or-crop-weather Oregon Crop Weather Released: June 8, 2009 Week ending: June 7, 2009 OR-CW1009 OREGON CROP WEATHER NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE USDA, NASS, Oregon Field Office Phone: 503-326-2131 Released: June 8, 2009 Toll Free: 1-800-338-2157 Week ending: June 7, 2009 Email: nass-or@nass.usda.gov Volume: 10-09 Internet: www.nass.usda.gov/or Weather: Severe thunderstorms were experienced throughout the State, causing high winds, hail, and precipitation. High temperatures ranged from 94 degrees in The Dalles, down to 62 degrees in Bandon. Low temperatures ranged from 57 degrees in The Dalles to 34 degrees in Christmas Valley. All forty three stations reported a measurable amount of precipitation last week. The Rome station reported the most with 3.06 total inches. Field Crops: Last weeks thunderstorms brought moisture to grains throughout the State. Some hay that was already cut was rained on and much more hay was not cut due to the storms. Hay damage was unknown on many areas. Grasses grew rapidly this past week. Red clover silage harvest continued. Some wheat in the Willamette Valley was damaged by high winds and heavy rains. Barley was heading rapidly in north central areas. Dry land wheat areas had good rain, the issue was whether it came soon enough. Vegetables: Sweet corn was being planted on schedule. Not much done with vegetables in Jackson County because of thunderstorms. Thirsty corn fields and other crops benefited from the rain. First rhubarb harvest done. There was damage to carrot seed from thunderstorms in central Oregon. Fruits and Nuts: Strong thunderstorms at the start of the week reportedly caused damage to some orchard crops. Filbert producers reported limb breakage and leaf damage. Cherries were reported to have had close to ideal fruit set in Wasco County. Cherry fruit fly emerged in the Willamette Valley. Grapes setting well. Raspberries were in the green stage, and blueberries were looking good. Strawberries would be available soon if not already, some bruising from storms. Hood River fruit sizing better after slow start due to the cool spring. Nurseries and Greenhouses: Greenhouses were cleaning up in preparation for summer maintenance activities. Nurseries remained busy with plant care and keeping stock ready for sale. Ball and burlaping small evergreens and shipping. Livestock, Range and Pasture: Livestock across the State continued to look good after a week of heavy precipitation that provided good weather and plenty of feed. Animals were being processed with shots, marking, and sorting. Many waterholes were replenished. Pasture and range growth was improved by the rain, possibly extending the summer grazing season. Soil Moisture-Week Ending 06/07/09 ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Very : : : : short : Short : Adequate : Surplus ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Percent : Topsoil : 1 20 74 5 Subsoil : 5 15 77 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Crop Progress-Week Ending 06/07/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5 year Crop : week : week : year : average -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Alfalfa hay, first cutting : 57 56 55 37 Winter wheat headed : 94 47 84 86 : Days suitable for fieldwork : 4.8 6.7 4.8 5.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition-Week Ending 06/07/09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Winter wheat : 2 23 32 40 3 Spring wheat : 3 12 40 40 5 Barley : 0 5 58 32 5 Corn : 0 6 23 55 16 Range and pasture : 2 8 29 50 11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Western Oregon BENTON/LINN/LANE: Thunderstorms from last week had soaked areas stopping hay operations, but refreshing new plantings and seed crops. Spring wheat was being treated for cereal leaf beetle and aphids. Rust had been slowly developing in grass seed so far this season. Last week winds and hail made some wheat fields lodge. Sweet corn continues to be planted on schedule for the most part. Some hay fields were cut prior to the rain/hail, no reports of damage or loss of production were yet reported. Grasses were pollinating and row crops were up and looking good. CLACKAMAS: Things turned damp then wet with thunderstorms starting Monday. Some dry but humid days until more severe thundershowers came back Thursday in the late afternoon. Some spots of hail storms, high wind, and rain hit. Showers Friday and going