State NEW ENGLAND WEEKLY CROP WEATHER Week ending date 08/15/04 Issue NH-CW3204 Volume 24, Number 17 (issued weekly on the Internet, May - October) August 16, 2004 - 4 pm -- Agricultural Summary RAIN, RAIN, MORE RAIN! For the week ending August 15, 2004, there were 4.5 days available for field work across New England. Topsoil moisture was rated three percent short, 62 percent adequate, 35 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was rated four percent short, 74 percent adequate, 22 percent surplus. Pasture condition was rated one percent very poor, three percent poor, 22 percent fair, 59 percent good, 15 percent excellent. The week began warm and dry, then rain and warm temperatures arrived and continued throughout the weekend. The remnants of Hurricane Charley slowed crop harvest over the weekend and flooded fields at some locations. Major farm activities included: mowing orchards; pruning trees; spreading manure; cultivating; irrigating; weeding; monitoring fields; applying pesticides; cutting and baling hay; harvesting highbush and wild blueberries, apples, peaches, potatoes, sweet corn and other vegetables, broadleaf and shade tobacco. SOIL MOISTURE ACROSS NEW ENGLAND --------------------------------------------- -- Percent -- Soil Rating This Week Last Week Last Year --------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture Very Short 0 1 0 Short 3 9 2 Adequate 62 74 72 Surplus 35 16 26 Subsoil Moisture Very Short 0 2 0 Short 4 10 15 Adequate 74 76 64 Surplus 22 12 21 --------------------------------------------- -- Field Crops Report Field corn growth was excellent in response to rain and warm temperatures. Operators still trying to finish up first cut haying; other farmers began second and third cuttings as weather permitted. Maine potato growers applied fungicides and insecticides as necessary to control disease and insect pressure. As of August 13, 2004, the incidence of potato late blight in the northern and central parts of Aroostook County remained limited. Harvest of shade and broadleaf tobacco was active until wet weather arrived; growers continued on a tight protective spray schedule. -- Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report FRUIT: Early apple harvest now underway in New England, with growers picking Jersey Mac, Paula Red and Lodi varieties. A wide range in pear conditions reported in Connecticut and Massachusetts, with ratings from very poor to good in the two-state region. Wet weather interrupted harvest of blueberries and raspberries. Wild blueberry harvest remains well behind last year and normal. Cranberry growers welcomed weekend rains to improve berry sizing. VEGETABLES: Wet weather caused concerns with growers with reports of mildew and mold on crops. Sweet corn harvest neared the halfway mark by week's end; growers reported sun is needed to ripen the crop. Tomatoes were reported smaller and ripening later than normal due to lack of sunshine. Producers harvested an array of vegetables, such as beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplants, greens, lettuce, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, snap beans, summer squash and tomatoes. -- Crop Progress Tables FIELD CROP PROGRESS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ---------------------------------------------------- Crop 2004 2003 5-yr Avg Condition ---------------------------------------------------- -- Percent Harvested -- Barley, ME -- -- 10 Good/Excel Oats, ME -- -- 5 Good/Excel Potatoes: Maine -- -- -- Good/Excel Mass 10 10 15 Good Rhode Isl -- 10 25 Excel/Good Silage Corn -- -- -- Good Sweet Corn 45 40 45 Good/Excel Tobacco: Shade 50 45 60 Good Broadleaf 30 40 55 