or-crop-weather Oregon Crop Weather Released: May 11, 2009 Week ending: May 10, 2009 OR-CW0609 OREGON CROP WEATHER NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE USDA, NASS, Oregon Field Office Phone: 503-326-2131 Released: May 11, 2009 Toll Free: 1-800-338-2157 Week ending: May 10, 2009 Email: nass-or@nass.usda.gov Volume: 07-09 Internet: www.nass.usda.gov/or Weather: Precipitation was received by all parts of the State, with some areas experiencing hail and high winds. High temperatures ranged from 78 degrees in Medford, down to 56 degrees in Crescent City. Low temperatures ranged from 43 degrees in Portland and Crescent City, down to 20 degrees in Christmas Valley. All forty three stations reported a measurable amount of precipitation last week. The Detroit Lake station reported the most with 4.21 total inches. Field Crops: Much field activity slowed or halted due to wet conditions. Crops were generally in good shape but behind because of the cool spring. Some areas reported good growth due to warmer recent days. Irrigation cut back. Besides being slowed, hay, wheat, and grass seed generally look good. Vegetables: Vegetable seed crops were reported as average to above average. Field preparation and planting activities continued with farmers trying to work fields between showers last week. Fruits and Nuts: Active spraying of orchards. Fruit set generally good. Vineyards and caneberrys showing good growth, though warmer weather desirable. Some caneberry fields being cut down in Marion County due to freeze damage. Strawberries were blooming. Nurseries and Greenhouses: Greenhouses remained busy with vegetable and ornamental starts. Nurseries continued preparing trees and shrubs for sale. The effects of the economy continued to slow nursery sales in some areas. A few disease and insect problems were reported in some nurseries, but nothing widespread. Livestock, Range and Pasture: Livestock were generally looking good across the State. Cattle were being prepped for higher pastures although higher ranges were still not ready for grazing. The warmer temperatures this past week helped pasture and range growth, though the cooler spring has growth slightly behind normal for this time of year. Soil Moisture-Week Ending 05/10/09 ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Very : : : : short : Short : Adequate : Surplus ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Percent : Topsoil : 0 6 80 14 Subsoil : 5 12 71 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Crop Progress-Week Ending 05/10/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5 year Crop : week : week : year : average -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Barley planted : 93 90 93 92 Barley emerged : 75 69 75 71 Spring wheat planted : 94 85 97 97 Spring wheat emerged : 78 50 78 82 : Days suitable for fieldwork : 3.9 4.3 3.8 6.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition-Week Ending 05/10/09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Winter wheat : 1 11 39 41 8 Range and pasture : 2 8 25 54 11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Western Oregon BENTON/LANE/LINN: Four inches of rain since Friday night of last week, with lots of hail and wind mixed in. Spraying for septoria has been applied on the Geotze variety. Cereal leaf beetle seems to be an issue. Aphids were present in most wheat fields and spring crops seemed delayed because of wet weather. Signs of rust developing in grass seed fields. Temperatures were still below average for this time of year. Vegetable seed crops look average or above average. No irrigation needed at this time. Strawberries were blooming and the farmers markets were in full swing with spring vegetables. Good heading in Fescue and ryegrass continues, flag leaves are 80% emerged in winter wheat. CLACKAMAS: This has been a cold late spring. Last week saw some warm dry days late in the week after a few very wet days. Spring seedlings were doing well with all this moisture. Grass was growing better now with some warmer days, yet there was not much nursery work completed due to the slow economy. CLATSOP: Cold and wet conditions. COLUMBIA: Farmers have been working in the Valley between showers. Four days this week were suitable for