OR-crop-weather Oregon Crop Weather Released: July 23, 2012 Week ending: July 22, 2012 OR-CW1712 OREGON CROP WEATHER NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE USDA, NASS, Oregon Field Office Phone: 503-326-2131 Released: July 23, 2012 Toll Free: 1-800-338-2157 Week ending: July 22, 2012 Email: nass-or@nass.usda.gov Volume: 17-12 Internet: www.nass.usda.gov/or Weather: Temperatures cooled last week, as most stations didn't hit 90 degrees. Malheur County didn't cool off however, as both Rome and Ontario reported highs over 100. Agency Lake had the lowest reported temperature, hitting 32 degrees. Both the Miller Homestead Fire and the Long Draw Fire have been contained, but with extensive reports of thunderstorms last week, there was still a concern for another fire starting. Thunderstorms also caused damage in Umatilla, Union, Baker, and Wallowa counties. The storms caused flash flooding, started small fires, damaged crops and prevented farmers from baling hay. Most of the State reported measurable precipitation last week, with Grants Pass reported the most, 0.61 inches, which was 0.58 inches above their historical normal. Despite the cooler weather, irrigation has remained a major activity. Field Crops: Wheat harvest in Umatilla County continued to roll east through high yielding wheat. Wheat harvest in the Sherman and Wasco counties should start in earnest by the end of the month. Thunderstorms last weekend and during the week brought rain and golf ball sized hail to various locations in Union and Baker counties. Significant damage occurred to the commercial potato, grain, and hay production in the southern region of Union County. Other hail storms caused damage to crops and structures in the various areas. Crop damage has been estimated to be in the 10 to 20 percent range. Grass seed harvest was just underway when the storms stopped all harvest last week. Growers were concerned for seed loss in the windrow. Grass seed has been in the windrow for about three weeks. Some first cutting hay finally in the bale. These thunder storms also caused havoc in Umatilla and Wallowa counties. In Yamhill County, the grass seed harvest was in full swing and the straw was being baled and removed almost as fast as the seed crop. The warmer weather was helping with the grain crops as well as corn for silage. Red clover was seeing just the beginning of some blooms. Field corn for silage did well with warmer weather in Washington County as well. Most grass for seed in windrow, some varieties were threshed. Baled straw was stocked. In Lane County, the second alfalfa cutting was coming along. The high moisture content in grass fields delayed the harvest for a few days. Fruits and Nuts: Bing cherry harvest finished in Wasco County and Skeena cherries have all been harvested as well. Harvest of late varieties had also begun, including Sweetheart, the last variety of the season. Quality continued to be good, with large, clean cherries from The Dalles area. Grapes were near their normal growth. Blueberries looked to be a nice crop this year in Lane County, while peaches appeared to be fair and raspberries were mediocre. Blackberries and Marionberries were continuing and looked good as well. Apples, pears and filberts were sizing. Spotted Wing Drosophila continued to pressure berry crops, cherries, and stone fruit. Commercial growers were applying controls in a timely fashion but hobby farmers and homeowners were losing a lot of fruit due to a lack of monitoring for the pest. Codling moth damage has been showing up here and there. High cucumber beetle populations and signs of flea beetle, but populations were down. People had to keep fungicides on their crops this year as plant growth has been very good, creating heavy canopies and humidity has been higher than usual. Vegetables: Vegetables looked good this week. Early cole crops have bolted due to the changes in temperature between hot and cold. Most vegetable crops this year were a little late getting planted but were doing very well with the current warm weather. Sweet corn was growing rapidly. Nurseries and Greenhouses: Normal temperatures and precipitation for the Willamette Valley meant normal irrigating, feeding, weeding, and other stock care. Livestock, Range and Pasture: Pastures have been holding well in Washington County, with some surplus to hay. The Miller Homestead Fire and the Long Draw Fire, in Harney and Malheur counties respectively, have both been contained, but have together burned over 700,000 acres of rangeland. The displacement of cattle and a lack of grazing land has been a major concern in the aftermath of the fires. In Lake County there were irrigation water shortages for producers who rely on creek water. Some producers were concerned about pasture conditions later in the year if the County does not receive