mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released September 10, 2012 Week Ending Date September 9, 2012 Issue MI-CW3712 Agricultural Summary Field Crops Six days were suitable for field work last week. Central Michigan received scattered showers over the past week, providing some much needed moisture for maturing crops. The amounts varied from a few tenths of an inch in the northern parts of the region to just over 3 inches in the southern parts. The corn crop was maturing rapidly with the warm, dry weather. Early planted and shorter season soybeans were turning rapidly with some fields beginning to drop leaves. The later-group beans were still green and filling pods at the top of the plant. Double crop beans were flowering and setting pods. Dry bean harvest was just getting underway. Sugarbeet harvest continued on a limited basis. Growers have been very happy with their early dig. Alfalfa harvest continued. In southeast Michigan, potato vines have been killed and harvest was ongoing. Some winter wheat was reported being planted in central Michigan. Fruit The Niagara grape harvest began September 4; table grapes were harvested in the southeast. Some wine grape varieties in the northwest were ready for harvest. The peach harvest wound down, as end of season varieties like Autumn Star, Laurel, PF Big George, and PF35-007 were picked. The apple harvest is still two weeks ahead of normal. Gala, McIntosh, and Honeycrisp, harvests continued, and picking of Golden Delicious began. Drop has been unusually high for most varieties. Only a few blueberry fields in the northern part of the Grand Rapids area remained to be harvested. Spotted wing Drosphila continued advancing in fields of blueberries and other small fruit. Vegetables Vegetable harvest continued throughout the State. In the southeast region, sweet corn harvest was wrapping up. Tomato, pepper, muskmelon and cantaloupe harvest continued in the southeast as well. Aphids were observed in eggplant crops. Most of the cucumber, zucchini and squash harvest was complete in the southeast region, while harvest of late planted crops in the southwest was just beginning. Pumpkin harvest started in the southeast region and will continue; virus symptoms were present in many pumpkin fields in the southwest. Fall squash harvest continued in the southwest; cucurbit downy mildew continued to pose a risk for 13 counties in Michigan, with cool weather and foggy mornings being more conducive to the disease. Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 09/09/12 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 15 39 45 1 Subsoil : 32 34 34 0 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 09/09/12 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All Hay : 10 26 32 30 2 Corn : 22 25 25 26 2 Dry beans : 8 12 29 43 8 Pasture : 15 23 37 22 3 Soybeans : 13 19 34 31 3 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 09/09/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year : average ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Days : Days Suitable for Fieldwork : 6 7 -- -- : : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 83 76 68 65 All hay, fourth cutting : 24 16 6 13 Corn, dough : 94 90 89 90 Corn, dent : 76 61 56 65 Corn, mature : 22 11 4 18 Corn, harvested : 3 1 0 1 Dry beans, turning leaves : 87 71 85 79 Dry beans, dropping leaves : 49 24 29 43 Dry beans, harvested : 1 0 1 13 Soybeans, turning leaves : 62 40 24 39 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 21 6 4 11 Sugarbeets, harvested : 2 4 0 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 09/09/12 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 : 88 48 2,099 1,945 0.72 0.88 1.86 14.10 Marquette : 84 45 2,031 1,891 1.42 1.42 3.25 16.08 Stephenson : 88 43 2,339 2,078 0.40 0.41 2.27 12.33 Western UP : 88 38 2 2,126 1,880 1,754 0.76 0.90 1.97 13.17 17.44 3.58 : Cornell : 83 45 2,267 2,101 1.20 1.20 1.67 12.35 Sault St Marie : 82 43 2,125 1,905 0.29 0.29 1.91 10.93 Eastern UP : 86 43 4 2,116 1,871 1,546 1.11 1.11 2.47 13.52 16.33 3.55 : Beulah : 90 51 2,486 2,252 1.92 1.92 2.27 14.43 Lake City : 87 41 2,309 2,154 1.80 1.80 2.39 21.62 Old Mission : 90 48 2,350 2,097 1.00 1.00 1.37 13.47 Pellston : 87 39 2,201 2,035 0.92 0.92 1.33 13.68 Northwest : 90 39 3 2,295 2,098 1,986 1.23 1.23 1.87 15.12 15.29 3.66 : Alpena : 85 45 2,293 2,061 0.56 0.56 1.57 13.29 Houghton Lake : 85 44 2,430 2,280 0.64 0.64 1.60 17.32 Rogers City : 83 48 2,179 1,926 0.67 0.67 1.20 12.21 Northeast : 89 44 1 2,267 2,111 1,924 0.67 0.67 1.51 14.52 15.31 3.47 : Fremont : 90 49 2,563 2,400 0.74 0.74 1.98 12.52 Hart : 87 47 2,468 2,276 0.34 0.34 1.14 13.06 Muskegon : 89 52 2,807 2,648 0.54 0.54 1.12 12.40 West Central : 90 46 3 2,540 2,372 2,164 0.53 0.55 1.43 12.77 15.68 3.19 : Alma : 86 48 2,528 2,381 0.58 0.58 1.39 20.56 Big Rapids : 86 49 2,416 2,263 0.64 0.64 1.84 19.99 Central : 88 46 3 2,491 2,335 2,235 0.46 0.47 1.24 17.18 16.53 3.09 : Bad Axe : 86 50 2,472 2,312 2.22 2.22 3.08 15.39 Pigeon : 83 49 2,402 2,273 0.89 1.78 2.44 8.16 Saginaw : 86 49 2,749 2,567 1.78 1.78 2.63 22.65 Standish : 86 47 2,521 2,202 1.46 1.58 2.22 15.40 East Central : 86 47 1 2,481 2,329 2,234 1.53 1.68 2.46 15.89 14.68 2.70 : Fennville : 92 51 2,599 2,443 0.69 0.70 1.52 12.64 Grand Rapids : 89 52 2,919 2,738 1.24 1.24 2.05 14.90 Holland : 86 55 2,699 3,515 1.32 1.44 2.58 13.85 South Bend, IN : 90 50 3,024 2,859 1.19 1.19 4.14 18.90 Watervliet : 90 50 2,762 2,623 0.72 0.98 2.37 13.24 Southwest : 92 47 2 2,745 2,668 2,430 0.86 1.04 2.10 13.73 16.85 3.26 : Belding : 89 47 2,556 2,406 0.39 0.39 0.76 11.39 Coldwater : 89 50 2,816 2,650 1.17 2.64 3.42 11.47 Lansing : 89 49 2,813 2,592 1.69 1.69 2.10 13.97 South Central : 90 47 2 2,665 2,518 2,390 0.89 1.19 1.84 13.69 16.85 2.79 : Detroit : 89 52 3,081 2,889 1.44 1.98 2.68 12.68 Flint : 90 46 2,806 2,648 1.69 1.69 2.58 17.65 Romeo : 86 50 2,663 2,530 0.85 0.85 1.22 14.39 Tipton : 91 47 2,727 2,622 0.77 1.31 2.37 10.01 Toledo, OH : 89 48 2,790 2,658 0.97 1.38 2.20 11.96 Southeast : 91 43 2 2,752 2,645 2,386 1.04 1.39 2.19 13.13 16.15 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.