NEW ENGLAND WEEKLY CROP WEATHER Week ending date 10/10/04 Issue NH-CW3704 Volume 24, Number 25 (issued weekly on the Internet, May - October) October 10, 2004 - 4 pm -- Agricultural Summary First Killing Frost For the week ending October 10, 2004, there were 6.8 days available for field work across New England. Topsoil moisture was rated 10 percent short, 83 percent adequate, 7 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was rated 10 percent short, 84 percent adequate, 6 percent surplus. Pasture condition was rated 1 percent very poor, 15 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 50 percent good, 11 percent excellent. A frigid air mass hit the six-State region on Tuesday night bringing an end to the growing season in most locations. Despite the cooler evening temperatures, daytime conditions were sunny and dry allowing operators a chance to finish up with harvest activities. Major farm activities included: applying rye cover on harvested fields; spreading manure; applying lime; chopping corn; making dry hay; harvesting apples, pears, cranberries, potatoes, finished harvest of small grains and sweet corn. SOIL MOISTURE ACROSS NEW ENGLAND --------------------------------------------- -- Percent -- Soil Rating This Week Last Week Last Year --------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture Very Short 0 0 0 Short 10 5 2 Adequate 83 83 73 Surplus 7 12 25 Subsoil Moisture Very Short 0 0 0 Short 10 6 3 Adequate 84 84 90 Surplus 6 10 7 --------------------------------------------- -- Field Crops Report For the week ending October 10, 2004, there were 6.8 days available for field work across New England. Topsoil moisture was rated 10 percent short, 83 percent adequate, 7 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was rated 10 percent short, 84 percent adequate, 6 percent surplus. Pasture condition was rated 1 percent very poor, 15 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 50 percent good, 11 percent excellent. A frigid air mass hit the six-State region on Tuesday night bringing an end to the growing season in most locations. Despite the cooler evening temperatures, daytime conditions were sunny and dry allowing operators a chance to finish up with harvest activities. Major farm activities included: applying rye cover on harvested fields; spreading manure; applying lime; chopping corn; making dry hay; harvesting apples, pears, cranberries, potatoes, finished harvest of small grains and sweet corn. -- Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report FRUIT: It was a great weekend at orchards for apple picking. Harvest of tree fruits continued to make gains. Apple growers were harvesting late maturing varieties like Red Delicious and Empire. Harvest of fall raspberries continued in some locations and only 15 percent of the pear crop remained to be picked. Cranberry harvest reached the half way point and producers still anticipate an excellent crop. VEGETABLES: Frost during the week put an end to warm season vegetables. However, there are plenty of cool season vegetables remaining to be harvest such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, chard, lettuce and kale. Pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks still made a strong showing at markets and farm stands. Sweet corn harvest is complete throughout the region. -- Crop Progress Tables FIELD CROP