additional precipitation. Soil Moisture - Week Ending 07/22/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Very : : : : short : Short : Adequate : Surplus ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Percent : Topsoil : 12 37 50 1 Subsoil : 14 26 59 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Crop Progress - Week Ending 07/22/12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5 year Crop : week : week : year : average -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Alfalfa hay, second cutting : 30 17 12 58 Winter wheat harvested : 13 7 6 28 Spring wheat harvested : 10 - - - : Days suitable for fieldwork : 6.3 6.7 6.2 6.4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition - Week Ending 07/22/12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Winter wheat : 0 9 16 54 21 Spring wheat : 0 5 29 58 8 Barley : 1 4 16 69 10 Corn : 0 0 17 83 0 Range and pasture : 1 11 30 52 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Western Oregon COLUMBIA: Hay was harvested, but was unfortunately over mature. There was also some rain on part of the cut. Weather was cooler than expected but improved towards the end of the week. DOUGLAS: A nice mild temperature week allowed crops to continue to develop nicely. The heat unit accumulation this year is well ahead of 2011. Most perennial crops were about 10-14 days earlier. People had to keep fungicides on their crops this year as plant growth has been very good, creating heavy canopies and humidity has been higher than usual. Spotted Wing Drosophila continued to pressure berry crops, cherries, and stone fruit. Commercial growers were applying controls in a timely fashion but hobby farmers and homeowners were losing a lot of fruit due to a lack of monitoring for the pest. Most vegetable crops this year were a little late getting planted but were doing very well with the current warm weather. LANE: Second alfalfa cutting was coming along. The high moisture content in grass fields delayed the harvest for a few days. Both cherries and strawberries were near the end. Blueberries looked to be a very nice crop this year, while peaches appeared to be fair and raspberries looked to be a mediocre crop. Blackberries looked huge. Apples and pears were sizing. Vegetables were doing well. Early cole crops have bolted due to hot and cool weather. First local farm corn due next week in farm stands. Codling moth damage has been showing up here and there. More Spotted Wing Drosophila have been spotted this year. Strawberries, cherries, raspberries were the most affected so far. High cucumber beetle populations and signs of flea beetle, but populations were down. YAMHILL: Sweet cherry harvest of late varieties continued. Tart cherry harvest has begun. Early peach harvest has also started. Blueberries and Marionberries were continuing. Grass seed harvest was in full swing and the straw was being baled and removed almost as fast as the seed crop. The warmer weather was helping with the grain crops as well as the sweet corn and corn for silage. Red clover was seeing just the beginning of some blooms. WASHINGTON: Field corn for silage did well with warmer weather. Most grass for seed in windrow, some varieties were threshed. Baled straw was stocked. Pastures holding with some surplus made into hay. Grapes near normal growth. Raspberries looked good, blueberries were being picked, filberts sizing and drylands being prepared for harvest. Sweet corn growing rapidly. Cover crops were being irrigated, new plantings watered and weeded. High temperatures 75 degrees, low 51 degrees. Sprinkles, not measurable. Eastern Oregon HOOD RIVER: The week was mostly dry with moderate temperatures with the exception of a thunderstorm on 7/19 that included heavy rain and hail. Cherry harvest continued in the lower Hood River Valley. Routine summer orchard operations continued throughout the Valley. KLAMATH: Another week of hot temperatures. Second cutting hay was being dropped. Grain hay was being harvested. Crops overall looked good. Irrigation continued. MALHEUR: High temperature around 95 degrees and the low temperature around 64 degrees. Right on average for this time of year. No precipitation. Wheat was maturing fast. Irrigation was the main focus. SHERMAN/WASCO: Weather was good enough to finish the Bing cherry harvest and start on the later varieties. Should be almost done by end of the month. Most of the Skeena cherries are now off of the trees. The harvest of Sweetheart, the last variety of the season, has begun. Quality continued to be good with large, clean cherries being harvested from The Dalles area. Wheat harvest should start in earnest by the end of the month. Hay growers were pleased with first and second cuttings and should even get a third cutting. LAKE: No precipitation during the week; currently at 79 percent of average for the