mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released October 1, 2012 Week Ending Date September 30, 2012 Issue MI-CW4012 Agricultural Summary Field Crops Six days were suitable for field work last week. It was a very good week for harvest activities with cool and dry weather. Corn and soybean harvest continued. Silage harvest was nearly complete in the southwest. Dry beans were harvested at a rapid pace. Sunny days and cool nights were good for development of overall quality of sugarbeets. Growers are anticipating an October 22 start to open piling and long term storage. Most potato growers were half-way done with harvest in southeast Michigan. Wheat planting was progressing as soybeans were harvested. Fruit Concord grape harvest ended. Juice grape yields were low but sugar levels were high. Harvest of the small apple crop neared completion in most areas. It was about 75 percent complete in the northwest. Normally the majority of the apple crop is harvested in October. Cranberry harvest will begin soon. Vegetables Near normal temperatures have allowed growers to continue end of season work in fields, including harvest of final crops, removal of stakes, plastic and drip tape, applying final pesticide applications and planting of cover crops. Pumpkin and fall squash harvest continued, while final harvests were conducted on most pepper, tomato, eggplant, cucumber, and summer squash fields. Percent of fall seasons (1971-2000) in which first freeze occurred on or before the date (mo/day) given in the table ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Station :Earliest : 90% : 50% : 10% : Latest ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Alma : 9/20 10/18 10/07 9/24 11/01 Alpena : 8/29 10/08 9/24 9/15 10/10 Bad Axe : 9/17 10/31 10/11 09/28 11/07 Caro : 8/29 10/08 9/24 9/08 10/08 Coldwater : 9/20 10/18 10/06 9/23 10/22 Eau Claire : 10/02 11/05 10/20 10/08 11/10 Grand Rapids : 9/23 10/19 10/09 9/25 11/01 Hesperia : 9/04 10/12 9/24 9/07 10/19 Lansing : 9/13 10/14 10/06 9/22 10/18 Lapeer : 8/15 10/21 10/04 8/30 11/01 Marquette : 8/31 10/03 9/22 9/07 10/14 Monroe : 10/02 11/04 10/19 10/09 12/09 Saginaw : 9/22 10/30 10/12 9/25 11/06 S.S. Marie : 8/29 10/09 9/25 9/10 10/21 Standish : 8/20 10/09 9/24 9/10 11/01 Stephenson : 8/28 9/28 9/18 9/04 10/03 Traverse City : 8/29 10/19 10/06 9/17 11/01 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Soil Moisture and Crop Condition Tables Soil moisture for week ending 09/30/12 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 19 35 46 0 Subsoil : 32 37 31 0 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 09/30/12 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : All Hay : 14 26 32 25 3 Corn : 21 24 27 27 1 Dry beans : 9 13 36 39 3 Pasture : 17 26 36 17 4 Soybeans : 12 19 30 34 5 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 09/30/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year : average ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Days : Days Suitable for Fieldwork : 6 5 -- -- : : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 91 89 89 87 All hay, fourth cutting : 46 41 32 37 Corn, mature : 84 58 44 63 Corn, harvested : 17 10 3 9 Dry beans, harvested : 64 39 34 56 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 91 70 60 75 Soybeans, harvested : 24 6 1 11 Sugarbeets, harvested : 15 12 10 13 Winter wheat, planted : 22 9 15 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 09/30/12 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 : 68 25 2,259 2,094 0.01 1.48 2.24 15.62 Marquette : 67 28 2,167 2,043 0.01 2.78 4.21 18.87 Stephenson : 74 29 2,536 2,263 0.00 0.84 1.31 13.24 Western UP : 74 23 -3 2,284 2,036 1,908 0.01 1.52 2.31 14.72 19.95 3.58 : Cornell : 67 34 2,421 2,305 0.15 2.43 3.71 14.86 Sault St Marie : 66 35 2,275 2,100 0.13 1.32 1.83 12.47 Eastern UP : 68 30 -2 2,261 2,053 1,688 0.18 2.58 3.88 16.30 18.97 3.55 : Beulah : 70 37 2,681 2,441 0.00 1.82 3.76 16.30 Lake City : 73 27 2,491 2,342 0.00 1.47 3.38 23.20 Old Mission : 68 32 2,547 2,306 0.01 2.38 3.40 15.87 Pellston : 66 28 2,375 2,225 0.04 1.75 2.71 15.47 Northwest : 73 27 -2 2,478 2,289 2,183 0.01 1.99 3.33 17.22 18.09 3.66 : Alpena : 65 33 2,479 2,262 0.03 0.99 1.64 14.37 Houghton Lake : 73 32 2,636 2,486 0.00 0.71 1.42 18.10 Rogers City : 63 36 2,333 2,101 0.03 1.55 2.31 13.85 Northeast : 74 27 -3 2,449 2,304 2,111 0.01 1.06 1.87 15.71 17.95 3.47 : Fremont : 74 34 2,768 2,594 0.00 0.72 1.55 13.33 Hart : 73 37 2,671 2,464 0.00 1.68 2.07 14.79 Muskegon : 71 42 3,051 2,885 0.00 0.39 1.02 12.88 West Central : 74 31 -1 2,752 2,573 2,388 0.00 0.96 1.55 13.79 18.10 3.19 : Alma : 75 37 2,757 2,583 0.00 0.34 1.08 21.06 Big Rapids : 76 33 2,647 2,452 0.00 0.47 1.30 20.65 Central : 77 33 0 2,722 2,530 2,464 0.00 0.42 1.05 17.77 18.92 3.09 : Bad Axe : 74 37 2,690 2,522 0.00 0.23 2.89 16.06 Pigeon : 75 37 2,610 2,490 0.00 0.30 1.57 8.84 Saginaw : 74 38 2,981 2,811 0.00 0.15 2.23 23.10 Standish : 75 33 2,750 2,414 0.00 0.21 2.01 15.95 East Central : 75 33 -2 2,701 2,546 2,474 0.05 0.30 2.20 16.56 16.81 2.70 : Fennville : 72 39 2,812 2,645 0.00 1.40 2.26 14.21 Grand Rapids : 75 39 3,167 2,987 0.00 0.50 1.98 15.64 Holland : 73 41 2,922 3,750 0.00 1.95 3.39 15.92 South Bend, IN : 72 37 3,274 3,100 0.00 0.65 2.06 19.77 Watervliet : 72 38 2,999 2,848 0.00 1.19 2.10 14.62 Southwest : 76 32 -2 2,978 2,886 2,698 0.00 1.08 2.12 14.97 19.50 3.26 : Belding : 76 34 2,781 2,610 0.00 0.24 0.81 11.81 Coldwater : 74 35 3,048 2,863 0.00 0.60 2.29 12.59 Lansing : 73 40 3,048 2,824 0.00 0.64 2.88 15.16 South Central : 76 34 -1 2,887 2,729 2,649 0.00 0.56 1.89 14.83 19.05 2.79 : Detroit : 72 37 3,343 3,167 0.01 0.59 2.47 13.71 Flint : 72 34 3,049 2,901 0.00 0.27 2.58 18.54 Romeo : 73 35 2,888 2,753 0.00 0.16 1.48 15.02 Tipton : 72 34 2,962 2,851 0.00 0.85 2.33 11.57 Toledo, OH : 71 36 3,024 2,901 0.00 0.50 1.90 12.89 Southeast : 75 29 -2 2,987 2,886 2,648 0.00 0.53 2.12 14.22 18.08 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.