into the weekend. Wonderful for spring seedings pastures and hay fields that are already harvested but lots of hay is still in the swath or windrow and now very wet. CLATSOP/ TILLAMOOK: Rain on Friday and Saturday, hopefully would help non- irrigated pastures and grass silage fields. Some folks had been running irrigation due to dry weather in late May and the first week of June. COLUMBIA: The beginning of the week was warm with a little wind. Ideal conditions for spraying fields and working on crops. Thursday, several large storms unexpectedly popped up in the late afternoon. There was fifteen minutes notice before the gust front hit the northern Willamette Valley with 60-70 mph winds followed by hail in some areas, heavy rain and lightening. The most damage occurred from wind damage to trees and debris being thrown around. It took several days for the grass fields to stand back up. We incurred no damage from hail in this area. Hail was light and barely noticeable. Rain continued for several days after, fizzing out on Saturday afternoon. Himalayan blackberry has begun to bloom and we were starting to pick strawberries in this area. COOS/CURRY: Low temperatures were 2 to 3 degrees above the 5-year average for the week in both Coos and Curry counties. High temperatures through the week were 32 degrees below average in Coos and 6 1/2 degrees below the 5-year average in southern Curry. One third to 1/2 inch of precipitation for the week, spread over 3 - 4 days early in the week, but drying out the end of the week. Producers were taking advantage of the weather for farming operations, including silage and haying operations the end of the week. The winds were still present in the afternoons, but not as strong as the previous week. Bandon (Coos & Northern Curry): Low temperature for the period was 49.28 degrees, 2.95 degrees above the 5-year average. High temperature for the period was 61.77 degrees, 2.86 degrees below the 5-year average. Precipitation for the period was 0.31 inches, compared to a 5-year (including drought in 2004 & 2005) average of 0.9 inches. Precipitation for current weather year precipitation (began 10/08) stands at 40.49 inches, 14.16 inches below the 5 year average, and 16.99 inches below the long-term historical average. Historical average precipitation through May is 57.48 inches. Brookings (Southern Curry): Low temperature for the period was 50.37 degrees, 2.39 degrees above the 5-year average. High temperature for the period was 62.88 degrees, 6.42 degrees below the 5-year average. Precipitation for the period was 0.42 inches, compared to a 5-year (including drought in 2004 & 2005) average of 1.36 inches. Precipitation for current weather year (began 10/08) stands at 70.4 inches, 8.12 inches below the 5 year average, and 3.31 inches below the long-term historical average. Historical average precipitation through May is 73.71 inches. Foggy along the coast every day, several small rainstorms had extended the optimal grass growing conditions for the season DOUGLAS: Several thunderstorms passed through the area last week. Some with gusts exceeding 45 mph and accompanied with heavy rains. JACKSON: Not much happened this week on field crops. Lots of people trying to get the hay that was down dried and baled. Lots of first cutting hay got wet. This week was much too wet for most orchard spraying. Had some very heavy storms, some with hail,. No word on the amount of damage may have been done yet. Again not much was done with vegetables, unless the storms missed some fields. Most work that was done would have weeding cultivation, and some side dressing with fertilizer. Greenhouses were starting to do clean-up, and getting ready for summer maintenance. Still quite a lot of vegetable starts, and flower garden starts at outlets. Nurseries were busy doing plant care, and keeping stock ready for sale. All livestock looked quite good, with lots of good forage. The wet weather has been good for pastures, but a great help on dry ground pastures. Some cattle being worked with shots, marking, sorting, and getting ready for higher ranges. JOSEPHINE: Total precipitation for week ending June 7, 1 and 6/10 of an inch. Thunder and lightning but with the flooding and heavy rains most fires were quickly contained. Cool with coastal effect all week. Gorgeous weather for working in garden, farming, yet hay was a little troublesome. Animals looked good and loved the weather