Texas Crop Progress and Condition

Texas Crop Weather

Issue: TX-CW1009
Released: March 9, 2009
For the week of: March 2 - 8, 2009

Cooperating Agencies:
   Texas AgriLife Extension Service,
   Texas Department of Agriculture,
   National Weather Service

Maps:
Agricultural District Map

Agricultural Summary: The northern part of the state received trace amounts of rainfall while the rest of the state observed little to no moisture. Producers continued to irrigate wheat fields in the Plains due to dry conditions. Cotton field preparation continued in the Plains and Trans-Pecos. Corn planting in the Blacklands, North East Texas, South Texas and South Central Texas was active. Sorghum field preparation was active in the Northern Plains. In South Texas, spinach and cabbage harvest continued while onion and cabbage fields were being irrigated. Supplemental feeding of livestock was on going across most of the state. Range and pasture conditions across the state were very dry and in need of rain. Top soil moisture was mostly very short to short across the state.

Field Crops Report

Small Grains: Producers continued to irrigate wheat fields in the Plains due to dry conditions. Wheat in the Blacklands improved from earlier rainfall, however, soil conditions remained very dry. Statewide, wheat condition was mostly very poor to fair and oat condition was mostly very poor to poor.

Cotton: Field preparation continued in the Plains and Trans-Pecos. Producers were applying pre-planting irrigation to their fields across the state due to dry conditions.

Corn: Planting in the Blacklands, North East Texas, South Texas, and South Central Texas was active.

Sorghum: Field preparation was active in the Northern Plains. Planting was active in the Upper Coast.

Fruit, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Report

Fall planted onions emerging from dormancy were showing good yields. In South Texas, Spinach and cabbage harvest continued while onion and cabbage fields were being irrigated. Potatoes continued to progress in South Texas.

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report

Supplemental feeding of livestock was on going across most of the state. Cattle culling continued in South and South Central Texas as hay supplies were being depleted. Goat kidding was active in Trans-Pecos. Lambing and kidding was active in the Edwards Plateau. Range and pasture conditions across the state were very dry and in need of rain. Range and pasture condition was mostly very poor to poor statewide.

Crop Progress Table - March 8, 2009
Crop	Stage	2009	2008	Average 2004-2008
Crop	Stage	Percent
Corn	Planted	20	33	15
Sorghum	Planted	6	22	11
Winter Wheat	Headed	1	1	1
Oats	Emerged	93	100	100
Oats	Headed	1	5	1

Crop Condition Table - March 8, 2009
Crop	Percent					Index ^1/
Crop	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Very Poor	2009	2008
Wheat	1	9	27	26	37	34	37
Oats	0	2	14	25	59	19	48
Range & Pasture	0	4	21	28	47	--	--
1/ The formula for the condition index is I = (5V + 25P + 60F + 90G + 110E)/100 where I = crop condition index and V, P, F, G, E = percentage of crop rated very poor, poor, fair, good, excellent.

Top Soil Moisture by District - March 8, 2009
Condition	Percent of Acreage, by District *
Condition	1-N	1-S	2-N	2-S	3	4	5-N	5-S	6	7	8-N	8-S	9	10-N	10-S
Very Short	68	59	68	74	79	37	11	32	66	88	87	96	46	85	30
Short	27	39	22	23	21	50	51	52	23	12	12	4	34	15	50
Adequate	5	2	7	3	0	13	37	14	11	0	1	0	14	0	20
Surplus	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	6	0	0
* High Plains: 1-N, 1-S; Low Rolling Plains: 2-N, 2-S; North Central Plains: 3, 4; East Texas: 5-N, 5-S. Trans-Pecos: 6; Edwards Plateau: 7; South Central Texas: 8-N, 8-S; Upper Coast: 9; South Texas: 10-N; Lower Valley: 10-S.

Weather Information Table ^1/
National Weather Service Climatic Divisions ^2/	Previous Week Accumulation (March 2 - 8)	Month-to-Date Accumulation (March 1 - 8)	Year-to-Date Accumulation (Jan 1 - Mar 8)	Annual Normal (1971 - 2000)	Previous Three Months Percent of Normal (Dec, Jan, Feb)
High Plains	0.00	0.00	0.43	19.64	26
Low Rolling Plains	0.00	0.00	0.51	24.51	16
North Central Texas	0.00	0.00	1.29	35.23	24
East Texas	0.00	0.00	2.55	48.08	37
Trans-Pecos	0.00	0.00	0.09	13.19	12
Edwards Plateau	0.00	0.00	0.45	24.73	14
South Central Texas	0.00	0.00	0.55	36.21	14
Upper Coast	0.00	0.00	1.17	50.31	21
South Texas	0.00	0.00	0.17	24.08	11
Lower Valley	0.00	0.00	0.57	25.43	23
1/ Average of all stations reporting precipitation data. 2/ High Plains: 1-N, 1-S; Low Rolling Plains: 2-N, 2-S; North Central Texas: 3, 4; East Texas: 5-N, 5-S. Trans-Pecos: 6; Edwards Plateau: 7; South Central Texas: 8-N, 8-S; Upper Coast: 9; South Texas: 10-N; Lower Valley: 10-S. For more information, please visit the following web sites: www.srh.noaa.gov/rfcshare/precip_analysis_new.php and www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html