Good Dry Hay: First Cut 95 99 99 Good/Fair Second Cut 60 55 65 Good/Fair Third Cut 10 10 20 Good/Excel ----------------------------------------------------- FRUIT CROP DEVELOPMENT ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ----------------------------------------------------- -- Percent Harvested -- Crop 2004 2003 5-yr Avg Condition ----------------------------------------------------- Apples <5 5 5 Good/Fair Peaches 35 40 45 Fair/Good Pears -- -- -- Good/Poor Blueberries Highbush 70 70 70 Good/Fair Wild 20 50 45 Fair/Poor Cranberries,MA -- -- -- Good/Fair ----------------------------------------------------- -- Weather Summary For the week ending Sunday, August 15, 2004 ---------------------------------------------- AIR TEMPERATURES PRECIPITATION STATE LO HI AVG DFN LO HI ---- --- --- --- --- ---- ---- ME 45 87 67 +2 1.16 6.54 NH 37 90 67 +1 0.36 3.82 VT 42 86 66 +0 0.36 3.81 MA 47 87 72 +2 0.23 4.43 RI 54 84 72 +2 0.77 3.87 CT 48 86 71 +1 1.04 4.16 ---------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -- Weather Information Table Weather Summary For New England Agricultural Statistics Service - Prepared By AWIS, Inc. For the Period: Monday August 9, 2004 To: Sunday August 15, 2004 AIR CUM SINCE MAR 1 TEMPERATURE GROWING DEGREE DAYS ----------- BASE-50F BASE-60F STATION LO HI AVG DFN TOT DFN TOT DFN ------- -- -- -- -- --- ---- --- ---- MAINE Albion 50 83 69 +0 1269 -292 429 -190 Allagash 45 82 64 +2 880 -171 220 -56 Augusta_State_A 56 82 70 +2 1420 -90 530 -57 Bangor_Intl_Arp 53 83 69 +3 1351 -24 499 +8 Barnard 51 81 67 +2 1148 -55 359 -13 Bath 49 85 69 +1 1244 -151 431 -86 Bethel 50 86 67 +1 1309 -65 433 -48 Brassua_Dam 53 80 66 +3 940 -61 227 -31 Brunswick_ME 54 83 70 +3 1421 +26 524 +7 Caribou_Municip 49 80 66 +3 1072 -60 342 +19 Corinna 52 80 67 +2 1292 -37 452 +5 Danforth 49 83 66 -1 1052 -240 301 -139 Dover-Foxcroft 48 81 67 +2 1057 -146 317 -55 Durham 48 82 67 -3 1280 -320 440 -226 East_Hiram 47 82 67 +0 1233 -136 394 -84 Eustis 49 79 64 +3 895 -82 207 -28 Frenchville 49 80 66 +4 992 -59 292 +16 Gray 53 81 70 +2 1463 +89 552 +53 Greenville_ME 54 83 69 +4 1373 +159 509 +128 Guilford 47 84 64 -2 922 -281 232 -140 Hollis 50 84 69 +3 1326 +19 467 +29 Houlton 48 83 67 +3 1079 -100 357 -2 Kennebunkport 51 82 67 -4 1158 -526 348 -373 Livermore_Falls 47 87 69 +5 1367 +179 509 +152 Moosehead 50 83 65 +3 948 -53 233 -25 New_Sharon 50 82 68 +3 1239 +51 392 +35 Patten 49 80 66 +2 1025 -154 293 -66 Portage 50 82 66 +3 1039 -93 321 -2 Portland_ME 53 81 70 +2 1379 +5 514 +15 Rangeley 47 79 65 +3 966 +26 237 +21 Sebec_Lake 51 83 67 +2 1151 -63 365 -16 Vanceboro 49 82 67 +1 1071 -143 321 -65 Waterville 53 82 69 +1 1339 -222 486 -133 NEW_HAMPSHIRE Barnstead 47 85 69 +1 1371 -161 496 -101 Benton 48 79 66 +2 1251 -27 395 +3 Berlin_AG 48 81 65 -1 1276 -11 419 +5 Bethlehem 44 81 65 +0 1162 -116 355 -38 Concord 47 86 72 +4 1721 +189 728 +131 Diamond_Pond 49 74 62 +1 825 -43 158 -11 First_Conn_Lake 46 76 62 +2 862 -6 186 +17 Greenville 50 90 73 +8 1704 +319 711 +239 Keene_AP 46 84 69 -1 1619 -89 630 -93 Lakeport 53 85 70 +3 1609 +168 654 +121 Marlow 42 79 64 -5 1117 -435 302 -295 Mount_Washingto 37 57 49 +2 93 +45 0 +0 North_Conway 52 87 69 +3 1471 +38 565 +42 Otter_Brook_Lk 49 83 69 -1 1510 -198 557 -166 Plymouth 46 82 66 +1 1261 -3 403 +4 Rochester 50 87 71 +2 1509 -118 595 -74 Weare 54 83 69 +2 1484 -68 550 -47 VERMONT Ball_Mt_Lake 43 82 65 -2 1336 +2 425 -16 Bethel 42 82 66 +1 1391 +125 497 +96 Burlington_Intl 52 82 68 -2 1691 +44 716 +33 East_Haven 47 81 65 +3 1189 +118 380 +98 Island_Pond 44 78 64 +2 1137 +84 342 +75 Montpelier 49 80 67 +3 1376 +78 489 +70 Morrisville_AG 46 85 66 +0 1216 -73 414 -8 Mount_Mansfield 