PROGRESS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ---------------------------------------------------- Crop 2004 2003 5-yr Avg Condition ---------------------------------------------------- -- Percent Harvested -- Barley, ME 100 100 99 Excellent Oats, ME 100 99 99 Excellent Potatoes: Maine 95 90 90 Excel/Good Mass 85 70 80 Good Silage Corn 80 80 80 Good/Excel Sweet Corn 100 99 99 Good/Excel Dry Hay: Second Cut 99 99 99 Good/Excel Third Cut 85 85 85 Good/Excel ----------------------------------------------------- FRUIT CROP DEVELOPMENT ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ----------------------------------------------------- -- Percent Harvested -- Crop 2004 2003 5-yr Avg Condition ----------------------------------------------------- Apples 85 85 80 Good/Excel Pears 85 75 75 Good/Fair Cranberries,MA 50 65 50 Good/Excel ----------------------------------------------------- -- Weather Summary For the week ending Sunday, October 10, 2004 ---------------------------------------------- AIR TEMPERATURES PRECIPITATION STATE LO HI AVG DFN LO HI ---- --- --- --- --- ---- ---- ME 21 77 49 +1 0.00 0.10 NH 14 80 50 +1 0.00 0.16 VT 20 79 50 +1 0.00 0.32 MA 26 78 54 +0 0.00 0.10 RI 31 76 57 +1 0.00 0.00 CT 28 77 55 +1 0.00 0.02 ---------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -- Weather Information Table For the Period: Monday October 4, 2004 To: Sunday October 10, 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 25 70 48 -4 1784 -368 567 -223 Allagash 22 76 47 +3 1184 -159 271 -52 Augusta_State_A 29 72 52 +1 2074 +1 728 -18 Bangor_Intl_Arp 26 72 52 +2 1978 +92 693 +71 Barnard 24 75 49 +2 1616 +23 460 +8 Bath 26 69 50 -3 1819 -129 580 -80 Bethel 25 74 50 -1 1863 +10 576 -20 Brassua_Dam 26 75 48 +2 1367 +50 313 +3 Brunswick_ME 29 66 51 -2 2055 +107 705 +45 Caribou_Municip 27 75 50 +5 1520 +72 446 +68 Corinna 26 75 50 +2 1834 +78 601 +61 Danforth 25 73 49 +2 1510 -184 394 -131 Dover-Foxcroft 25 72 49 +3 1516 -77 419 -33 Durham 27 72 49 -4 1790 -426 554 -287 East_Hiram 25 73 48 -2 1747 -97 518 -72 Eustis 23 74 45 -1 1239 -38 262 -21 Frenchville 28 75 49 +5 1405 +62 382 +59 Gray 32 72 53 +3 2154 +234 774 +137 Greenville_ME 28 73 50 +3 1957 +350 692 +229 Guilford 21 70 44 -4 1267 -326 288 -164 Hollis 24 75 49 -2 1864 +107 602 +70 Houlton 24 74 50 +4 1567 +54 490 +66 Kennebunkport 28 69 48 -7 1694 -683 483 -458 Livermore_Falls 22 77 49 +2 1927 +366 665 +236 Moosehead 23 77 46 +0 1347 +30 304 -6 New_Sharon 23 73 48 +1 1767 +206 529 +100 Patten 23 73 47 +1 1444 -69 364 -60 Portage 28 75 49 +4 1461 +13 407 +29 Portland_ME 29 69 52 +2 2062 +142 733 +96 Rangeley 24 74 47 +2 1385 +141 312 +48 Sebec_Lake 24 74 49 +2 1620 +13 467 +4 Vanceboro 25 72 49 +2 1535 -103 418 -60 Waterville 28 73 51 -2 1937 -215 654 -136 NEW_HAMPSHIRE Barnstead 28 72 49 -3 1931 -140 657 -82 Benton 25 76 49 +0 1769 +76 523 +47 Berlin_AG 26 76 49 +1 1782 +90 543 +46 Bethlehem 25 77 49 +1 1602 -84 454 -22 Concord 27 77 53 +4 2458 +387 993 +254 Diamond_Pond 24 74 48 +4 1149 +31 201 -4 First_Conn_Lake 24 71 48 +4 1212 +94 241 +36 Greenville 30 80 55 +4 2445 +567 966 +381 Keene_AP 27 77 52 +0 2310 -28 862 -54 Lakeport 32 76 54 +5 2337 +417 901 +256 Marlow 24 74 47 -5 1584 -528 417 -330 Mount_Washingto 14 72 37 +5 159 +98 2 +2 North_Conway 26 75 49 +0 2056 +152 729 +96 Otter_Brook_Lk 28 75 51 -3 2157 -181 755 -161 Plymouth 24 77 49 +2 1803 +140 533 +56 Rochester 28 75 