work. Some fields were still being plowed and several fields in the area had been sprayed with a broad spectrum herbicide to kill off the field. These fields had not been tilled yet, but blueberries continue to bloom and some apples and pears as well. Dogwood was blooming and the honey bees were still swarming in the area. COOS/CURRY: Low temperatures were only slightly below the 5-year average for the week in both Coos and Curry. High temperatures through the week were 4 degrees below average for the week in southern Curry but over 6 degrees below the 5-year average in Coos. Precipitation early in the week, but the area was clear from Thursday through Sunday. Producers were mostly waiting on weather before conducting farming operations. Some additional cattle were moved to the bottoms over the weekend. Bandon (Coos & Northern Curry): Low temperature for the period was 40.4 degrees, 0.48 degrees below the 5-year average. High temperature for the period was 58.51 degrees, 6.3 degrees below the 5-year average. Precipitation for the period was 1.46 inches, compared to a 5-year (including drought in 2004 & 2005) average of 1.25 inches. Precipitation for current weather year precipitation (began 10/08) stands at 39.77 inches, 12.88 inches below the 5 year average, and 16.2 inches below the long-term historical average. Historical average precipitation through May is 55.97 inches. Brookings (Southern Curry): Low temperature for the period was 43.83 degrees, 0.16 degrees below the 5-year average. High temperature for the period was 67.41 degrees, 3.88 degrees below the 5-year average. Precipitation for the period was 1.47 inches, compared to a 5-year (including drought in 2004 & 2005) average of 0.74 inches. Precipitation for current weather year precipitation (began 10/08) stands at 67.03 inches, 8.23 inches below the 5 year average, and 3.78 inches below the long-term historical average. Historical average precipitation through May is 70.81 inches. Almost 2 inches of rain this week in a late spring storm kept pasture well-watered and growing profusely. DOUGLAS: Dry weather with warming temperatures late in the week helped all growers to get field work done. Orchard and vineyard spraying was kicking in with fungicides being the major spray. Fruit set looks very good for all stone fruit, and apples, pears, blueberries, and strawberry flowering was going very nicely. Hay crops were heading and have good yield potential. Grass seed was also beginning to head out. Nursery crops have had a few disease and insect outbreaks but nothing getting out of control. Mowing and weed control were the biggest work in progress for most crops at the moment. JACKSON: Received rain the first part of the week, which was really needed, and now are having some good sunshine. It makes for nice growing weather, therefore grain and hay crops should do somewhat better. However, it still seems as though we are about 2 weeks behind normal for this point in the season. Fruit crops are also running a bit late, they now need some warmer weather with cooler nights. Most orchards are quite busy with pest control spraying. Vineyards are showing lots of good growth, but really need some warmer weather as well. The rainy weather slowed down vegetable gardening. Greenhouses are still quite busy with vegetable and ornamental starts. There seems to be a good supply at most outlets. Nurseries are also still quite busy sending out trees and shrubs. This past week was good for working cattle and getting the animals ready for higher pastures. There are still shots to give, and marking tagging, or branding to do. Valley pastures are looking quite good, but still not as good as could be for this point in the season. The higher ranges still are not ready. Here again the cooler spring has slowed down forage in those areas. The rain we did get was enough that even dry ground pastures showed some improvement. Not much field work as the ground was too wet. JOSEPHINE: There was 1.5 inches of rain on Monday May 4, .2 inches of rain on Thursday May 7. Monday was blustery with a steady downpour. Temperatures were mild 38 - 43 range night, day 50 - 75 range for the week. Wind taking its toll on vegetable starts. Lots of plowing towards the end of week. Soil