44 67 57 +0 555 -7 56 -4 Northfield 46 82 67 +3 1296 +116 438 +91 Pownal 48 82 68 +3 1448 +107 485 +41 Rochester 47 81 66 +2 1357 +91 463 +62 Rutland_AG 46 82 68 -3 1459 -237 519 -188 Sunderland 45 80 66 -3 1325 -304 420 -231 Sutton 46 78 64 +1 1135 +64 333 +51 Townshend_Lake 48 83 67 -3 1485 -117 531 -121 Union_Vill_Dam 44 86 67 -2 1417 -200 531 -127 MASSACHUSETTS Ashburnham 50 82 69 +3 1595 +204 621 +130 Boston/Logan_In 62 86 75 +3 1928 +5 896 +0 Greenfield 49 83 70 -1 1727 -95 708 -99 New_Bedford 58 85 73 +0 1748 -175 738 -157 Otis_AFB 59 86 74 +5 1673 +116 714 +77 Plymouth 56 84 73 +3 1675 +55 712 +27 Walpole 55 85 73 +4 1831 +167 800 +104 West_Medway 54 85 72 +3 1837 +173 800 +104 Chicopee/Westov 52 82 71 -3 1969 -114 888 -120 Worcester 53 81 71 +3 1731 +182 714 +104 Worthington 48 81 66 +0 1409 +54 476 +22 RHODE_ISLAND Providence 57 84 73 +2 1959 +130 893 +62 Woonsocket 54 84 73 +4 1799 +163 777 +114 CONNECTICUT Bakersville 49 80 68 -5 1551 -465 562 -399 Bridgeport/Siko 60 83 74 +0 2074 +116 981 +44 Hartford/Bradle 55 86 73 +2 2070 +62 976 +18 Norfolk 50 79 67 +1 1525 +164 554 +93 Norwich 55 86 73 +2 1960 +105 891 +60 Thomaston_Dam 48 86 71 +3 1961 +343 880 +237 Willimantic 52 82 71 +3 1862 +215 803 +134 1-WEEK PRECIP 4-WEEK CUM PRECIP ------------- ----------------- TOTAL TOTAL STATION INCHES DFN DAYS INCHES DFN DAYS ------- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- MAINE Albion 3.10 +2.25 4 5.55 +2.21 14 Allagash 3.18 +2.23 5 5.48 +1.80 11 Augusta_State_A 3.22 +2.45 4 5.65 +2.65 15 Bangor_Intl_Arp 1.60 +0.83 3 3.70 +0.77 13 Barnard 3.28 +2.44 5 6.30 +3.13 15 Bath 1.72 +0.95 4 3.48 +0.68 13 Bethel 2.31 +1.40 4 5.72 +2.26 13 Brassua_Dam 2.62 +1.78 5 6.45 +2.95 14 Brunswick_ME 2.32 +1.55 5 4.30 +1.50 12 Caribou_Municip 2.40 +1.49 4 4.63 +0.85 10 Corinna 2.46 +1.62 4 4.15 +0.92 10 Danforth 1.54 +0.56 3 4.52 +0.81 13 Dover-Foxcroft 2.57 +1.73 3 3.98 +0.81 12 Durham 3.38 +2.68 5 5.81 +2.85 15 East_Hiram 1.28 +0.40 6 4.21 +0.79 17 Eustis 1.51 +0.74 3 4.50 +1.30 11 Frenchville 4.23 +3.28 5 5.89 +2.21 11 Gray 3.20 +2.57 6 7.24 +4.67 15 Greenville_ME 1.91 +1.07 5 6.89 +3.72 16 Guilford 4.04 +3.20 5 8.68 +5.51 19 Hollis 2.37 +1.67 5 5.09 +2.29 14 Houlton 1.48 +0.55 6 3.10 -0.52 12 Kennebunkport 3.40 +2.70 5 4.72 +1.94 17 Livermore_Falls 1.89 +0.97 4 4.38 +0.99 13 Moosehead 1.88 +1.04 5 5.63 +2.13 14 New_Sharon 1.73 +0.81 5 5.60 +2.21 15 Patten 3.37 +2.44 5 5.91 +2.29 14 Portage 3.12 +2.21 5 7.82 +4.04 14 Portland_ME 3.35 +2.72 5 5.32 +2.75 14 Rangeley 2.16 +1.22 5 5.21 +1.68 14 Sebec_Lake 3.74 +2.90 5 7.06 +3.89 16 Vanceboro 2.65 +1.95 5 5.44 +2.54 18 Waterville 2.32 +1.47 4 6.43 +3.09 14 NEW_HAMPSHIRE Barnstead 2.41 +1.64 6 6.41 +3.33 14 Benton 1.05 +0.14 6 3.83 +0.38 13 Berlin_AG 2.49 +1.50 4 5.79 +2.07 11 Bethlehem 2.20 +1.15 5 4.71 +0.76 15 Concord 1.14 +0.37 5 3.55 +0.47 15 Diamond_Pond 1.89 +0.70 4 5.14 +0.66 13 First_Conn_Lake 2.83 +1.64 6 6.24 +1.76 14 Greenville 0.54 -0.42 3 2.61 -1.05 11 Keene_AP 0.36 -0.55 4 2.73 -0.77 10 Lakeport 1.48 +0.64 5 4.12 +0.76 14 Marlow 1.53 +0.69 4 5.53 +2.30 12 Mount_Washingto 3.82 +1.93 5 8.59 +1.63 16 North_Conway 3.14 +2.23 6 6.41 +2.87 17 Otter_Brook_Lk 1.62 +0.71 5 4.76 +1.26 19 Plymouth 1.52 +0.61 4 4.05 +0.41 12 Rochester 2.90 +2.06 4 5.02 +1.73 13 Weare 0.76 -0.08 5 4.16 +0.93 16 VERMONT Ball_Mt_Lake 0.59 -0.39 4 4.08 +0.32 14 Bethel 1.70 +0.65 5 5.21 +1.27 16 Burlington_Intl 1.34 +0.40 5 6.46 +2.90 17 East_Haven 2.13 +1.01 5 5.49 +1.28 14 Island_Pond 2.32 +1.20 5 4.93 +0.67 17 Montpelier 2.16 +1.25 5 6.20 +2.98 20 Morrisville_AG 2.73 +1.61 4 6.26 +2.04 13 Mount_Mansfield 3.16 +1.45 5 10.53 +4.14 20 Northfield 3.81 +2.92 5 7.66 +4.29 14 Pownal 1.88 +0.90 5 7.33 +3.57 18 