OR-crop-weather Oregon Crop Weather Released: August 6, 2012 Week ending: August 5, 2012 OR-CW1912 OREGON CROP WEATHER NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE USDA, NASS, Oregon Field Office Phone: 503-326-2131 Released: August 6, 2012 Toll Free: 1-800-338-2157 Week ending: August 5, 2012 Email: nass-or@nass.usda.gov Volume: 19-12 Internet: www.nass.usda.gov/or Weather: Last week was the warmest of the year so far, as highs climbed into the triple digits at several stations around the State, and many others hitting the high 90's. The Southwest Valley had the hottest recorded temperatures, with both Grants Pass and Medford reaching 106 degrees. Lows for the past week held steady for the most part, with cool nights and mornings helping to offset the afternoon heat. No station reported a freezing temperature, with Agency Lake having the lowest recorded temperature at 35 degrees. Dry lightning storms in Lake County caused a few fires, but were taken care of by local firefighters. Almost no precipitation was recorded last week, with most stations reporting no measured rainfall. Worden received the most rain, with a paltry 0.12 inches, still below its normal measured amount for this time of year. Field Crops: Wheat harvests continued, with yields looking to be above average. Early barley had about 5 percent shatter damage, but still had good kernels. Harvest of meadow hay has been nearly completed in Harney County and second cutting of alfalfa was well underway. Grass seed harvest has also almost been completed, or has finished. Yields for grass seed have varied greatly, from below normal to very good. Straw has been baled and sent to storage sheds; red clover in full bloom and bees were in the fields for pollination. Corn silage harvest was a month or less away and crop conditions look good in the south Willamette Valley. Grasshoppers in the northern part of Klamath County continued to be a problem and have impacted forages. The hot and dry weather has made irrigation a constant. Fruits and Nuts: Blueberry harvest started in Lane County and initial indications point to a huge crop this year. Cherries continued to look good, with harvests continuing in Yamhill and Wasco counties. Douglass County wine grape crop continued to mature nicely, and appeared to be two weeks ahead of the previous two years. A very good vintage for wine grapes in 2012 looks to be likely. Early Gravenstein apples have sized well and looked ready, although some drop has been observed. Peaches were starting to be harvested, and pears were sizing well also. Walnuts sizing and seemed to be good production. Blight was apparent in some filbert orchards. Some filbertworm spraying was taking place in hazelnut orchards. Spotted wing drosophila has continued hammering strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, jostaberries, and cherries and was still expected to continue to hit the mid to late blueberries, the wild blackberries, prunes, and peaches. Some filbertworm spraying was taking place in hazelnut orchards. Vegetables: Vegetable crop production looked good across Douglas County. Watch out for a second round of bolting on cole crops. Bush beans for canning were doing well. Sweet corn harvest was three weeks to a month from beginning in Lane County, with ears setting, and crop conditions looking very good. Many different varieties were already available at farmer's markets in Washington County. Overall vegetable production looks good. Nurseries and Greenhouses: Nurseries Ongoing irrigation. Livestock, Range and Pasture: Hay being fed to short pasture areas, rotation of pastures holding up well in Washington County. The hot weather has still been a problem as dry lightning started a few more fires in Lake County, burning more land. Soil Moisture - Week Ending 08/05/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Very : : : : short : Short : Adequate : Surplus ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Percent : Topsoil : 24 48 28 0 Subsoil : 22 43 35 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Crop Progress - Week Ending 08/05/12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5 year Crop : week : week : year : average -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Alfalfa hay, second cutting : 69 54 59 82 Winter wheat harvested : 47 24 26 63 Barley harvested : 23 8 18 52 Spring wheat harvested : 30 20 11 50 : Days suitable for fieldwork : 6.9 6.9 6.8 6.7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition - Week Ending 08/05/12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Winter wheat : 0 8 19 53 20 Spring wheat : 0 7 36 52 5 Barley : 0 4 18 67 11 Corn : 0 0 17 83 0 Range and pasture : 3 18 33 41 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Western Oregon DOUGLAS: Another mild temperature week that started to warm up as we got to the weekend. Many cool, cloudy mornings this year has made this an excellent growing season by keeping temperatures from going into the 90's and stressing crops. This weekend was the first real taxing weather of the season for all crops so farmers are watering full speed. River levels are very good for irrigation supplies for the balance of the summer. Crops continued to develop nicely with excellent prospects for the remaining tree fruit. Peaches were starting to be harvested, apples and pears were sizing well. Insect and disease problems for apples, pears, and peaches were under control. The wine grape crop continued to mature very nicely. The crop was at least 2 weeks ahead of the past two years. A very good vintage for wine grapes in 2012 looks likely. Vegetable crop production was doing very well. Rains in late June and early July may have hurt the hay crop quality. JACKSON: Hottest week of the year with recorded temperatures reaching around 106 on Saturday and middle to upper 90s all week long. Lots of irrigation underway with the high temperatures. LANE: Had a good strawberry harvest this year. Good raspberry harvest as well, although a little light. Blueberry harvest has begun, appeared to be a huge crop in most areas. Marionberries looked like a moderate crop. Wild blackberry crop was huge. Cherries have continued to look good throughout the year. Lodi and transparent apples have started to be picked. Early Gravenstein apples looked ready. Spotted wing drosophila has continued hammering strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, jostaberries, and cherries and was still expected to continue to hit the mid to late blueberries, the wild blackberries, prunes, and peaches. So far we have not seen the SWD in tomatoes, but if it is going to happen, this is the year, so watch out. This next week's warm weather should bring on a lot of the garden crops. Watch for a second round of bolting on cole crops. Grass seed yields have been all over the map with reports of well below to above average by variety and area. The early wheat yield reports are also variable from below to normal yields. The bushel weight and quality numbers were reported as very good. Still a lot of feed on the pasture lands. Silage and sweet corn harvest was three weeks to a month from beginning. Crop conditions looked very good for both crops. YAMHILL: Tart cherry and peach harvests continued. Some filbertworm spraying was taking place in hazelnut orchards. WASHINGTON: Grass for seed completed, straw baled and sent to storage sheds, red clover in full bloom and bees in fields for pollination. Field corn was growing rapidly under constant irrigation. Gravenstein apples were sizing well, some drop observed; blueberries producing. Walnuts sizing and seemed to be good production. Blight was apparent in some filbert orchards. Sweet corn setting ears, with many varieties available at farmers markets. Bush beans for canning doing well. Greenhouse and nursery crops: ongoing irrigation, cover crops nearing plow down. Hay being fed to short pasture areas, rotation of pastures holding up well. High temperature 91 degrees, low temperature 50 degrees. No rain, which helped the maturity of wheat and barley. Eastern Oregon HARNEY: Warm, dry conditions continued throughout the week. Harvest of meadow hay was nearly complete and the second cutting of alfalfa was well underway. KLAMATH: Another week of hot temperatures. Some grain crops were turning, harvest should begin for some wheat and barley in two to three weeks. Irrigation continued for