mi-crop-weather State Michigan Crop Weather Released October 9, 2012 Week Ending Date October 7, 2012 Issue MI-CW4112 Agricultural Summary Field Crops Five days were suitable for field work last week. Cooler than normal temperatures continued. Light rains at the end of the week did not hamper harvest. The first widespread frost occurred last weekend. Corn and soybean harvest continued. Dry bean harvest began to wind down. Sugarbeets were still being harvested on an as needed basis. Piling is expected to begin sometime around October 22. Winter wheat planting continued and was progressing much more quickly than normal due to the early soybean harvest. Emergence has been good and was aided by light rains late in the week. Fruit The harvest of most fruit is complete. One exception is cranberries, and that harvest will be completed this week. The wine grape harvest in the northwest will continue until the end of October. Growers applied soil active herbicides in orchards. This will be the last fruit report of the 2012 season. Vegetables Potato harvest is winding down on many farms with several growers expected to be finished by week's end. Optimal weather conditions during harvest helped growers finish about two weeks ahead of normal. Cool temperatures and lower market prices have brought an end to most warm season crop harvest. Many growers have released their seasonal work force. Patchy frosts over the weekend brought a complete end to production in the southwest region. Limited harvest of processing vegetables continued in the west central region. Growers continue to remove plastic and drip tape and plant cover crops. This will be the last vegetable report of the 2012 season. 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 10/07/12 --------------------------------------------- : Very : : : Stratum : short : Short :Adequate:Surplus --------------------------------------------- : Percent : Topsoil : 14 37 49 0 Subsoil : 35 35 30 0 --------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 10/07/12 ----------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 25 23 27 23 2 Pasture : 14 23 41 18 4 Soybeans : 12 20 29 32 7 ----------------------------------------------------------- Crop progress for week ending 10/07/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year : average ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Days : Days Suitable for Fieldwork : 5 6 -- -- : : Percent : All hay, third cutting : 96 91 93 91 All hay, fourth cutting : 59 46 43 47 Corn, mature : 90 84 62 76 Corn, harvested : 23 17 7 16 Dry beans, harvested : 82 64 61 72 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 97 91 82 91 Soybeans, harvested : 46 24 17 24 Sugarbeets, harvested : 21 15 14 17 Winter wheat, planted : 49 22 33 44 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 10/07/12 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 : 70 29 2,294 2,186 0.18 0.19 1.70 15.80 Marquette : 72 30 2,203 2,121 0.28 0.29 3.07 19.15 Stephenson : 75 25 2,586 2,352 0.01 0.01 0.92 13.25 Western UP : 75 22 -2 2,324 2,119 1,948 0.15 0.15 1.70 14.87 20.52 2.57 : Cornell : 68 30 2,478 2,370 0.24 0.35 1.15 13.76 Sault St Marie : 70 30 2,315 2,161 0.09 0.22 1.63 12.56 Eastern UP : 71 30 0 2,301 2,116 1,721 0.23 0.40 2.58 16.26 19.48 2.57 : Beulah : 73 36 2,721 2,518 1.02 1.02 2.86 17.32 Lake City : 72 31 2,533 2,417 0.47 0.47 2.12 23.74 Old Mission : 72 33 2,588 2,376 0.61 0.62 3.01 16.48 Pellston : 72 27 2,417 2,294 0.70 0.74 2.49 16.17 Northwest : 73 27 -2 2,518 2,359 2,231 0.83 0.84 2.88 18.07 18.77 2.75 : Alpena : 73 29 2,527 2,324 0.23 0.26 1.31 14.60 Houghton Lake : 72 29 2,679 2,560 0.28 0.28 1.06 18.38 Rogers City : 73 31 2,369 2,156 0.44 0.47 2.08 14.29 Northeast : 73 27 -2 2,492 2,370 2,158 0.37 0.38 1.54 16.08 18.53 2.40 : Fremont : 74 29 2,814 2,673 0.61 0.61 1.42 13.94 Hart : 72 31 2,714 2,537 0.36 0.36 2.09 15.15 Muskegon : 75 40 3,101 2,958 0.61 0.61 1.09 13.49 West Central : 75 29 -3 2,798 2,646 2,443 0.41 0.41 1.43 14.20 18.79 2.94 : Alma : 75 34 2,802 2,658 0.38 0.38 0.92 21.44 Big Rapids : 77 27 2,693 2,522 0.62 0.72 1.44 21.33 Central : 77 27 -2 2,769 2,605 2,521 0.55 0.57 1.19 18.33 19.56 2.59 : Bad Axe : 74 34 2,737 2,581 0.24 0.24 0.91 16.30 Pigeon : 72 37 2,661 2,547 0.46 0.46 1.14 9.30 Saginaw : 76 36 3,034 2,883 0.47 0.47 0.92 23.57 Standish : 74 34 2,802 2,483 2.25 2.25 2.80 18.20 East Central : 76 32 -2 2,751 2,612 2,534 0.57 0.62 1.24 17.12 17.46 2.41 : Fennville : 76 32 2,860 2,714 0.27 0.27 1.84 14.48 Grand Rapids : 77 40 3,221 3,069 0.26 0.26 1.00 15.90 Holland : 70 42 2,966 3,800 0.61 0.61 2.68 16.53 South Bend, IN : 80 34 3,322 3,180 0.33 0.33 1.20 20.10 Watervliet : 77 36 3,047 2,925 0.40 0.40 1.78 15.02 Southwest : 80 30 -4 3,026 2,964 2,765 0.45 0.45 1.69 15.37 20.27 2.99 : Belding : 75 30 2,831 2,693 0.64 0.64 1.06 12.45 Coldwater : 77 35 3,094 2,945 0.39 0.39 1.51 12.98 Lansing : 76 38 3,097 2,896 0.30 0.30 1.49 15.46 South Central : 77 30 -3 2,933 2,812 2,714 0.34 0.34 1.34 15.17 19.72 2.41 : Detroit : 77 39 3,409 3,245 0.34 0.35 1.37 14.05 Flint : 77 32 3,106 2,972 0.11 0.11 1.00 18.65 Romeo : 75 37 2,933 2,837 0.52 0.52 1.15 15.54 Tipton : 76 34 3,005 2,924 0.28 0.28 1.84 11.85 Toledo, OH : 77 36 3,079 2,975 0.33 0.33 1.26 13.22 Southeast : 78 30 -2 3,042 2,962 2,712 0.36 0.36 1.44 14.58 18.70 2.33 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.