51 -2 2176 -66 807 -45 Weare 29 73 51 -2 2109 -3 732 -15 VERMONT Ball_Mt_Lake 25 75 49 -2 1848 +41 545 -6 Bethel 24 76 49 -1 1947 +231 647 +143 Burlington_Intl 32 76 54 +5 2410 +208 977 +136 East_Haven 21 77 48 +3 1675 +282 496 +159 Island_Pond 26 73 49 +3 1641 +253 460 +135 Montpelier 26 76 51 +3 1993 +269 674 +162 Morrisville_AG 26 77 49 +2 1729 +12 546 +30 Mount_Mansfield 20 64 46 +5 800 +84 75 +9 Northfield 25 79 50 +3 1864 +303 592 +170 Pownal 30 75 52 +3 2084 +271 667 +115 Rochester 26 78 51 +2 1974 +258 634 +130 Rutland_AG 28 75 49 -4 2053 -259 694 -206 Sunderland 27 76 49 -2 1906 -302 580 -241 Sutton 25 72 48 +3 1604 +211 429 +92 Townshend_Lake 29 75 51 +0 2119 -68 710 -113 Union_Vill_Dam 24 75 49 -2 2035 -164 717 -112 MASSACHUSETTS Ashburnham 32 75 53 +4 2291 +419 850 +252 Boston/Logan_In 40 74 58 +1 2842 +76 1293 +68 Greenfield 31 75 53 -2 2491 -46 989 -62 New_Bedford 30 71 54 -5 2536 -282 1037 -228 Otis_AFB 32 72 54 -1 2463 +199 1018 +153 Plymouth 31 72 55 +0 2460 +150 1015 +112 Walpole 31 75 55 +3 2619 +318 1104 +210 West_Medway 29 77 54 +2 2626 +325 1103 +209 Chicopee/Westov 28 75 55 -3 2768 -158 1209 -136 Worcester 33 73 55 +3 2499 +348 999 +215 Worthington 27 76 51 -1 2007 +143 638 +63 RHODE_ISLAND Providence 35 72 56 +1 2874 +243 1294 +162 Woonsocket 31 76 55 +3 2595 +332 1083 +237 CONNECTICUT Bakersville 29 71 51 -5 2179 -609 749 -501 Bridgeport/Siko 41 74 61 +3 3154 +292 1520 +198 Hartford/Bradle 31 76 56 +2 2963 +185 1371 +129 Norfolk 31 71 51 +2 2163 +310 745 +172 Norwich 33 75 54 -2 2811 +192 1239 +131 Thomaston_Dam 28 73 53 -1 2760 +497 1192 +346 Willimantic 31 73 54 +1 2679 +369 1128 +252 1-WEEK PRECIP 4-WEEK CUM PRECIP ------------- ----------------- TOTAL TOTAL STATION INCHES DFN DAYS INCHES DFN DAYS ------- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- MAINE Albion 0.00 -0.84 0 1.39 -1.71 4 Allagash 0.00 -0.76 0 0.00 -3.20 0 Augusta_State_A 0.01 -0.80 1 1.35 -1.71 7 Bangor_Intl_Arp 0.00 -0.70 0 1.13 -1.91 4 Barnard 0.00 -0.83 0 0.66 -2.86 6 Bath 0.00 -0.77 0 1.78 -1.10 5 Bethel 0.00 -0.81 0 1.21 -1.91 4 Brassua_Dam 0.00 -0.76 0 0.11 -3.12 2 Brunswick_ME 0.00 -0.77 0 1.53 -1.35 4 Caribou_Municip 0.00 -0.70 0 0.09 -2.89 4 Corinna 0.10 -0.67 1 1.15 -2.08 5 Danforth 0.00 -0.74 0 0.54 -2.61 4 Dover-Foxcroft 0.00 -0.83 0 0.40 -3.12 3 Durham 0.00 -0.78 0 1.73 -1.22 5 East_Hiram 0.00 -0.84 0 1.89 -1.15 6 Eustis 0.04 -0.61 1 0.39 -2.36 5 Frenchville 0.02 -0.74 1 0.26 -2.94 6 Gray 0.00 -0.79 0 1.84 -1.18 5 Greenville_ME 0.00 -0.83 0 0.40 -3.12 4 Guilford 0.00 -0.83 0 1.00 -2.52 6 Hollis 0.00 -0.83 0 2.20 -0.94 5 Houlton 0.01 -0.69 1 0.16 -2.93 4 Kennebunkport 0.00 -0.80 0 2.59 -0.45 6 Livermore_Falls 0.00 -0.84 0 1.21 -2.05 4 Moosehead 0.00 -0.76 0 0.16 -3.07 3 New_Sharon 0.00 -0.84 0 1.15 -2.11 4 Patten 0.01 -0.69 1 0.18 -2.91 8 Portage 0.00 -0.70 0 0.14 -2.84 4 Portland_ME 0.00 -0.79 0 2.17 -0.85 5 Rangeley 0.00 -0.69 0 0.60 -2.12 5 Sebec_Lake 0.00 -0.83 0 0.65 -2.87 5 Vanceboro 0.00 -0.77 0 0.55 -2.85 4 Waterville 0.04 -0.80 1 2.17 -0.93 6 NEW_HAMPSHIRE Barnstead 0.00 -0.70 0 3.11 +0.49 7 Benton 0.05 -0.65 1 1.23 -1.58 4 Berlin_AG 0.00 -0.77 0 1.31 -1.67 5 Bethlehem 0.05 -0.65 1 1.97 -0.83 6 Concord 0.00 -0.70 0 4.19 +1.57 6 Diamond_Pond 0.06 -0.78 1 0.65 -2.81 5 First_Conn_Lake 0.16 -0.68 1 1.15 -2.31 7 Greenville 0.00 -0.77 0 4.77 +1.88 7 Keene_AP 0.00 -0.70 0 3.31 +0.59 6 Lakeport 0.00 -0.74 0 2.47 -0.31 5 Marlow 