Rochester 2.56 +1.51 4 8.33 +4.39 13 Rutland_AG 3.25 +2.27 5 6.91 +3.18 16 Sunderland 0.69 -0.20 4 6.91 +3.73 16 Sutton 1.68 +0.56 5 5.01 +0.80 18 Townshend_Lake 1.08 +0.17 5 4.62 +1.20 15 Union_Vill_Dam 1.42 +0.58 4 3.77 +0.61 14 MASSACHUSETTS Ashburnham 1.33 +0.53 5 4.37 +1.09 16 Boston/Logan_In 2.10 +1.40 3 3.95 +1.24 10 Greenfield 1.22 +0.38 5 4.73 +1.37 15 New_Bedford 3.01 +2.03 3 4.96 +1.57 10 Otis_AFB 1.16 +0.39 3 1.98 -0.88 9 Plymouth 2.56 +1.65 3 4.36 +1.05 13 Walpole 2.41 +1.51 3 4.49 +1.18 12 West_Medway 4.43 +3.53 2 7.09 +3.78 9 Chicopee/Westov 0.95 +0.18 5 4.24 +1.16 13 Worcester 0.81 -0.03 4 5.42 +2.06 12 Worthington 3.51 +2.56 5 6.12 +2.23 16 RHODE_ISLAND Providence 2.91 +2.07 3 6.37 +3.27 12 Woonsocket 3.87 +2.96 3 6.14 +2.54 11 CONNECTICUT Bakersville 1.41 +0.59 5 4.83 +1.80 16 Bridgeport/Siko 1.86 +1.11 3 5.43 +2.24 11 Hartford/Bradle 1.50 +0.68 4 4.86 +1.83 13 Norfolk 4.16 +3.12 5 8.33 +4.40 16 Norwich 1.63 +0.73 2 5.35 +1.89 11 Thomaston_Dam 1.20 +0.22 6 4.83 +1.00 15 Willimantic 1.08 +0.17 4 5.28 +1.60 13 Summary based on NWS data. DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period). Precipitation (rain or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of 0.01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2004: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS home page at www.awis.com or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955. -- Other Agricultural Comments and News CONNECTICUT - Howard Rood (FSA), Fairfield/Litchfield: Hurricane Charley gave us some rain, but no crop damage on Saturday. Ross Eddy (FSA), Hartford/Tolland: Great weather for haying Monday and Tuesday. Harvesting sweet corn, beans, cabbage, peppers, summer squash, cukes and eggplant. Blueberries, peaches and early apples are being picked. Shade tobacco harvest continues. Struggling to cut broadleaf tobacco with wet weather over the weekend. Very little wind and just over an inch of rain from Charley. Marsha Jette (FSA), New London: Producers are busy finishing the second cutting of hay. They hope to begin harvesting corn silage by the last week in August. Appearances are that the vegetable crops will be good. Producers are anxious for sunny days to finish ripening the tomatoes. Fruit crops are good to excellent. Dawn Pindell (FSA), Windham: Picking peaches, apples, blueberries. Mowing and spraying orchards. Picking vegetables. Corn looks good, over 10 feet in height in places. Planting sod. Grape vines not recovering well. Light pear crop. Problems with birds in the blueberries and sweet corn. Powdery mildew on squash. Apple scab a concern. Most crops look good. Richard Meinert (Ext), CT Cooperative: Bonnie and Charley dumped inches of rain on us in three days. Fields are flooded in a number of areas. Damage to crops will take a while to determine. MAINE - Marvin Hedstrom, Northern Aroostook: Potatoes and small grains: Growers are busy spraying fields because of the threat of late blight. A few Colorado beetles and aphids have been found. Many growers are applying CURZATE or SUPERTIN as well as regular fungicides. Potato crop looks very good despite disease and insect pressure. Kudos to growers for maintaining a timely spray schedule and applying necessary products. Heavy rains during the middle of the week made maintaining a proper spray schedule difficult. Pam Hickey (Ext), Central Aroostook: Some fungicides are being applied. Some vine dessication of early potato varieties is occurring. The potato crop is looking very good. Steve London, Southern Aroostook: Potatoes and small grains: Some aphids are showing up in some areas. No late blight has been reported in this area. The crop is coming along