water year. There were irrigation water shortages for producers who rely on creek water. Some producers concerned about pasture conditions later in the year if the County does not receive any additional precipitation. UMATILLA: Wheat harvest began in the western end of the County, and the combines continued to role east through high yielding wheat. Extreme thunder and lightning storms occurred intermittently across the County throughout the week. Flash flooding in areas of traditional summer fallow acreage caused extreme erosion. Chem-fallow ground was not affected. Lightning has caused multiple small fires, burning between 30-200 acres in areas. Intermittent rain caused grass seed harvest to halt in areas that received rain, and wheat harvest was delayed in the morning, but was able to resume in the afternoons due to high temperatures. UNION/BAKER: Thunderstorms last weekend and during the week brought rain and golf ball sized hail to various locations in the counties. Significant damage occurred to the commercial potato, grain, and hay production in the southern region of Union County. Other hail storms caused damage to crops and structures in the various areas of the Valley. Crop damage has been estimated to be in the 10 to 20 percent range. Grass seed harvest was just underway when the storms stopped all harvest last week. Growers were concerned for seed loss in the windrow. Grass seed has been in the windrow for about three weeks. Some first cutting hay finally in the bale. WALLOWA: Thunderstorms throughout the week were causing havoc with hay producers who cannot bale the wet windrows. There was also another hail storm in the Flora area during the week. Weather data for selected stations in Oregon, Week ending: July 22, 2012 (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 : 54 69 61 +1 79 +9 0.09 -0.12 3 71.72 6.89 111 190 Bandon 8/ : 51 65 59 +1 61 +3 0.29 0.22 2 65.58 7.74 113 180 Crescent City : 52 63 58 -1 56 +0 0.31 0.24 3 59.76 -4.39 93 132 Florence : 51 71 59 -2 64 -6 0.20 0.06 3 73.78 -1.15 98 173 North Bend : 55 68 61 +2 78 +11 0.30 0.23 1 40.47 -21.77 65 136 Tillamook : 54 73 63 +5 93 +34 0.05 -0.26 3 61.83 -24.72 71 188 WILLAMETTE : VALLEY : Aurora 8/ : 51 82 67 +1 122 +6 0.15 0.02 3 44.59 4.64 112 188 Corvallis : 49 85 66 +1 116 +4 0.13 0.06 2 46.57 4.88 112 179 Detroit Lake 8/ : 53 89 66 +3 114 +21 0.09 -0.06 3 98.60 32.54 149 178 Eugene : 49 86 66 -2 116 -10 0.13 0.06 2 42.21 -5.94 88 145 Hillsboro : 50 80 66 +0 118 +6 0.05 -0.02 1 31.81 -4.54 88 156 McMinnville : 55 82 67 +2 123 +10 0.01 -0.06 1 40.32 -2.03 95 162 Portland : 56 81 69 -1 131 -2 0.07 -0.04 1 40.23 5.18 115 164 Salem : 51 84 67 +1 122 +3 - -0.10 - 44.91 6.61 117 153 SW VALLEYS : Grants Pass : 52 89 69 -4 132 -22 0.61 0.58 4 28.53 -1.92 94 128 Medford : 52 91 71 -3 150 -15 0.06 0.03 1 17.61 -0.64 96 101 Roseburg : 54 88 67 -3 118 -15 0.37 0.30 2 30.70 -1.29 96 135 NORTH CENTRAL : Condon : 44 90 67 +1 120 +4 0.19 0.12 4 15.10 1.87 114 103 Echo 8/ : 55 92 74 +1 172 +9 0.27 0.25 2 8.42 -0.06 99 96 Heppner : 49 88 69 -1 137 -3 0.31 0.24 3 12.86 -0.28 98 92 Hermiston : 53 92 74 +1 172 +9 0.22 0.20 2 9.35 0.87 110 81 Madras 8/ : 44 92 68 +2 130 +9 0.03 -0.04 3 8.65 -1.14 88 91 Moro : 47 92 68 +1 130 +3 0.05 0.01 1 10.69 0.12 101 88 Parkdale 8/ : 43 87 64 -4 98 -21 0.03 0.02 1 46.31 16.16 154 158 Pendleton : 52 93 72 -2 157 -9 0.33 0.26 3 12.10 0.69 106 90 Prairie City 8/ : 44 92 68 +2 130 +9 0.03 -0.04 3 8.65 -1.14 88 91 The Dalles : 55 91 74 +7 169 +50 - -0.04 - 13.09 1.16 110 95 SOUTH CENTRAL : Agency Lake 8/ : 32 84 59 -6 67 -31 - -0.07 - 14.36 -1.02 93 88 Bend : 41 86 65 +2 109 +11 0.04 -0.03 1 9.90 -1.10 90 45 Burns : 42 96 68 +2 129 +10 0.03 -0.04 1 8.66 -0.53 94 72 Christmas Valley 8/ : 34 90 63 -7 91 -42 0.04 -0.03 1 5.75 -5.91 49 81 Klamath Falls : 38 89 61 -8 80 -48 0.01 -0.06 1 7.47 -5.32 58 74 Klamath Falls 8/ : 39 86 61 -8 78 -50 - -0.07 - 9.12 -3.67 71 95 Lakeview 8/ : 36 89 62 -6 88 -36 - -0.07 - 7.85 -7.15 52 87 Lorella 8/ : 35 89 61 -8 79 -49 - -0.07 - 8.70 -4.09 68 83 Redmond : 38 90 66 -1 113 -2 0.07 0.00 2 8.38 0.47 106 64 Worden 8/ : 35 88 59 -10 66 -62 0.01 -0.06 1 7.66 -5.13 60 75 NORTHEAST : Baker City : 45 91 70 +3 142 +23 - -0.07 - 8.12 -1.65 83 82 Joseph : 50 90 69 +9 134 +58 0.32 0.18 4 13.59 -9.95 58 126 La Grande : 46 91 72 +3 154 +14 0.07 -0.01 1 12.00 -4.37 73 93 Imbler 8/ : 45 90 69 +3 135 +16 0.46 0.35 4 17.48 -4.97 78 124 SOUTHEAST : Ontario : 59 101 79 +3 206 +17 - 0.00 - 7.78 -1.40 85 65 Rome : 55 101 76 +4 183 +23 0.16 0.09 1 5.87 -1.84 76 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1/ Summary based on NWS data. Copyright 2012: 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, 2011. 6/ DFN=Departure from normal (using 1961-1990 normal period). 7/ Precipitation days = Days with precipitation of 0.01 inch or more. 8/ Agri-Met weather stations.