0.00 -0.79 0 3.79 +0.69 6 Mount_Washingto 0.00 -1.47 0 2.30 -4.03 5 North_Conway 0.00 -0.86 0 1.37 -1.88 5 Otter_Brook_Lk 0.00 -0.70 0 4.93 +2.21 5 Plymouth 0.00 -0.77 0 0.99 -1.94 5 Rochester 0.00 -0.88 0 3.16 -0.04 5 Weare 0.00 -0.79 0 3.62 +0.52 7 VERMONT Ball_Mt_Lake 0.01 -0.81 1 4.09 +0.70 10 Bethel 0.00 -0.84 0 1.24 -2.14 4 Burlington_Intl 0.06 -0.57 1 0.77 -2.01 4 East_Haven 0.00 -0.74 0 0.95 -2.00 5 Island_Pond 0.07 -0.63 2 0.46 -2.40 7 Montpelier 0.00 -0.63 0 0.92 -1.60 6 Morrisville_AG 0.02 -0.69 1 0.49 -2.51 7 Mount_Mansfield 0.32 -0.87 2 1.04 -4.15 7 Northfield 0.10 -0.60 1 1.07 -1.78 3 Pownal 0.00 -0.82 0 5.33 +1.94 8 Rochester 0.10 -0.74 1 1.25 -2.13 3 Rutland_AG 0.04 -0.63 1 1.71 -1.27 5 Sunderland 0.01 -0.65 1 3.59 +0.66 7 Sutton 0.06 -0.68 1 0.57 -2.38 4 Townshend_Lake 0.00 -0.70 0 4.51 +1.63 7 Union_Vill_Dam 0.00 -0.70 0 1.92 -1.08 5 MASSACHUSETTS Ashburnham 0.00 -0.70 0 5.84 +3.12 9 Boston/Logan_In 0.00 -0.70 0 5.63 +2.83 7 Greenfield 0.01 -0.76 1 5.53 +2.45 9 New_Bedford 0.01 -0.74 1 5.70 +2.73 11 Otis_AFB 0.00 -0.84 0 6.22 +2.96 8 Plymouth 0.02 -0.85 2 5.90 +2.23 12 Walpole 0.00 -0.84 0 5.87 +2.51 9 West_Medway 0.00 -0.84 0 7.65 +4.29 5 Chicopee/Westov 0.00 -0.77 0 4.03 +0.85 6 Worcester 0.00 -0.98 0 5.44 +1.61 8 Worthington 0.00 -0.78 0 7.00 +3.71 8 RHODE_ISLAND Providence 0.00 -0.77 0 6.31 +3.18 11 Woonsocket 0.00 -0.88 0 5.36 +1.90 10 CONNECTICUT Bakersville 0.00 -0.79 0 6.70 +3.33 8 Bridgeport/Siko 0.00 -0.65 0 5.87 +3.11 9 Hartford/Bradle 0.00 -0.79 0 6.11 +2.74 9 Norfolk 0.00 -0.84 0 6.94 +3.30 7 Norwich 0.00 -0.88 0 7.83 +4.28 8 Thomaston_Dam 0.00 -0.85 0 5.24 +1.66 8 Willimantic 0.00 -0.91 0 5.36 +1.70 10 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: The first heavy frost of the season ended vegetable production this week. Ross Eddy (FSA), Hartford/Tolland: Killing frost on Wednesday everywhere but right along the CT river, put an end to the growing season. Still harvesting cabbage and sweet corn in small amounts. Many dairy farmers on the home stretch for corn silage harvest. Grain corn drying down nicely. Pumpkins moving well, but many left in fields with disease problems. Boxing up butternut squash for market. Orchards saw heavy sales over the holiday weekend. Dawn Pindell (FSA), Windham: Major frost hit most parts of the county, stopped growing of vine crops and vegetables. Pumpkins good to excellent where sprayed to avoid stuff blown in on tropical storms. Apples good, great weekend for pick your own, big events in Orchards over Columbus Day weekend. End of year tallies in blueberries, peaches, grapes, raspberries not good for some producers. Field corn harvest continues. Colors changing as Fall mornings remind us to get out the wool sweaters. Karen Vozarik (FSA), New Haven: First frost received this week. Temperatures during days and nights have turned cooler. Producers getting silage in while weather is dry. Richard Meinert (Ext), CT Cooperative: Finishing up corn silage harvest and pumpkin hay rides seem to be the major activities left this crop season. MAINE - Marvin Hedstrom, Northern Aroostook: Potatoes and small grains: Harvest just about finished. What a great fall for harvesting, no time lost due to rain. Growers busy picking rocks, and fall tillage. Spreading lime and getting some soil samples. Pam Hickey (Ext), Central Aroostook: Harvesting of potatoes is nearly completed 98 percent. The