well. Albert Dow (NRCS), Piscataquis: Dry spots between showers allowed farmers to move first cut hay into the barns. Most hay this summer has been wet at least once before it went in. Blueberry harvest began. Donna Lamb (Ext), Piscataquis: Sweet Corn started under row covers is being harvested. Not sure if farmers will be harvesting the rest of the first cut hay. Weather has not been very cooperative this year. Rick Kersbergen (Ext), Waldo: Wet, crazy weather continues to be a problem. Three inches of rain on Thursday brought a lot of field activities to a halt. Many silage corn fields are not even at tassel stage yet. Trudy Soucy (FSA), Knox/Lincoln: Blueberry harvest proceeding slowly due to the wet weather. Dr. David Yarborough (Ext), Washington: Wild blueberries: Crop harvest interrupted a few days due to remnants of hurricane rains but otherwise progressing well. Michael Tardy (FSA), Androscoggin: Producers continue to farm between the raindrops. We have farmers who are still trying to get some first crop off the land while some third crop is ready on another part of the farm. Market garden operators are doing a good business. They do have some concern about mold and mildew on certain crops. We still need more warmth in the evening hours to help corn grow. Gary Raymond (FSA), Franklin: Farmers are hoping for a late frost. Corn, pumpkins and squash will be late to mature. Tomatoes on the average are a lot smaller than usual. There just has not been enough sun and there does not appear to be a major weather change in sight. Laura Rand (FSA), Oxford: This crop season has had a mixture of highs and lows. Producers are talking about the good quality of the hay but are concerned because of the difficulty of getting it harvested. Many round bales are showing up in fields on those that have harvested hay. Soil conditions are so wet in many areas that some hay producers are unable to get onto fields for harvest. Additionally, the wet weather does not allow needed drying conditions. Potato producers are gearing up for harvest, however, mud conditions prevail. Sweet corn is still late and is questionable if there will be enough heat to bring it to maturity. Silage corn conditions are poor, crop is yellow, and many areas are questionable if the crop will make maturity. MASSACHUSETTS - Arthur Williams (FSA), Berkshire: The weather slowed down haying this week. Those making baleage or silage in (long) bags have been harvesting. Some (European) Corn Borer reported. Some reports of tomato blight; black on the bottom and rotting in the middle. Two inches of rain kept fields wet. Fall crops doing well in the cool weather. Cloudy this week. Some areas experienced heavy rains. Temperatures in the low 70's. The cool weather is not good for growing sweet corn. Other veggies look good. Farmers' markets are in full swing. Frank Caruso (Ext), Plymouth: Cranberries: The cranberry vines got some much-needed rain on Friday and especially on Sunday (remnants of Charley). This is a critical time to size up the earlier variety berries, so it came at a good juncture. Some field rot showing, as well as fruitworm-injured berries. We will find out what the crop estimate is for all areas on Tuesday at the annual summer meeting. David Rose (FSA), Bristol: The remnants of the hurricanes came through last week bringing us over four inches of rain and slowing field work. Cool weather has reduced the harvest. Corn, cukes and squash are in short supply driving prices to extreme highs for this time of year. John Devine (FSA), Franklin: The remnants of hurricanes Bonnie and Charley left Franklin County swamped this week. Heavy rains have left many fields too wet