this last week. Lots of feed. Truck farmers getting product in late this year. The ground has warmed nicely. Strawberries will be available soon. Blueberry farms were looking good. Grapes were doing well for the most part. Timing of the rain did not affect some table grapes. No reports or visuals on wine grapes. MARION: A storm twisted wheat in this area. WASHINGTON: Winter wheat, tall fescue, and orchard grass were heading. Some signs of heading were beginning to appear on perennial ryegrass. Blooms were dying off on crimson clover and meadowfoam. Red clover and grasses continue to be cut for hay. Choke is apparent in orchard grass. Cereal leaf beetle and aphid populations were beginning to become present on wheat. Populations were not troublesome at this point. Conditions for Septoria and rust were mild but apparent. Irrigation had been needed on newly seeded row crops due to dry conditions. Strawberry crop had been affected by the recent rains experienced on June 4, berries appeared bruised at the marketplace and raspberries were in the green stage. The pelting rain did not significantly damage other crops except for causing perennial ryegrass to lay over. Grass for seed in heavy pollination, weed control teams were in fields, some irrigation of grass for seed ongoing, rapid cutting of red clover for silage. Crimson clover setting seed and field corn growing well. Grapes setting well. Filberts had limb breakage and leaf damage from Friday's storm. First rhubarb harvest done. Staggered sweet corn plantings from foot high to pre-emerge. Rains hampered some plantings and drowned out some low areas. Balling and burlaping small evergreens and shipping. Irrigation ongoing. Grass growth came on fast and some pastures were cut for hay. Cow and calves were doing well. High temperature 80.5 degrees, low 54 degrees. Humidity high at 72 percent, low 49 percent. YAMHILL: The high winds and heavy rains on Thursday laid over grass fields, wheat fields and raised havoc with orchards. The grasses had started pollinating earlier in the week but the storm pretty much took care of any of it getting a full 7-10 days of pollinating. Reports of branches down and some split trees in hazelnut orchards have come in. Red clover silage harvest continued all through the week and into this weekend. Grass hay was mostly done but not all is out of the field. Red clover fields that had already been silaged or chopped benefitted from the rains on Thursday and Friday as did all corn fields and many other crops as everything was getting pretty thirsty. Cherry fruit fly emerged this week. Eastern Oregon BAKER/UNION: Scattered showers throughout the week. Some hay down. Swathing had begun for first cutting of hay but delayed due to rain showers this week. Thunderstorms all week stalled first cutting of alfalfa and grass hay. There had been reports of damage to orchard crops because of the high wind and hail associated with the storms early in the week. CROOK/DESCHUTES/JEFFERSON: Reported damage to carrot seed from thunderstorm activity. GILLIAM: Wheat has been stressed. There was a thunder storm Friday, June 6 that put down less than half an inch in areas. Also, some spotty thundershowers a week ago or so. HARNEY: Scattered thunderstorms brought significant amounts of precipitation to areas last week. Range grasses capitalized on the precipitation with a flush of growth. In areas receiving substantial precipitation, waterholes and stock ponds partially filled yielding livestock producers more flexibility in using summer range. Overall, livestock on summer range were doing well in response to improved pasture conditions. Rain delayed the alfalfa harvest in some parts and irrigation was winding down for the season on flood meadows. HOOD RIVER: Fruit sized up well, catching up from previous cool weather. The past few days have again been cooler and windy. Only breezy this morning, June 8, so growers were spraying. KLAMATH: Had several scatter showers and thunderstorms across the County this past week. Brought 0.5"to 1.0" of rain or more to selected areas. Some areas also had hail, which had caused some damage to the first cutting of alfalfa that had been delayed in being cut, due to the rain and forecast for more rain showers and thunderstorms. Cooler temperatures during the week. Severe thunderstorms on Sunday resulted in short term flooding and water standing in fields. Reports of irrigation lines floating