preparation in truck gardens continues where water table allows. Vineyards leafing out nicely with the more stable temperatures. Animals were all looking good. Cherry trees took a hit with the heavy rains, crop will be light in this area. Home gardeners were busy with winter clean-up, planting and getting irrigation in shape for new season. MARION: This week started with soaking rain all day on Monday. Tuesday brought only a few scattered showers, then rained again on Wednesday. Beginning Thursday the rain stopped until Sunday with scattered showers, again. The high temperatures followed the same pattern as the rain with a cool beginning of the week that gradually warmed as the week progressed, then started cooling off again on Sunday. Most field work was at a halt early in the week. We started seeing some tractors in the field near the week's end. Irrigation was shut down for a few days. Hand farm labor, such as nursery work and hop vine training, continued throughout the week. In some cane berry fields the vines were being cut down due to winter freeze damage. In those areas there will be no berry crop for 2009. Grass seed crops were starting to head out. Winter wheat flag leaves emerging. POLK: Rain pretty much shut down field activities. Pasture and hay finally getting good growth, catching up some, still a little behind normal. WASHINGTON: Weather conditions were cooler this week but there were high levels of much needed rainfall. Grass seed and fall planted winter wheat crops were looking good. Growth was occurring at a steady rate with some field crops standing at near 2ft tall. Blooms were beginning to emerge on crimson and red clovers. Emergence on row crops has started occurring. Spring planted grains are mostly all seeded and recent rains and warm temperatures are supporting good growth. Blooms are present on most flowering and fruiting trees with strawberries also coming in bloom. Caneberries are continuing to put on foliage. Early pollination of blueberries may be weak due to the wet cool weather. YAMHILL: Warmer daytime temperatures continue to improve crops even with the rain. Weekend sunshine and 70's will really get things going. The chaotic spring continue to cause some problems with reported spots of pea size hail. We will have to wait and see what kind of problems we may see from them. Strong winds with some heavy gusts could cause some problems as well. Warm days and only showers have given bees an opportunity to get a little actions going as well. Codling moth emergence began this week. Eastern Oregon HOOD RIVER: Unsettled weather conditions prevailed through most of the week. Calm, dry days at the end of the week provided opportunities for applying pear petal fall sprays in the lower Hood River Valley. At week's end, crop development in the lower Hood River Valley was as follows: d'Anjou pear at post bloom (WSU stage 8); Red Delicious apple at full bloom to post bloom (WSU stages 8 & 9); Bing cherry at post bloom (WSU stage 9); Pinot noir grape at Eichhorn-Lorenz stage 9. JEFFERSON: Surprising amounts of rain have resulted in much of the irrigation water being turned off. The rain was a minor inconvenience to completing some spring tillage, but not a major problem since steckling transplanting was complete. LAKE: Precipitation received throughout most of the week. Pastures looked good. MALHEUR: Wednesday through Sunday received wind rain and hail. The Idaho side was hit the hardest with Payette and Fruitdale getting the most. Vale and Ontario were hit as well. Rain each day through Wednesday. No field activity. Row crops were behind 5-14 days depending on location and conditions. MORROW: Substantial rain this week. SHERMAN: Most parts of the County got an inch of rain or more depending on location. Higher rains hit the South end. Warm temperatures and moisture combined to grow grain. Spring grain was shooting out of the soil while winter wheat has improved noticeably. Crop looks like it will be short (liking height) this summer as things seem about 1 -2 weeks behind. Spring planting was nearly wrapped up, initial field work and spraying has been slowed by weather. UNION: Lots of cool wet weather. Crops and pasture need some heat. Areas of winter wheat are being drowned out. Precipitation this week delayed field activities but moisture very much appreciated. Moisture followed by sunshine and warmer temperatures at end of the week should help crop growth and development. WALLOWA: More moisture this week, warmer temperatures towards the end. Crops and range are looking good. WASCO: It is still too early to tell how large the cherry crop is in Wasco County, but initial observations suggest that there has been a good fruit set. Weather data for selected stations in Oregon, Week ending: May 10, 2009 (as of 11:00 am) 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : : Growing : Last week precip. 