for harvest. This is bad news for potatoes, tobacco, machine harvest cukes and blueberries. Sweet corn is very abundant and it tastes great. All the warm weather crops such as tomatoes, peppers and egg plant have been slow to ripen. Ted Smiarowski, Jr. (FSA), Hampshire/Hampden: Hot, humid, muggy and rainy week. All crops being harvested in full force and they have very good quality. This type of weather brings plant diseases so growers are on a tight protective spray schedule. Harvesting the early apple crop and the crop looks good. Gary Guida, Worcester: Intermittent showers kept me and other growers spraying for European Corn Borer and other insects in sweet corn. Sugar pumpkins are half orange and winter squash very close to ripe. Large pumpkins still sizing up. Still some mildew problems in fields. Swamp maples already breaking in color and it's only mid-August. Is this a warning sign of an early frost? Hurricane missed us fortunately. For those who are interested, my road is STILL closed-going on seven weeks with no retail sales. NEW HAMPSHIRE - Amy Ouellette (Ext), Belknap: Where is the summer? Sweet corn and field tomatoes are being harvested but they're maturing later than normal and ear size of some sweet corn is small. The vegetable, cut flower and blueberry harvests are well underway. Very few peaches made it this year. Those with peaches are proudly calling the Extension office to let me know! Carl Majewski (Ext), Cheshire: A couple dry days, otherwise lots of damp weather and rain. Corn is continuing to mature - mostly blister stage. Pastures and hayfields continue to look great, but harvesting is still a challenge. All sorts of veggies available, though a shortage of bright sunny days makes for occasional shortages. Early apple varieties should be ready for PYO soon. Steve Turaj (Ext), Coos: A little more sun this week, yet still enough rain to hamper haying activities. Field corn mostly in silk now except for a few later planted fields. Local sweet corn just beginning to trickle in. Good regrowth on hay lands and pastures, corn also looks vigorous - just need some heat units. Blueberry picking continues. More summer veggies showing up at farm stands. A slow, cool and wet year, with various fungal diseases apparent. Tom Buob (Ext), Grafton: Wet weather slowed harvest but is providing moisture for crops. Some leaf blight due to continual moisture is evident on grasses. Corn continues to tassel and silk. George Hamilton (Ext), Hillsborough: Vegetables: Growers harvesting an array of vegetables: beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, greens, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radishes, snap beans, summer squash, sweet corn and other vegetables. Irrigating crops and by week's end plenty of rain. High disease and insect pressure, so farmers kept busy spraying pesticides for insects and diseases. Very good demand for produce at most local farmers' markets and farm stands. Fruit: Orchardists harvesting peaches and Jersey Mac apples. Blueberry and raspberry harvests continued. Orchardists busy monitoring for pests, mowing orchard floors, moving bins into orchards and fixing up orchard roads. Apple growers busy summer-pruning trees. Cultivating and weeding newly renovated strawberry beds. Field Crops: Hay making and cutting haylage continued during the week with the second cut and some third cut being made. The remaining first cut is only good for mulch hay. Silage corn is growing rapidly. John Porter (Ext), Merrimack: Some troubles getting second cutting of hay done. Some worries about apple crop this year. Sweet corn harvesting looking good but slowed down by the rain later in the