United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Progress & Condition Report Mississippi Field Office, PO Box 980 Jackson, MS 39205-0980 (601) 965-4575 * (601) 965-5622 FAX * www.nass.usda.gov Cooperating with Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce Released: August 20, 2012 Week Ending Date: August 19, 2012 Issue CW3312 According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Mississippi, there were 3.9 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Sunday, August 19, 2012. Rain showers throughout the state kept farmers out of the fields for part of the week. Producers are looking for dryer conditions to harvest; however pastures and hayfields have shown improvement with the added moisture. Producers are monitoring fields and spraying for insects as needed. Soil moisture was rated 7 percent short, 63 percent adequate, and 30 percent surplus. Crop progress for week ending August 19, 2012 --------------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year : average --------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn, dent : 100 99 98 99 Corn, mature : 95 85 81 80 Corn, harvested : 53 32 24 24 Corn Silage, harvested : 80 -- -- 71 Cotton, setting bolls : 99 98 98 99 Cotton, open bolls : 27 11 9 18 Hay-Warm Season, harvested : 84 82 81 80 Peanuts, harvested : 1 1 0 0 Rice, headed : 100 99 98 94 Rice, mature : 63 30 17 34 Rice, harvested : 17 7 1 3 Sorghum, coloring : 92 81 78 87 Sorghum, mature : 60 42 34 48 Sorghum, harvested : 7 0 2 8 Soybeans, blooming : 100 100 100 100 Soybeans, setting pods : 99 98 97 98 Soybeans, turning color : 47 31 20 37 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 21 0 6 17 Soybeans, harvested : 6 0 0 4 Sweet Potatoes, harvested : 1 0 1 1 Watermelons, harvested : 100 100 100 100 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending August 19, 2012 ------------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Item : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn : 1 6 14 44 35 Cotton : 1 6 25 49 19 Hay : 0 2 19 63 16 Livestock : 0 5 26 59 10 Pasture : 0 1 32 49 18 Peanuts : 0 1 12 57 30 Rice : 1 5 17 51 26 Sorghum : 5 9 40 33 13 Soybeans : 3 5 15 49 28 Sweet Potatoes : 0 14 22 46 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments "Corn harvest started this week. Armyworms are showing up in pasture and yards." --Stephen Winters, Grenada "Rains on Monday and again on Saturday left little opportunity to get combines in the field to harvest this past week. Corn harvest has really been delayed due to rain and high moisture. Soybeans are really just about to get kicked off, as many acres are turning now. Cotton continues to look good, but all this rain is not good for cracking bolls. Looking forward to a good stretch of warm, sunny days." --Preston Aust, Humphreys "Strong thunderstorms have been moving through the county almost on a daily basis. Soils are really wet in some fields. Grass is growing and will help later hay cutting. Some fields are being broken for rye grass planting. Cattle have plenty of grazing." --Lee Taylor, Lamar "Almost daily rains have brought field work to a standstill. Some hay has gotten wet from afternoon showers. Cotton and peanuts look real good. Grass is really growing in pastures. Need a break in the rain to get some work done. It looks like rain today." --Lee Taylor, Forrest "All crops are doing well from the recent rainfall. Corn harvest should resume this week after soils dry out some. Hay and pasture land has greatly improved from the rainfall over the last few weeks." --Reid Nevins, Lowndes "Corn harvest is making good progress and yields are good. We have pulled most of the poly tubing on cotton but I have not heard of any being defoliated. Soybean and milo crops are being harvested. Weekend rain was light in most parts of the county." --Don Respess, Quitman "Scattered rainfall this week slowed corn harvest for a short period of time. Some early soybeans have been harvested. The rain should help some of these late beans. This week's rain should help with the last hay harvest this season too." --Jimbo Burkhalter, Tallahatchie "Wet weather and high humility has slowed harvest activities. Corn yields continue to be above average." --Jerry Singleton, Leflore "Most growers in this area need a break from rain to allow crops to prepare for harvest." --Ernest Flint, Attala "Rain every afternoon has halted most hayfield and pasture activities. Still picking up a few armyworms, but not any heavy infestations. Some sun with no rain would help us get some hay cured and in the barn for the winter. We don't need to complain about the rain because there are many parts of the country that don't have any rain and are suffering real droughty conditions." --Houston Therrell, Rankin "The beginning of the week, soil moisture for most of the county was slipping into the short category. However, rain on Saturday provided good coverage for most of the county. The slightly cooler temperatures the end of the previous week relieved heat stress on cattle." --Ann H. Davis, Wilkinson "Soybeans look good but vary in maturity from R1 to R8." --Randy Smith, Covington "Corn is being harvested with scattered but reasonable yields. Hay production has been slowed down by recent rain but still looking good. Insect pressure is being monitored in soybeans and forages." --Charlie Bush, Simpson "Too much rain has halted hay harvest and spraying army worms! We wanted rain and for the last month we have got plenty of it!!!" --Tommy Bishop, Jasper Mississippi Weather Summary for Week Ending August 19, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Air Temperature : Precipitation : :------------------------------------------- Division/Station :Max:Min:Avg:Norm:DFN:One : DFN :Rain:Four : : : : : : :Week: :Days:Weeks: -------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Upper Delta Clarksdale 95 65 77 80 -3 2.35 +1.82 5 2.42 Cleveland 97 64 79 82 -3 2.70 +2.14 5 2.77 Lambert 5E 102 62 80 0.88 +0.24 2 1.51 Tunica 2 95 64 80 80 0 0.13 -0.41 2 0.77 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 102 62 79 81 -2 1.52 +0.96 4 1.87 2. North-Central Batesville 2SW 94 61 77 79 -2 1.85 +1.25 3 2.63 Hickory Flat 92 57 75 79 -4 0.31 -0.46 3 2.08 Holly Springs 4 95 62 77 77 0 1.85 +1.10 2 2.81 Independence 1W 93 58 76 79 -3 1.02 +0.38 3 2.43 University 93 59 76 79 -3 2.35 +1.58 3 3.77 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 95 57 76 79 -3 1.48 +0.78 3 2.74 3. Northeast Booneville 91 62 75 79 -4 1.44 +0.69 3 4.01 Corinth City 96 59 76 80 -4 0.74 +0.09 1 3.30 Fulton 3W 90 59 74 81 -7 1.84 +1.07 3 4.98 Pontotoc Exp 91 67 77 80 -3 2.36 +1.66 3 4.88 Tupelo 2 91 66 77 1.41 3 3.08 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 96 59 76 79 -3 1.56 +0.86 3 4.05 4. Lower Delta Belzoni 94 67 80 81 -1 12.51+11.86 3 13.76 Moorhead 94 69 80 81 -1 3.08 +2.59 4 4.42 Rolling Fork 97 67 81 81 0 1.00 +0.44 3 3.50 Yazoo City 5NNE 98 68 84 82 +2 2.77 +2.01 4 2.97 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 98 67 81 82 -1 4.84 +4.28 4 3.63 5. Central Canton 97 64 80 81 -1 1.33 +0.63 4 1.61 Forest 3S 91 65 78 80 -2 3.67 +2.75 4 4.10 Kosciusko 93 62 78 81 -3 8.31 +7.56 5 9.52 Winona 5E 92 59 76 77 -1 4.23 +3.56 4 5.76 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 97 59 78 80 -2 4.39 +3.65 4 6.46 6. East-Central Columbus 91 67 78 81 -3 2.13 +1.36 3 4.18 State University 93 66 78 80 -2 3.91 +3.20 4 6.74 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 93 66 78 80 -2 3.02 +2.32 4 5.46 7. Southwest Natchez 92 70 82 81 +1 1.35 +0.46 1 7.29 Vicksburg 93 69 82 1.15 4 3.23 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 93 69 82 81 +1 1.25 +0.34 3 5.26 8. South-Central Collins 92 67 79 80 -1 4.10 +3.20 4 6.90 Columbia 95 69 82 81 +1 0.86 -0.15 3 3.01 Monticello 100 68 85 81 +4 0.16 -0.74 2 1.45 Raleigh 91 63 78 2.11 4 4.05 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 100 63 81 81 0 1.81 +0.83 3 4.65 9. Southeast Hattiesburg 93 67 80 82 -2 2.40 +1.34 4 7.11 Laurel 94 70 81 81 0 1.06 +0.16 4 4.58 Waynesboro 2W 96 67 81 80 +1 2.59 +1.89 4 4.60 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 96 67 81 81 0 2.02 +1.18 4 5.43 10. Coastal Biloxi 91 72 82 82 0 1.21 -0.05 4 5.37 Pascagoula 3NE 89 71 79 81 -2 2.82 +1.42 3 7.65 Saucier Exp 93 71 81 81 0 0.37 -1.10 2 7.68 -------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme/Average 93 71 81 82 -1 1.47 +0.24 3 6.53 State Averages 102 57 79 80 -1 2.41 +1.62 4 4.79 DFN = Departure from Normal.