farmers had a very good Fall for getting the crop harvested. All grains are harvested. Albert Dow (NRCS), Piscataquis: Warm sunny weather allowed for a lot of harvesting of potatoes, silage corn and vegetables. Temperature dropped to 24 degrees one morning. Rick Kersbergen (Ext), Waldo: Hard frost brought many crops to their knees. Corn is well frosted. Many pastures showing lots of rust fungus. Nice weather has helped get a lot of corn harvested and in the silo. Trudy Soucy (FSA), Knox/Lincoln: Great weather to finish up harvest of many crops. We had a hard frost Tuesday October 5th which ended the growing season. Michael Tardy (FSA), Androscoggin: Silage corn growers are getting in the last of the harvest. What great weather they have had. We've seen some hay down ready to bale. Everyone is trying to get that last cut. Apple producers are busy picking or shepherding the "pick your own" folks through the orchards. Market garden owners are showing off the pumpkins and winter squash. They have the corn stalks ready for those people who want to decorate for the Fall season. We're almost to the finish line for another harvest season. Sandy Truslow (FSA), Cumberland/York: The first widespread frost hit the area on Oct 6th. The weather has been sunny and dry. Great for harvesting silage corn and pumpkins. Good yields on silage corn have been reported. Gary Raymond (FSA), Franklin: Corn silage harvest was above normal thanks to a fine finish on the weather front. Grain corn & soybeans left to go. Make sure that the firewood is done. I have a hornets nest about 30 feet off the ground in a pine tree beside my house and you know what that means! Laura Rand (FSA), Oxford: Weather was great this week. Silage corn is being harvested with a vengeance, reports are being received of great tonnage! Squash, pumpkins, and potatoes are still being harvested. Farm stands are beautiful this time of year with colorful arrays of pumpkins, corn stalks, and mums. MASSACHUSETTS - Arthur Williams (FSA), Berkshire: Farmers are playing in mud in the fields, sometimes with other tractors pulling chopper and/or wagons. Some very good yields. Other crops continue doing good. Paul Russell (FSA), Southeast Massachusetts: Cranberry growers are in the middle of an excellent harvest many growers harvesting their best crop in years. Harvest will be more than 50% complete this week as we continue to have excellent weather. First frost hit on Monday which finished many vegetable crops, and growers are completing harvest of winter squash and pumpkins. Excellent third cutting of hay, however heavy dew has made it difficult to make. Frank Caruso (Ext), Plymouth: Cranberries: Cranberry harvest continues with good reports still coming from the handlers. Quality and color are excellent; size is average to above average. Jay Otto (FSA), Bristol: Great week for field work. Corn chopping in full swing. Very good yields across the county with a few exceptions of some corn blown over from past storms. Weekend weather was great for farm stands. John Devine (FSA), Franklin: Clear and dry weather has helped the fall harvest move at a rapid pace. Potato growers have reported that harvest conditions are near perfect and the crop has sized well. Dairy farmers are busy trying to finish with silage and harvest one more cut of hay. Vegetable farmers are in the home stretch with their harvest except