and late in the week provided moisture to help crop emergence. Rains late in the week were locally heavy with some growers reporting 4 to 6 inches of rain Friday and Saturday. These rains kept farmers out of fields for a few days. Warmer temperatures at the end of the week aided herbicide efficacy, nitrogen movement to wheat, and seed emergence. Corn planting continued. Some growers in southern Michigan completed corn planting and moved to planting soybeans. Sugarbeets responded favorably to the warmer temperatures and moisture. A substantial acreage of potatoes have been planted, though none have emerged. Fruit Continual frosts throughout April have caused the worst weather damage to fruit in the state in the past half-century. This has been compounded by poor pollination conditions for flowers that were still viable. Many growers are adopting minimal spray programs to protect tree health. Apples ranged from king bloom in the north to 6 to 8 mm in the south. The crop will be well below average size. The tart cherry crop will be very small; many growers will not have enough production to justify harvesting. Sweet cherries were also scarce and ranged from late petal fall in the northwest to 12 mm fruit in the southwest. The juice grape crop in the southwest has very little potential; damage to wine grapes in the southwest varies by site and stage of development. Wine grape buds in the northwest have not been severely damaged. Most peach varieties have had substantial freeze damage. The pear and plum crops will be small. Strawberries were in early bloom. Blueberries had generally escaped injury, but freezes over the last weekend in April caused widespread damage. That varied greatly by variety and the availability of sprinklers and wind machines. Vegetables Vegetable planting was held up by rains this week. Warmer temperatures pushed crop. Asparagus harvest continued in the Southwest, and was just beginning in the West Central. Onion planting was still going on with some planted fields emerging. Celery planting continued, mostly under protection. The cabbage crop in the southeast generally looked good, although there was some localized wind damage. In the southwest, tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash were being planted under tunnels. Some peas, radishes, and table beets have emerged. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 05/06/12 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 0 6 58 36 Subsoil : 1 7 71 21 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 05/06/12 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Oats : 1 1 30 56 12 Pasture : 2 7 26 50 15 Winter Wheat : 1 5 30 51 13 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 05/06/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year : average ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Days : Days Suitable for Fieldwork : 4 6 3 -- : : Percent : Corn, planted : 45 28 6 32 Corn, emerged : 8 2 0 4 Oats, planted : 90 86 33 69 Oats, emerged : 74 58 9 36 Soybeans, planted : 16 9 2 11 Soybeans, emerged : 1 0 0 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 05/06/12 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 : 75 37 95 68 1.16 1.31 2.98 3.15 Marquette : 74 36 85 66 0.75 0.96 2.75 3.10 Stephenson : 81 37 157 85 0.73 0.81 1.90 2.01 Western UP : 81 25 5 116 68 107 1.04 1.18 2.56 2.72 2.87 3.37 : Cornell : 67 37 83 63 0.57 0.69 1.57 1.81 Sault St Marie : 67 39 84 54 0.05 0.05 1.13 1.27 Eastern UP : 75 28 5 89 58 57 0.42 0.52 1.42 1.67 3.07 3.01 : Beulah : 72 35 168 97 2.35 2.51 5.50 5.65 Lake City : 74 35 169 104 3.25 3.27 5.40 5.45 Old Mission : 71 38 117 88 1.94 2.05 4.38 4.58 Pellston : 70 32 131 97 0.82 0.94 2.36 2.41 Northwest : 74 32 5 135 90 133 1.96 2.05 4.13 4.28 3.24 2.61 : Alpena : 67 32 117 89 1.12 1.21 2.54 2.61 Houghton Lake : 74 40 169 117 2.93 3.04 4.76 4.89 Rogers City : 65 34 79 55 0.72 0.77 2.14 2.20 Northeast : 74 27 3 132 94 120 1.68 1.77 3.23 3.30 3.15 2.76 : Fremont : 77 42 203 121 1.01 1.22 2.94 3.12 Hart : 75 42 174 105 1.06 1.20 3.16 3.46 Muskegon : 78 45 211 118 1.17 1.39 2.82 3.44 West Central : 78 22 7 191 112 162 1.61 1.81 3.43 3.81 3.66 2.67 : Alma : 84 28 191 119 0.80 0.91 2.70 2.75 Big Rapids : 84 26 195 105 0.74 0.86 2.95 3.16 Central : 84 26 4 192 118 179 0.68 0.80 2.62 2.78 3.69 2.79 : Bad Axe : 82 25 138 117 1.60 1.70 2.42 2.42 Pigeon : 82 38 138 122 0.62 0.68 1.65 1.67 Saginaw : 85 42 202 143 0.71 0.78 2.15 2.16 Standish : 82 32 169 116 1.49 1.52 2.72 2.73 East Central : 85 25 3 154 123 170 1.37 1.42 2.56 2.57 3.08 2.63 : Fennville : 82 42 205 130 2.06 2.45 4.07 4.43 Grand Rapids : 86 43 245 157 1.25 1.65 3.35 4.02 Holland : 75 46 168 183 1.65 2.33 3.94 4.18 South Bend, IN : 86 45 296 186 1.54 2.51 3.38 3.42 Watervliet : 84 40 242 148 1.36 1.82 3.41 3.64 Southwest : 88 25 8 234 154 203 1.40 1.89 3.45 3.74 3.83 3.01 : Belding : 83 40 207 127 1.09 1.23 2.80 3.03 Coldwater : 87 42 270 159 1.19 1.53 2.35 2.42 Lansing : 86 40 236 142 1.83 2.10 3.71 3.89 South Central : 87 27 7 226 143 203 1.51 1.85 3.18 3.51 3.59 2.92 : Detroit : 89 46 269 171 1.06 1.13 2.37 2.56 Flint : 88 42 249 161 5.99 6.17 6.95 6.97 Romeo : 88 38 215 137 1.79 2.27 3.56 3.56 Tipton : 87 35 252 158 1.12 1.50 2.17 2.43 Toledo, OH : 88 39 244 154 1.68 1.83 2.78 2.92 Southeast : 89 31 7 245 157 189 1.77 2.05 2.97 3.15 3.63 2.85 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.