OR-crop-weather Oregon Crop Weather Released: August 20, 2012 Week ending: August 19, 2012 OR-CW2112 OREGON CROP WEATHER NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE USDA, NASS, Oregon Field Office Phone: 503-326-2131 Released: August 20, 2012 Toll Free: 1-800-338-2157 Week ending: August 19, 2012 Email: nass-or@nass.usda.gov Volume: 21-12 Internet: www.nass.usda.gov/or Weather: Last week was hot and dry for the state outside of the Coast, as a majority of counties reporting high temperatures in the high 90's or triple digits. The Dalles had the highest recorded temperature at 105 degrees, above its normal measured high for this time of year. In contrast, both Coos and Curry counties reported below normal high temperatures of 64 and 65 degrees. Low temperatures continued to be above freezing, as Agency Lake, Baker City, and Imbler experiencing the lowest recorded temperature of 41 degrees. Wildfire risk persists in eastern and parts of southern Oregon due to hot, mostly dry weather and scattered thunderstorms; Jackson County reported smoky skies, likely from fires in eastern counties. Some light precipitation was reported in some parts of Oregon, mainly in south central counties, assisting efforts to contain current wildfires. Agency Lake received the most rain at 0.10 inches, slightly above its normally measured amount for this time of summer. Field Crops: With the continued heat, irrigation has been a main focus for farmers. The heat has not seemed to affect projected yields so far, but dry crops were definitely being hurt by the lack of rainfall. Grass seed and wheat harvests are nearing completion, with good projected yields in Lane and Yamhill counties. Peppermint harvest began with initial reports of good yields. Clover harvest started on both white and red clover. Large field corn was tasseling. Haying continued with most counties finishing up 2nd cuttings, and 3rd cutting appeared to be of good quality as it has not been rained on. Fruits and Nuts: Blueberry and blackberry harvests have been progressing well, with initial yields looking good. Tart cherry harvest continued as well last week in Yamhill and Hood River counties. Growers began to prepare for pear harvest. Grapes were looking good, and Asian pears were sizing in Washington County. Apricots were ripening. Routine summer orchard operations continued throughout the Hood River Valley. Filbertworm has been found in Lane County, but in small numbers. No sign of walnut husk flies yet, although there was some spraying for the fly in Yamhill County. Vegetables: Early plantings of sweet corn are ready to harvest, while many other plantings were silking ears. Green beans have finished harvesting, and were being transported to processors and farmers' markets. Tomatoes were starting to ripen. Onion harvest continued in Malheur County. Nurseries and Greenhouses: Irrigation continued for nursery crops. The Farwest Show in Portland starts this week, and goes through the weekend. Livestock, Range and Pasture: Cows, calves, buffalo and their calves were doing well in Washington County, all were on supplemental feeding. Ranchers in Umatilla County began to wean their spring calves. The lack of rain has led to increased fire danger, and previous fires have had a significant impact on ranchers in Malheur County. The lack of rainfall in the Eastern counties has left them very vulnerable to fire dangers. The Holloway Fire and the Barry Point Fire have burned another 500,000 acres collectively in Oregon, California and Nevada. More thunderstorms in Harney County may have started even more fires, but there haven't been any new reports. Pastureland in Washington County continued to dry out and supplemental feeding for livestock continued. Rain is also needed for irrigation, as rivers and streams were not carrying nearly enough water. There has also been widespread Aroga moth damage to sagebrush in Harney County. Soil Moisture - Week Ending 08/19/12 ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Very : : : : short : Short : Adequate : Surplus ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Percent : Topsoil : 25 39 36 0 Subsoil : 22 34 44 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Crop Progress - Week Ending 08/19/12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5 year Crop : week : week : year : average -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Alfalfa hay, second cutting : 86 81 83 95 Alfalfa hay, third cutting : 22 18 7 33 Winter wheat harvested : 87 66 66 87 Barley harvested : 70 48 63 79 Spring wheat harvested : 68 49 43 76 : Days suitable for fieldwork : 6.9 6.9 6.9 6.6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition - Week Ending 08/19/12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Crop : poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Winter wheat : 0 4 27 48 21 Spring wheat : 0 6 28 63 3 Barley : 0 3 21 71 5 Corn : 0 0 15 82 3 Range and pasture : 6 18 34 41 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Western Oregon COOS/CURRY: Lows were below the 5-year average in both Coos and Curry Counties. Highs were just below in Curry and well below the 5-year average in Coos County. Cool foggy mornings and breezy conditions prevailed all week in both Coos and Curry counties, with no rainfall for the week. Some producers are looking at a possible second cutting for grass hay and grazing lands are good overall. Cranberries appear to be maturing well. Bandon (Coos and Northern Curry): official low temperature for the period was 47.5 degrees, 2.17 degrees below the 5-year average. High temp for the period was 63.72 degrees, 4.56 degrees below the 5-year average. Precipitation for the period was 0 inches, which is 0.47 inches below the 5-year average for the week. Weather year 2012 (began 10/1/2011) precipitation stands at 64.94 inches, 12.56 inches above the 5-year average. Average precipitation through the month of August is 58.74 inches. Brookings (Southern Curry): Low temp for the period was 49.61 degrees, 1.87 degrees below the 5-year average. High temp for the period was 69.0 degrees, 0.14 degrees below the 5-year average. Precipitation for the period was 0.01 inches, which is 0.2 inches below the 5-year average. Weather year 2012 (began 10/1/2011) precipitation stands at 91.27 inches, 13.21 inches above the 5-year average. Historical average precipitation through August is 71.53 inches. DOUGLAS: Above average temperatures were stressing all crops, so irrigation was the main task for the week. So far it hasn't seemed like irrigated crops were losing yield, but dry farm crops were definitely being hurt. Lack of heat units this summer will not be a problem. We are seeing nearly all crops being harvested 10-14 days earlier than the past two years. JACKSON: The Rogue Valley had 6 consecutive days of 100+ high temperatures last week. Very hot and dry with smoky skies. A lot of haying going was going on with 2nd and some third cuttings. Vegetable crops were doing ok, considering the soaring heat. LANE: Grass seed and wheat are nearing completion. Perennial grass and wheat crop benefitted from early summer rain and yields are reported as above average; wheat crop 90 to 150 bushels per acre. Spring wheat looked good yielding in some cases as much as winter wheat. Tomatoes were ripening. Crops maturing under the added heat. Some apple sun burn. Quince, prunes, apples dropping prematurely, 10-40 percent of crop. Apples and Bartlett pears about one week ahead of schedule. Hazelnut crop looks good. Spotted Winged Drosophila in all berries, and there have been many phone calls each day on it affecting different berry crops. Brassicas were doing well. Green beans had a full harvest with trucks going up and down I-5. Peppermint harvest is underway with reports of good yields so far. Clover harvest started on white and red clover. Large field corn tasseling, and local market corn has been available for 3-5 weeks. Sweet corn harvest is ready to begin with crop looking average to above. MARION: Distilleries are running this week as mint harvest started. Producers are reporting grass seed dirt yields roughly 15-25 percent, lower than average. Wheat harvest has producers reporting slightly less than average yields. Hops are maturing with harvest starting in the next week or two. WASHINGTON: Field corn tasseled and silking ears, red clover nearing wind row stage. Most winter wheat has been harvested. Grasses for seed done. Blueberries continued to produce, blackberries ripe and Marion berries ready, filberts and walnuts too. Sweet corn nearing picking in early plantings, silking in many plantings. Green beans finished; farmers markets have many vegetables and fruits. Irrigating nursery crops. Pasture drying and supplemental feeding ongoing. High temperature of 103 degrees, low temperature of 56 degrees. No precipitation. Some sprinkles on Saturday morning, not measurable. YAMHILL: Tart cherry and peach harvests continued. Grass seed harvest was pretty much completed and grain harvest was into the 2nd week with wheat yields reporting some of the best ever for farmers. Dry peas were started this week as were spring oats. Eastern Oregon GRANT: Need rain, rivers and streams were not carrying much water for irrigation. HARNEY: Warm, dry conditions continued throughout the county. It is yet unknown if any wildfires resulted from weekend thunderstorm activity that brought windy conditions to parts of the county. Rangelands remained extremely dry and ripe for wildfire. Widespread Aroga moth damage to sagebrush, an abundance of fine fuels, and dry, hot conditions