for late fall crops. All farms are busy putting the finishing touches on their fall tillage work. Ted Smiarowski, Jr. (FSA), Hampshire/Hampden: A beautiful fall week with many sunny and warm days. Harvesting an excellent crop of potatoes, apples, and corn silage. Farmers are applying a cover crop to their harvested fields, picking up irrigation pipe, and removing plastic mulch off their harvested fields. Farm stands and u-pick apples had an excellent weekend. Gary Guida, Worcester: Just a beautiful weekend for fall sales! Killing frost ended growing season and it was a good one! Mums all sold, pumpkins just about gone. NEW HAMPSHIRE - Tina Savage (Ext), Carroll: The frost is definitely on the pumpkins, foliage at full peak and just past peak. Two to three frosts last week depending on location. Field corn waiting for maturity frosted. The last fair is over, all we have to do now is wait for snow! Carl Majewski (Ext), Cheshire: Plenty of sun all week, but a couple cool days and a couple nights of killing frosts. Another week of corn chopping, and now most area producers are either done or will finish up this week. Some places spreading rye on chopped fields. A few farms looking to take a fourth cutting on grass and alfalfa for haylage. Farm stands have closed for the year. Great weather for apple picking. Steve Turaj (Ext), Coos: Field corn harvest now going at full speed, with what looks like a good crop coming in thanks to a warm September. Hard freeze, down into the low teens to twenties throughout the county, puts an end to the vegetable season with even high tunnels tomatoes killed. A little late hay still being cut, tedded as the week remains dry. Mums, pumpkins, winter squash, late greens still available for leaf peepers enjoying great Fall colors this year. Farmers markets and stands ending their season. Tom Buob (Ext), Grafton: Corn silage harvest continues. Finishing up third cut and some fourth cut continuing. Soil moisture is good and not causing problems with access to wetter fields. Steve Schmidt (FSA), Grafton: Corn harvest is nearly complete. In general, the corn looks very good this year. The prolonged period without frost allowed the corn to mature well and the ears dried down. We had our first frost which finished the corn growth for this year. Some final cut haylage is going in. George Hamilton (Ext), Hillsborough: Pick-your-own apple operations had nice weekend. Apple harvest is in full swing with most growers concentrating on strip picking McIntosh, Macoun, and Cortland. Harvesting late maturing varieties like Red Delicious, Empire, etc. Pear harvest almost completed. Vegetables: Killing frost occurred Tuesday night - Wednesday morning brought to end the warm season vegetable season. Harvesting cool season crops like cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts, lettuce, and finishing up winter squash and pumpkins. Farmers kept busy working on harvested fields by pulling plastic mulch & tomato stakes, disking fields, cleaning up fields, and planting cover crops. Field Crops: Field corn harvest in full swing and the end is in sight. Cover crops were being planted in harvested fields. Pam Marvin (FSA), Sullivan: Frost has hit what remaining silage or grain corn is standing. The cold temperatures have slowed down the growth of hay fields. What good forage is left is being cut and baled daily. Has been a good fall