Texas Crop Weather Issue: TX-CW3509 Released: August 31, 2009 For the week of: August 24 - 30, 2009 Cooperating Agencies: Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Department of Agriculture, National Weather Service Agricultural Summary: Much of the state received a few drops of rain, with parts of East Texas and the Panhandle received up to a couple inches of rain. Some producers delayed planting of small grains in hopes of moisture in the Southern Low Plains. Cotton continued to mature, while irrigation continued for corn in parts of the Plains. Sorghum continued to mature due to the dry weather. Peanuts continued to develop and peg in South Texas. Sunflowers and peas continued to mature in the Southern High Plains, while vegetable planting was underway in the Lower Valley. Top soil moisture was mostly very short to short across the state. Field Crops Report Small Grains: Field preparations started for small grains in the Northern Low Plains and parts of the High Plains, while some producers delayed planting in hopes of moisture in the Southern Low Plains. Cotton: Across much of the Plains, cotton continued to mature. Cotton continued to set bolls, with some bolls opening in the Plains. Harvest occurred in both South Central and South Texas. Irrigation continued for cotton in many parts of the state. Cotton condition was mostly fair to good statewide. Corn: Irrigation continued in parts of the Northern High Plains. Some corn was harvested for silage in the High Plains. Harvest continued in the Blacklands, while harvest began to wrap up in South Texas. Corn condition was mostly fair to good statewide. Sorghum: Sorghum matured rapidly due to the very dry weather. Sorghum condition was mostly fair to good statewide. Peanuts: Peanuts continued to develop and peg in South Texas. Peanut condition was mostly fair to good. Fruit, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Report Sunflowers and peas continued to mature in the Southern High Plains, while vegetable planting was underway in the Lower Valley. Pecans: Pecans continued to progress, with some development reaching the gel stage in the Trans-Pecos. Livestock, Range and Pasture Report Stock tank levels remained low for much of the state. Supplemental feeding continued in many parts of the state. Some producers continued to cull their herds due to the lack of quality pasture. Range and pasture condition was mostly very poor to poor statewide. Crop Progress Table - August 30, 2009 ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Crop Stage --------------------------- 2009 2008 Avg 2004-2008 ------------------------------------------------------- Corn Dough 98 97 98 Dent 83 88 91 Mature 70 65 70 Harvested 66 62 57 Cotton Squaring 99 99 99 Setting Bolls 89 88 93 Bolls Opening 21 20 20 Harvested 11 12 11 Peanuts Pegging 100 100 99 Rice Headed 97 100 100 Harvested 66 78 78 Sorghum Headed 95 87 91 Coloring 71 67 68 Mature 64 61 59 Harvested 61 60 56 Soybeans Setting Pods 98 97 54 Dropping Leaves 51 70 27 Harvested 31 23 33 Sunflowers Planted 88 100 100 Harvested 7 1 14 ======================================================= Crop Condition Table - August 30, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Percent Index 1/ Crop ------------------------------------------ ----------- Excellent Good Fair Poor Very Poor 2009 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corn 6 31 24 14 25 54 59 Cotton 10 29 30 16 15 60 62 Peanuts 17 61 21 1 0 86 80 Rice 10 30 39 9 12 64 72 Sorghum 3 20 38 16 23 49 67 Soybeans 3 18 38 30 11 50 42 Range & Pasture 2 18 26 20 34 - - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 - August 30, 2009 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 1 19 21 18 26 32 1 40 17 51 87 97 54 89 65 Short 36 49 52 53 48 45 26 32 54 37 12 3 26 10 35 Adequate 62 31 25 29 26 23 72 22 29 12 1 0 17 1 0 Surplus 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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: 96; South Texas: 10-N; Lower Valley: 10-S. ==================================================================================================== Weather Information Table 1/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previous National Previous Week Month-to-Date Year-to-Date Annual Three Months Weather Service Accumulation Accumulation Accumulation Normal Percent of Normal Climatic Divisions 2/ (Aug 24 - 30) (Aug 1 - 30) (Jan 1 - Aug 30) (1971 - 2000) (May - July) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High Plains 0.22 1.85 11.77 19.64 94 Low Rolling Plains 0.32 0.97 13.23 24.51 97 North Central Texas 0.20 1.16 17.66 35.23 76 East Texas 0.75 2.15 23.70 48.08 70 Trans-Pecos 0.30 0.93 6.57 13.19 103 Edwards Plateau 0.13 0.67 10.51 24.73 60 South Central Texas 0.30 0.71 7.45 36.21 23 Upper Coast 0.59 2.06 16.13 50.31 31 South Texas 0.33 0.38 4.18 24.08 32 Lower Valley 0.34 0.50 4.28 25.43 41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 weather information, please visit the following web sites: www.srh.noaa.gov/rfcshare/precip_analysis_new.php and www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html ===========================================================================================================