4/ : Season cum. precipitation 5/ : Air temperature 2/ : degree days 3/ :-------------------------------------------------------------- Station :-------------------------------:-----------------: Total : : : Total : : Pct. : : Low : High : Avg. :DFN 6/ : Total :DFN 6/ : inches :DFN 6/ :Days 7/: inches :DFN 6/ : normal :Days 7/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ COASTAL AREAS : Astoria/Clatsop : 37 60 51 +0 11 -3 2.64 1.90 4 55.50 -4.34 93 137 Bandon 8/ : 40 59 51 +1 13 -1 1.46 0.76 3 40.05 -14.51 73 154 Crescent City : 43 56 51 -2 11 -12 1.32 0.57 4 46.58 -14.38 76 108 Florence : 31 60 49 -3 5 -11 2.28 1.37 3 61.27 -8.49 88 126 North Bend : 37 59 51 -2 15 -6 1.34 0.60 4 43.54 -15.22 74 127 Tillamook : 36 63 52 +2 21 +11 3.01 1.95 4 41.86 -37.66 53 136 WILLAMETTE : VALLEY : Aurora 8/ : 37 71 53 -1 23 -5 2.00 1.49 4 29.78 -6.69 82 130 Corvallis : 38 67 52 -2 15 -11 1.59 1.10 4 25.28 -13.75 65 141 Detroit Lake 8/ : 38 73 50 +3 13 +6 4.21 3.41 5 74.96 13.66 122 144 Eugene : 34 73 52 -3 18 -14 1.27 0.75 4 24.62 -20.55 55 113 Hillsboro : 34 69 52 -2 15 -13 1.31 0.93 4 20.32 -13.36 60 109 McMinnville : 34 69 52 -3 15 -17 1.12 0.66 4 16.98 -22.96 43 105 Portland : 43 70 55 -1 37 -1 1.58 1.09 4 22.83 -9.05 72 128 Salem : 37 69 53 +0 22 -2 1.52 1.10 4 23.95 -11.46 68 112 SW VALLEYS : Grants Pass : 38 73 55 -3 37 -14 1.73 1.45 4 21.36 -7.83 73 98 Medford : 37 78 56 +1 45 +1 0.61 0.36 3 11.77 -5.18 69 80 Roseburg : 38 77 55 +1 39 -1 1.08 0.71 4 22.16 -7.88 74 108 NORTH CENTRAL : Condon : 31 68 48 -2 3 -10 0.37 0.09 4 9.84 -1.24 89 82 Echo 8/ : 32 75 54 -4 27 -24 0.27 0.13 3 7.05 -0.44 94 82 Heppner : 36 66 52 -2 15 -14 0.29 -0.06 4 9.65 -1.38 87 82 Hermiston : 34 76 55 -3 35 -16 0.41 0.27 3 5.65 -1.84 75 67 Madras 8/ : 32 69 49 -3 8 -16 0.26 0.12 4 6.57 -1.55 81 73 Moro : 34 70 50 -2 8 -11 0.66 0.51 3 9.49 0.27 103 72 Parkdale 8/ : 32 70 48 -6 3 -29 2.11 1.90 4 35.74 6.91 124 113 Pendleton : 37 72 52 -4 19 -24 0.52 0.28 4 10.82 0.91 109 80 Prairie City 8/ : 32 69 49 -3 8 -16 0.26 0.12 4 6.57 -1.55 81 73 The Dalles : 38 77 55 +3 35 +11 0.71 0.57 4 11.84 1.15 111 91 SOUTH CENTRAL : Agency Lake 8/ : 29 66 46 -1 - -7 0.78 0.57 2 11.66 -1.99 85 68 Bend : 29 63 45 -3 - -8 0.71 0.57 2 5.99 -3.26 65 41 Burns : 27 68 46 -3 1 -13 0.50 0.29 3 6.70 -0.70 91 68 Christmas Valley 8/ : 20 73 45 -7 - -21 0.21 0.00 2 5.87 -3.77 61 75 Klamath Falls : 26 71 47 -3 5 -12 0.27 0.11 3 6.83 -4.44 61 62 Klamath Falls 8/ : 27 71 47 -4 4 -13 0.29 0.13 2 7.87 -3.40 70 81 Lakeview : 25 70 47 -3 3 -11 0.44 0.16 3 6.41 -6.18 51 81 Lorella 8/ : 23 71 47 -4 3 -14 0.55 0.39 2 5.79 -5.48 51 62 Redmond : 28 71 48 -1 7 -7 0.05 -0.09 2 4.70 -1.65 74 56 Worden 8/ : 26 70 46 -4 - -17 0.32 0.16 2 5.05 -6.22 45 68 NORTHEAST : Baker City : 25 68 46 -5 3 -11 0.61 0.36 4 6.91 -0.15 98 87 Joseph : 27 59 42 -4 - +0 1.15 0.73 5 13.34 -6.47 67 92 La Grande : 31 72 50 -3 11 -10 0.48 0.13 3 9.20 -4.24 68 68 Union : 30 65 48 -3 4 -10 0.83 0.48 5 11.68 2.15 123 85 SOUTHEAST : Ontario : 34 73 53 -5 27 -29 0.36 0.22 4 7.23 -0.58 93 54 Rome : 25 75 52 -2 27 -2 0.02 -0.19 1 4.41 -1.36 76 57 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1/ Summary based on NWS data. Copyright 2009: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2/ Air temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. 3/ Growing degree days base-50 degrees Fahrenheit. 4/ Precipitation (rain or melted snow/ice) in inches. 5/ Season cumulative precipitation starts September 1, 2008. 6/ DFN=Departure from normal (using 1961-1990 normals period). 7/ Precipitation days = Days with precipitation of 0.01 inch or more. 8/ Agri-Met weather stations.