week. Farm stands continue to showcase good looking tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers and blueberries. Nada Haddad (Ext), Rockingham: Picking early apple varieties such as Paula Red, Lodi, etc. Blueberry, raspberry, sweet corn, potato, cut flowers and an array of other vegetables continue to be harvested. High wind on Wednesday uprooted or damaged some crops. Pam Marvin (FSA), Sullivan: Lots of rain. Could use some dry, sunny days to continue corn growth. Some pumpkin and squash fields experiencing low yields due to very wet conditions during pollination. Lots of dry hay being harvested in between rain showers. Top- dressing with manure has been occurring. Lots of sweet corn being harvested with good yields. Blueberry and raspberry picking winding down to a close with good production being reported. Picking of early variety apples has begun. RHODE ISLAND - Karen Menezes (Ext), Newport: A mix of weather during the whole week including sun, rain, fog, heat and cool temperatures. Some haying done. Harvesting sweet corn, beans, tomatoes, lettuce and all other summer vegetables. Spraying potatoes, cultivating some crops, pruning Christmas trees. Still harvesting some blueberries and starting raspberries. VERMONT - John St. Onge/Kim Peterson (FSA), Lamoille: Another wet week hampered many field activities including the harvest of grass. Most crops are still looking good despite a close call with flooding. Many veggies are suffering from blossom end rot and it has been a banner year for slugs. Many fields were too wet to even spread manure. Perley Sparrow (FSA), Windham: Another wet week in Windham County. Drying hay has come to a halt; even trying to chop it for haylage is almost impossible. We had some sweet corn blown down by a passing thunder shower. Some vegetable spoiling on the vines because of all the wet weather. Weeds in newly seeded alfalfa fields and even on established stands are becoming a problem to control. Jeff Carter (Ext), Addison: Little field work; some manure spread on hay fields. Some hay harvest ruined by rain. Addison County Fair & Field Days very muddy. 30 farms showed Corn at Crop contest up to 13 feet high. Lots of entries. Some ear development at milk stage, mostly blister. Soybean pods just starting to fill. Quality hay samples, but fewer entries. Dennis Kauppila (Ext), Caledonia: Warm, wet week. Corn coming along, but not much haying being accomplished due to weather. Orleans County had over three inches of rain this week causing clay mud in parking areas, had to turn back thousands of cars. Coolest summer here in 20 years says the paper. Heather Darby (Ext), Franklin: More rain this week once again has slowed forage harvest. Farmers still working on harvesting second cut. A few have begun third cut. Many corn fields are flowering while others remain in vegetative state. Reporters are from: Extension Service (Ext), Farm Service Agency(FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), or other knowledgeable individuals. -- Contact Information To receive this report every Monday evening, send an e-mail message to listserv@newsbox.usda.gov and in the body, type subscribe usda-new-eng-crop-weather Statistician: Travis Averill Stat Assistant: Wayne Colpitt Deputy Director: Joe Samson New England Agricultural Statistics Service National Agricultural Statistics Service United States Department of Agriculture Aubrey R. Davis, Director 22 Bridge St, 3rd Floor PO Box 1444 Concord, NH 03302-1444 Phone: (603) 224-9639 Fax: (603) 225-1434 Internet: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ E-Mail: nass.nh@nass.usda.gov ****************** end of report ***********************