Agricultural Summary

Scattered rainfall over the eastern two-thirds of the State brought some relief to dry conditions but below normal temperatures across the State continued to limit crop maturity with accumulated growing degree days well behind normal. State-wide, topsoil moisture rates 4 percent very short, 27 percent short, 65 percent adequate, and 4 percent surplus. There were 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork.

Field Crops Report

Seventy-nine percent of the corn crop has reached the dough stage, 15 days behind last year and 17 days behind normal. Forty-six percent of the crop is dented, 13 days behind last year and 15 days behind normal. Overall, condition is rated 4 percent very poor, 12 percent poor, 32 percent fair, 42 percent good, and 10 percent excellent, slightly improved from last week. Eighty-five percent of the soybean crop is blooming, 6 days behind last year and 13 days behind normal. Fifty-seven percent are setting pods, 12 days behind last year and 14 days behind normal. Soybean condition is rated 4 percent very poor, 14 percent poor, 37 percent fair, 36 percent good, and 9 percent excellent, virtually unchanged from a week earlier. Rice heading is 93 percent complete, 4 days behind last year but the same as normal. Rice condition was reported as 1 percent poor, 9 percent fair, 44 percent good, and 46 percent excellent, a slight decline from last week. Continued cool weather limited cotton boll opening to 4 percent, 19 days behind last year and 13 days behind normal. Cotton condition is rated 3 percent very poor, 8 percent poor, 25 percent fair, 56 percent good, and 8 percent excellent, similar to a week earlier. Sorghum heading is at 83 percent, 8 days behind last year and two weeks behind normal. Thirty-four percent is turning color, 8 days behind last year and 9 days behind normal. The crop is beginning to mature in portions of the state. Sorghum condition is rated 1 percent very poor, 5 percent poor, 42 percent fair, 46 percent good, and 6 percent excellent, slightly improved from last week. Third cutting alfalfa is 61 percent harvested, 13 days behind last year and 16 days behind normal.

Pasture & Livestock

Pasture condition is rated 2 percent very poor, 9 percent poor, 32 percent fair, 47 percent good and 10 percent excellent, a decrease of 5 points in the good to excellent range. Although additional rain would be helpful for pasture growth, the central district reported no pasture rated in worse than fair condition.

Weather Summary

Cooler weather continued as temperatures averaged 2 to 4 degrees below normal throughout the State. Rainfall for the week averaged 0.81 of an inch. While the central, south-central and southeastern parts of the state received an inch or more of rain, the west-central and southwestern portions only received 0.2 and 0.3 of an inch, respectively.