other crops and in general crops were looking good. Grasshoppers in northern part of County were still impacting forages. Hot and dry weather continued. LAKE: Very small amount of precipitation over the weekend, currently at 80 percent of normal for water year. Some lightning caused fires over the weekend from the dry lightning storms. Second cutting has started in portions of the County, just started to swath. SHERMAN/WASCO: Harvest was moving at a much faster clip although some field still sporting some patches of green. Have had some Hessian fly issues in both counties. Soil moisture reports coming back with variable levels from Okay to great, most likely had to do with variability of rainfalls in July, June and May. Early barley had 5percent shatter damage but good kernels. Fields seemed much cleaner this year as a higher percent were treated with herbicide in Clearfield varieties. Cherry harvest continued in late areas of the district. Harvest should be complete in Wasco County by next weekend. UMATILLA: Wheat harvest continued across the County with yields at average or above average. Grass seed harvest was almost complete also. Male rows were destroyed on seed corn this week, and the corn crop continued to look good. Hot, dry weather this week will be good for hay producers looking to put up third cutting hay. Weather data for selected stations in Oregon, Week ending: August 5, 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 : 52 92 63 +3 93 +16 - -0.21 - 71.77 +6.52 110 192 Bandon 8/ : 48 65 59 -1 62 -1 - -0.14 - 65.58 +7.53 113 180 Crescent City : 51 62 57 -2 53 -10 0.01 -0.13 1 59.79 -4.58 93 135 Florence : 42 77 59 -3 64 -8 - -0.21 - 73.78 -1.51 98 173 North Bend : 52 66 59 -2 66 -4 - -0.14 - 40.47 -21.99 65 136 Tillamook : 46 95 65 +7 106 +43 - -0.28 - 61.83 -25.28 71 188 WILLAMETTE : VALLEY : Aurora 8/ : 52 103 72 +6 153 +34 - -0.14 - 44.59 +4.37 111 188 Corvallis : 48 101 70 +3 139 +20 - -0.14 - 46.57 +4.62 111 179 Detroit Lake 8/ : 49 101 70 +7 145 +48 0.02 -0.19 1 98.63 +32.19 148 180 Eugene : 47 101 69 +2 136 +10 - -0.15 - 42.21 -6.21 87 145 Hillsboro : 48 100 68 +2 128 +9 - -0.17 - 31.81 -4.84 87 156 McMinnville : 51 101 72 +5 151 +32 - -0.11 - 40.32 -2.21 95 162 Portland : 55 102 71 +3 152 +18 - -0.16 - 40.23 +4.88 114 164 Salem : 52 102 71 +5 152 +30 - -0.13 - 44.91 +6.40 117 153 SW VALLEYS : Grants Pass : 54 106 75 +3 177 +19 - -0.07 - 28.40 -2.19 93 127 Medford : 51 106 77 +4 191 +23 - -0.07 - 17.61 -0.78 96 101 Roseburg : 54 102 73 +4 163 +23 - -0.09 - 30.70 -1.45 95 135 NORTH CENTRAL : Condon : 48 89 69 +2 132 +13 - -0.14 - 15.10 +1.64 112 103 Echo 8/ : 48 101 74 +1 174 +8 - -0.07 - 8.43 -0.19 98 97 Heppner : 50 92 70 -2 140 +0 - -0.11 - 12.78 -0.54 96 91 Hermiston : 49 101 74 +1 171 +5 - -0.07 - 9.35 +0.73 108 81 Madras 8/ : 45 98 68 +1 131 +5 0.01 -0.07 1 8.66 -1.28 87 92 Moro : 45 93 67 -3 120 -13 - -0.07 - 10.69 -0.02 100 88 Parkdale 8/ : 43 97 66 -3 115 -11 0.02 -0.05 2 46.34 +16.05 153 161 Pendleton : 49 101 72 -2 156 -12 - -0.07 - 12.10 +0.55 105 90 Prairie City 8/ : 45 98 68 +1 131 +5 0.01 -0.07 1 8.66 -1.28 87 92 The Dalles : 56 103 75 +9 179 +54 - -0.07 - 13.09 +1.02 108 95 SOUTH CENTRAL : Agency Lake 8/ : 35 92 64 +0 99 +1 - -0.14 - 14.36 -1.23 92 88 Bend : 45 94 67 +4 122 +24 - -0.10 - 9.90 -1.30 88 45 Burns : 46 96 70 +4 139 +23 - -0.14 - 8.66 -0.76 92 72 Christmas Valley 8/ : 36 95 65 -5 106 -27 - -0.12 - 5.75 -6.12 48 81 Klamath Falls : 44 95 69 +1 131 +5 - -0.14 - 7.47 -5.53 57 74 Klamath Falls 8/ : 45 92 68 +0 129 +3 0.04 -0.10 1 9.16 -3.84 70 96 Lakeview 8/ : 43 93 67 +0 123 +4 0.05 -0.02 1 7.90 -7.24 52 88 Lorella 8/ : 41 94 66 -3 115 -11 - -0.14 - 8.70 -4.30 67 83 Redmond : 39 97 66 -1 116 -3 - -0.08 - 8.38 +0.30 104 64 Worden 8/ : 44 93 66 -3 115 -11 0.12 -0.02 1 7.78 -5.22 60 76 NORTHEAST : Baker City : 41 94 65 -3 109 -17 - -0.18 - 8.12 -1.97 80 82 Joseph : 47 91 68 +8 131 +52 - -0.21 - 13.59 -10.32 57 126 La Grande : 45 97 69 -3 134 -10 - -0.17 - 12.00 -4.68 72 93 Imbler 8/ : 42 98 67 -1 122 -2 - -0.14 - 17.49 -5.23 77 125 SOUTHEAST : Ontario : 52 98 79 +2 202 +16 - -0.07 - 7.78 -1.52 84 65 Rome : 48 98 74 +2 169 +13 - -0.07 - 5.87 -1.98 75 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.