have combined to result in extreme wildfire risk in southeast Oregon. HOOD RIVER: Daily high temperatures were above 90 for all but one day during the week. Summer pear harvest got under way in the lower Hood River Valley. Mid valley growers prepared for summer pear harvest. LAKE: Received a good amount of precipitation Friday night/Saturday morning which should have helped with the firefighting efforts on the Barry Point Fire. Fire was sparked by lightning and has burned approximately 80,000 acres in Oregon/California. MALHEUR: Weather was still hot and dry. High temperature of 98, low temperature of 57. Normal high for the week was 90 and a low of 60. There were some widely scattered thunder storms on the evening of August 19. Mostly dry with no reports of precipitation. Onion harvest started early. Still some wheat to harvest. SHERMAN/WASCO: Grain harvest continues with varied results. Grain quality however, remained very good. Saw lots of impact from Hessian flies in several fields. Warmer temperatures have allowed for long days for harvest, so grain acres going quickly or finishing up in time for County Fairs (Wasco this week, Sherman starts August 22). Spring crops are almost completed. Late cherries were completed. Looking towards getting the drills ready. UMATILLA: Wheat harvest was all but wrapped up. A few farms in the northeast end of the county left to cut. Early potatoes were being dug, and quality appeared to be good. Seed corn continued to mature after destruction of male rows. Third cutting of hay is of good quality, and wasn't rained on. Watermelon harvest was in full swing. UNION: Winter grain harvest was half completed with some spring grain harvest and peppermint harvest underway. Isolated thunderstorm yesterday in south region of the county delivered light precipitation and has slowed grain harvest. Weather data for selected stations in Oregon, Week ending: August 19, 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 : 51 82 61 +0 79 +2 0.01 -0.28 1 71.78 +6.00 109 193 Bandon 8/ : 48 64 56 -4 42 -21 - -0.22 - 65.58 +7.12 112 180 Crescent City : 49 65 56 -4 44 -19 0.04 -0.17 4 59.87 -4.90 92 141 Florence : 45 71 58 -4 58 -19 - -0.31 - 73.80 -2.06 97 174 North Bend : 48 66 58 -3 57 -14 - -0.22 - 40.47 -22.39 64 136 Tillamook : 47 89 64 +5 99 +33 - -0.38 - 61.83 -25.98 70 188 WILLAMETTE : VALLEY : Aurora 8/ : 52 100 74 +8 170 +56 - -0.21 - 44.59 +3.98 110 188 Corvallis : 47 95 72 +7 153 +41 - -0.21 - 46.57 +4.25 110 179 Detroit Lake 8/ : 51 98 76 +14 181 +94 0.01 -0.28 1 98.64 +31.66 147 181 Eugene : 51 95 73 +7 166 +41 - -0.26 - 42.21 -6.68 86 145 Hillsboro : 51 99 73 +8 160 +48 - -0.27 - 31.81 -5.32 86 156 McMinnville : 49 96 73 +7 163 +48 - -0.15 - 40.32 -2.50 94 162 Portland : 60 100 76 +8 183 +50 - -0.26 - 40.23 +4.41 112 164 Salem : 51 97 74 +8 171 +52 - -0.16 - 44.91 +6.10 116 153 SW VALLEYS : Grants Pass : 55 103 80 +9 212 +62 - -0.13 - 28.40 -2.39 92 127 Medford : 59 104 83 +11 232 +73 - -0.14 - 17.61 -1.02 95 101 Roseburg : 55 98 77 +9 194 +59 - -0.14 - 30.70 -1.73 95 135 NORTH CENTRAL : Condon : 53 99 75 +10 176 +68 - -0.14 - 15.10 +1.36 110 103 Echo 8/ : 51 103 77 +6 191 +38 - -0.07 - 8.43 -0.33 96 97 Heppner : 54 97 77 +8 189 +55 - -0.14 - 12.78 -0.82 94 91 Hermiston : 51 102 77 +6 190 +37 - -0.07 - 9.35 +0.59 107 81 Madras 8/ : 50 98 74 +8 171 +55 - -0.14 - 8.65 -1.55 85 91 Moro : 52 99 76 +9 181 +59 - -0.12 - 10.69 -0.21 98 88 Parkdale 8/ : 50 99 72 +6 157 +39 0.02 -0.12 2 46.35 +15.81 152 162 Pendleton : 54 100 78 +6 194 +40 - -0.14 - 12.10 +0.30 103 90 Prairie City 8/ : 50 98 74 +8 171 +55 - -0.14 - 8.65 -1.55 85 91 The Dalles : 60 105 80 +14 214 +98 - -0.14 - 13.09 +0.80 107 95 SOUTH CENTRAL : Agency Lake 8/ : 41 91 69 +8 136 +50 0.10 -0.10 1 14.46 -1.47 91 89 Bend : 50 94 73 +11 164 +73 - -0.14 - 9.90 -1.58 86 45 Burns : 47 99 73 +9 161 +61 - -0.15 - 8.66 -1.05 89 72 Christmas Valley 8/ : 42 97 70 +4 144 +23 0.01 -0.13 1 5.76 -6.39 47 82 Klamath Falls : 47 94 73 +7 160 +43 0.07 -0.07 1 7.54 -5.74 57 75 Klamath Falls 8/ : 48 93 73 +7 159 +42 0.07 -0.07 1 9.81 -3.47 74 98 Lakeview 8/ : 44 93 69 +5 137 +31 0.08 -0.06 1 7.98 -7.42 52 89 Lorella 8/ : 43 94 70 +4 139 +22 0.01 -0.13 1 8.71 -4.57 66 84 Redmond : 43 99 72 +7 151 +44 - -0.14 - 8.39 +0.03 100 65 Worden 8/ : 43 93 69 +3 135 +18 0.09 -0.05 1 7.87 -5.41 59 77 NORTHEAST : Baker City : 41 92 67 +2 121 +8 - -0.21 - 8.12 -2.39 77 82 Joseph : 53 93 72 +12 156 +80 - -0.28 - 13.43 -10.98 55 125 La Grande : 45 97 71 +3 145 +14 - -0.21 - 12.00 -5.10 70 93 Imbler 8/ : 41 97 70 +5 140 +27 - -0.21 - 17.49 -5.61 76 125 SOUTHEAST : Ontario : 54 100 79 +6 205 +38 - -0.09 - 7.78 -1.68 82 65 Rome : 52 99 76 +7 183 +45 0.02 -0.12 1 5.89 -2.17 73 56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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.