in some fields. Rain during the week with severe storms again on Friday night. First cutting hay had been delay due to the storms, as a result more hay was blooming causing potential quality losses. Aphids were also being reported in hay. Unknown damage to crops that have not germinated due to the ground moisture because of storms. LAKE: Received large amounts of precipitation throughout the week and over the weekend. MALHEUR: A week of scattered thunder showers. Rainfall amounts varied. Most of northern Malheur County received some rain at one time or another. Temperatures all week near normal but humidity high, around 50 percent. The high temperatures of last weeks helped crop growth. Most field activity stopped by weeks end. Many hay fields completed harvest before the showers, but some hay lay in the windrow. No damage is known at this time, however with the amount of rain, some washed out land was expected. MORROW: Thunderstorms, lightning and up to 1'' rain received Thursday, June 4. SHERMAN: Spring barley was quickly heading. Showers Thursday as thunderstorm skirted the area dropping half inch of gentle rain in the south end of the County, two tenths in the north end. Welcomed drink for crop but maybe too late. WASCO: The sweet cherry crop in Wasco County was expected to be over 30,000 tons in size. The 5 year average for Wasco County production is 25,000 tons. Many cherry blocks throughout the district seem to have close to an ideal fruit set. Weather data for selected stations in Oregon, Week ending: June 7, 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 : 53 72 61 +6 76 +40 0.09 -0.54 4 57.79 -4.62 93 148 Bandon 8/ : 49 62 55 +0 37 +5 0.31 -0.15 4 40.77 -15.98 72 165 Crescent City : 50 63 55 +1 41 +3 0.12 -0.33 3 47.82 -15.45 76 116 Florence : 47 64 55 -2 35 -6 0.64 -0.05 6 63.48 -9.42 87 137 North Bend : 50 63 56 -1 42 +0 0.99 0.50 5 44.91 -16.16 74 137 Tillamook : 55 72 61 +8 80 +49 0.08 -0.79 2 42.99 -40.31 52 143 WILLAMETTE : VALLEY : Aurora 8/ : 53 88 65 +7 110 +46 0.25 -0.20 4 31.07 -7.32 81 139 Corvallis : 52 83 63 +5 93 +34 0.44 0.09 5 26.80 -13.83 66 151 Detroit Lake 8/ : 51 86 64 +10 100 +62 0.31 -0.32 5 77.47 13.37 121 155 Eugene : 48 81 63 +4 91 +25 0.24 -0.18 2 25.47 -21.52 54 119 Hillsboro : 53 86 65 +6 103 +40 0.19 -0.16 1 21.33 -13.76 61 114 McMinnville : 50 87 64 +6 102 +37 0.20 -0.12 2 17.60 -23.86 42 111 Portland : 56 90 67 +7 119 +41 0.26 -0.16 4 24.18 -9.48 72 138 Salem : 54 88 66 +8 112 +50 0.93 0.57 2 25.67 -11.36 69 119 SW VALLEYS : Grants Pass : 53 90 69 +6 134 +39 0.76 0.58 4 22.28 -7.84 74 105 Medford : 54 84 67 +5 123 +31 0.39 0.21 4 12.38 -5.38 70 87 Roseburg : 55 83 66 +6 114 +38 0.78 0.52 4 23.10 -8.14 74 115 NORTH CENTRAL : Condon : 49 84 65 +9 106 +59 0.80 0.52 1 10.94 -1.22 90 87 Echo 8/ : 51 89 68 +5 130 +31 0.10 -0.04 2 7.26 -0.79 90 87 Heppner : 54 88 68 +9 131 +59 0.83 0.55 2 10.66 -1.60 87 88 Hermiston : 50 90 70 +6 140 +41 0.05 -0.09 1 5.86 -2.19 73 71 Madras 8/ : 44 80 63 +5 91 +29 0.61 0.40 2 7.20 -1.70 81 77 Moro : 51 89 68 +10 127 +70 0.38 0.21 1 9.93 -0.02 100 75 Parkdale 8/ : 43 84 63 +4 91 +24 0.13 -0.08 3 37.20 7.54 125 121 Pendleton : 53 89 67 +5 122 +32 0.90 0.70 2 11.90 1.16 111 86 Prairie City 8/ : 44 80 63 +5 91 +29 0.61 0.40 2 7.20 -1.70 81 77 The Dalles : 57 94 71 +13 152 +91 0.04 -0.10 1 12.11 0.77 107 95 SOUTH CENTRAL : Agency Lake 8/ : 39 74 56 +2 42 +6 0.97 0.75 4 12.96 -1.61 89 75 Bend : 39 88 60 +6 71 +33 0.90 0.69 5 6.91 -3.12 69 47 Burns : 41 78 61 +7 76 +38 0.64 0.43 5 8.70 0.41 105 81 Christmas Valley 8/ : 34 72 57 -2 49 -10 1.01 0.73 6 6.96 -3.64 66 85 Klamath Falls : 42 76 57 +0 53 -2 0.83 0.62 6 7.96 -4.15 66 73 Klamath Falls 8/ : 41 75 57 -1 50 -5 0.81 0.60 4 9.40 -2.71 78 93 Lakeview : 39 75 55 -2 35 -10 0.90 0.56 4 7.97 -5.99 57 90 Lorella 8/ : 40 78 56 -2 48 -7 1.24 1.03 4 7.11 -5.00 59 68 Redmond : 40 79 61 +6 79 +33 0.91 0.70 3 5.86 -1.21 83 60 Worden 8/ : 41 76 56 -2 45 -10 0.63 0.42 5 6.31 -5.80 52 77 NORTHEAST : Baker City : 42 83 61 +4 79 +26 1.32 0.97 5 8.39 0.06 101 95 Joseph : 45 79 61 +10 79 +57 0.81 0.32 4 14.70 -7.01 68 101 La Grande : 46 84 64 +6 101 +37 0.45 0.07 3 10.12 -4.78 68 75 Union : 48 85 65 +9 106 +56 0.93 0.51 4 12.86 1.77 116 94 SOUTHEAST : Ontario : 52 89 67 +3 123 +16 1.05 0.84 4 8.31 -0.24 97 59 Rome : 41 77 61 +0 77 +2 3.06 2.78 7 7.69 0.97 114 66 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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.