for outside field maintenance work. Geoffrey Njue (Ext), Strafford: Excellent weather for apple harvesting especially for pick your own operations. Apple harvesting going on well. About 60-80% harvested. Fall raspberries were also being harvested. Last week for sweet corn, field tomatoes and some other vegetables. However cool season vegetables like chard, kales, broccoli and lettuce continue to be harvested. Mum season is winding up and pumpkin sales continued strongly through the week. Farmers busy harvesting corn for silage. Some hay farmers making the 3rd cut while others could only manage a 2nd cut. It has been a great year for pastures but difficult for making hay. RHODE ISLAND - Karen Menezes (Ext), Newport: Chopping field corn and applying cover crops. Silage bunkers getting full. Still harvesting summer vegetables, tomatoes, lettuce, lots of cole crops around. Pumpkins being harvested along with winter squashes. VERMONT - John St. Onge/Kim Peterson (FSA), Lamoille: Dry spell continued through last week providing great conditions for harvesting. From reports we're getting the corn silage crop appears to have yields higher than expected considering the cool, wet summer. Harvested corn fields are seeing a lot of manure being spread. Soybean harvest should start this week. Dave Blodgett (NRCS), Orleans: Dry weather provided a great week for chopping corn. Many of the large corn growers have finished harvesting. So far landowners are happy with the yield and quality of their corn crop. September weather made a big difference. Aside from corn harvesting, many farmers are emptying their manure pits to get ready for the long winter. Perley Sparrow (FSA), Windham: Corn harvest is about completed in the county with reports that yields were excellent. There is some third cutting left to go for haylage. Manure spreading on hay fields and corn ground. Most all fall veggie crops are harvested and shipped to market. Jeff Carter (Ext), Addison: Harvesting corn silage, third crop alfalfa haylage and soybeans. Spreading liquid manure, lime and fertilizer on hay and corn fields. Excellent crops being harvested. Corn kernels mature with high plant moisture, noticeable silage leachate effluent. Nice fall weather with great foliage color. Dennis Kauppila (Ext), Caledonia: Trying to finish up corn chopping. People say the crop looks good, but it is not quite as mature as they would like; bear damage in places. Haying just about done. Killing frosts during the week. Another dry week. Lots of manure going out onto fields. Heather Darby (Ext), Franklin: Killing frost last week. Corn silage harvest continues. Yields reported as being average to above average. Manure is being spread on harvested fields. Sherwin Williams, Rutland: Still seeding winter rye on late fields. Picked last of sweet corn on October 4th. Pumpkins and squash all picked and stored, ready for fall sales. Still digging last of the potatoes; a real big crop. First frost October 5th. Two tenths inch rain for the week. Fall markets in full swing with large amounts of fall produce and decorations. 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, send an e-mail message to listserv@newsbox.usda.gov and in the body, type subscribe usda-new-eng-crop-weather Statistician: Dianne Johnson Stat Assistant: Lynne Arsenault 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 ***********************