Ia-crop-weather State Iowa Crops & Weather Released April 4, 2005 Week Ending Date April 3, 2005 Issue IA-CW1405 Spring is Here Fieldwork has Begun Agricultural Summary: Warmer temperatures have triggered the onset of Spring fieldwork for Iowa farmers. While some areas remain too wet for field activities, other farmers have begun applying lime and fertilizer, tilling, planting oats and applying nitrogen. There were a few reports of tiles running throughout the state. There were 3.5 days suitable for fieldwork, compared to 2.7 days last year at this time. Topsoil moisture rated 3 percent very short, 14 percent short, 77 percent adequate, and 6 percent surplus across the state. Subsoil moisture rated 3 percent very short, 19 percent short, 73 percent adequate, and 5 percent surplus. This overwhelmingly adequate topsoil moisture rating is very similar to conditions reported a year ago. Field Crops Report: Oats seedings were 33 percent complete, ahead of both last year's progress at 14 percent and the five-year average of 28 percent. No significant corn planting was reported in the state. Primary seedbed preparations were 34 percent complete compared to 32 percent last year and 44 percent for the five-year average. Fertilizer applications, at 56 percent, were 7 percent above last year and the five-year average. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report: Calving was well underway with mainly favorable conditions reported. Lambing was reported as nearly complete with equally favorable conditions persisting. Drier weather helped reduce both calving and lambing problems. Pasture and range condition rated 5 percent very poor, 15 percent poor, 32 percent fair, 43 percent good and 5 percent excellent. The warmer temperatures have promoted growth and development. Iowa Weather Summary The past week brought unseasonably mild temperatures to Iowa as well as the first widespread severe weather outbreak of the year. Daytime temperatures climbed into the upper 60's east to upper 70's west on Monday (28th) and were in the 70's in most areas on Tuesday (29th). A strong low pressure system brought lower temperatures and widespread thunderstorm activity on Wednesday (30th). Severe storms were reported from 26 counties although damage was limited to a few isolated events. Highs on Wednesday were only in the 50's west but climbed to the 70's east prior to the cold frontal passage. Light rain fell across eastern Iowa early Thursday (31st) with dry weather prevailing for the remainder of the week. Daytime temperatures on Thursday and Friday (1st) were in the middle 50's to low 60's and warmed a few more degrees on Saturday (2nd). Finally, temperatures on Sunday (3rd) were in the 70's in most areas. Temperature extremes for the week ranged from 82 degrees on Monday (28th) afternoon at Sioux City and again at Glenwood on Tuesday to a low of 18 degrees at Mapleton on Saturday (2nd) morning. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 8.9 degrees above normal. Precipitation, nearly all of which fell on Wednesday, varied from only traces at the Estherville Airport and at Bloomfield to 1.32 inches at the Harlan Airport. The statewide average precipitation was 0.34 inches or only slightly more than half of the weekly average of 0.66 inches. This was the seventh consecutive week of below normal precipitation. Finally, soil temperatures were averaging near 50 degrees statewide as of Sunday (3rd). Statewide Crop Conditions as of April 3, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item : Very Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent -------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Range & Pasture : 5 15 32 43 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Field Work and Crop Progress as of April 3, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Districts : : : : Item :-----------------------------------------------------:State:Last :Last :Nor- : NW : NC : NE : WC : C : EC : SW : SC : SE : :Week :Year : mal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Fertilizer application completed : 36 53 34 54 69 70 75 70 61 56 NA 49 49 Seedbed, primary preparation completed : 20 29 26 39 33 41 37 46 49 34 NA 32 44 Oats planted : 13 5 8 44 44 49 62 59 42 33 NA 14 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NA = Not available. Days Suitable & Soil Moisture Condition as of April 3, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Districts : : : Item :-----------------------------------------------------------------------: State : Last : Last : NW : NC : NE : WC : C : EC : SW : SC : SE : : Week : Year ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Days : Days suitable : 2.2 2.0 2.3 4.1 4.6 4.7 4.2 4.6 5.4 3.5 NA 2.7 : : Percent : Topsoil moisture : Very short : 0 0 0 10 3 0 1 0 2 3 NA 2 Short : 8 7 9 20 11 16 39 17 12 14 NA 8 Adequate : 79 87 81 69 82 80 60 70 77 77 NA 78 Surplus : 12 6 10 1 5 4 0 13 6 6 NA 12 : Subsoil moisture : Very short : 0 4 1 6 4 0 1 3 2 3 NA 6 Short : 13 15 15 31 28 12 28 25 20 19 NA 25 Adequate : 81 77 75 61 66 80 70 70 72 73 NA 63 Surplus : 6 3 9 2 2 7 1 2 6 5 NA 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NA = Not available. Weather Summary For Iowa Agricultural Statistics Service Prepared by AWIS, Inc. For the week ending: Sunday, April 3, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : CURRENT WEEK : SINCE APRIL 1 :CURRENT WEEK :-------------------------------------------------------------- STATION : TEMPERATURE :PRECIPITATION: PRECIPITATION :GDD BASE 50F :-------------------------------------------------------------- : HI : LO :AVG :DFN : TOTAL : DFN : TOTAL : DFN : TOTAL :DFN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : North West District : Estherville : 71 25 47 11 0.00 -0.56 0.00 -0.24 16 16 Sioux Center : 76 22 51 11 0.25 -0.26 0.00 -0.22 28 20 Spencer : 76 21 49 10 0.20 -0.36 0.00 -0.24 23 16 Spirit Lake : 72 27 52 16 0.15 -0.34 0.00 -0.21 33 25 : North Central District : Britt : 71 26 48 8 0.32 -0.25 0.00 -0.25 15 8 Humboldt : 74 29 49 8 0.52 -0.09 0.00 -0.27 21 14 Mason City : 73 25 49 11 0.81 0.24 0.00 -0.25 23 16 Northwood : 68 30 47 10 0.76 0.16 0.00 -0.27 7 7 : North East District : Decorah : 74 26 50 11 0.17 -0.47 0.03 -0.26 21 14 Dubuque : 70 30 50 10 0.09 -0.69 0.00 -0.34 20 13 Elkader : 74 24 49 9 0.44 -0.18 0.00 -0.27 20 6 Independence : 73 28 48 9 0.38 -0.25 0.00 -0.28 13 -1 Waterloo : 74 26 51 11 0.36 -0.29 0.00 -0.29 33 26 : West Central District : Audubon : 76 23 48 5 0.62 -0.02 0.00 -0.28 18 4 Carroll : 77 27 51 10 1.20 0.55 0.00 -0.29 24 17 Castana : 76 28 49 6 0.29 -0.27 0.00 -0.24 21 14 Guthrie Center : 77 19 49 7 0.08 -0.60 0.00 -0.30 22 9 Harlan : 78 24 49 6 1.02 0.41 0.00 -0.27 22 15 Jefferson : 75 28 50 9 0.27 -0.38 0.00 -0.29 20 13 Logan : 78 24 49 6 1.04 0.48 0.00 -0.24 23 9 Rockwell City : 76 28 50 8 0.85 0.30 0.00 -0.24 18 8 Sioux City : 82 23 51 9 0.52 0.03 0.00 -0.21 32 18 : Central District : Ames : 75 29 51 11 0.35 -0.29 0.00 -0.28 29 22 Boone : 76 26 50 9 0.18 -0.48 0.00 -0.30 25 18 Des Moines : 77 30 54 10 0.46 -0.22 0.00 -0.30 38 24 Eldora : 73 30 51 11 0.56 -0.04 0.00 -0.27 23 16 Marshalltown : 73 26 50 9 0.35 -0.31 0.00 -0.30 28 21 Newton : 74 29 50 7 0.24 -0.39 0.00 -0.27 16 2 Perry : 77 26 50 9 0.30 -0.30 0.00 -0.27 20 13 Toledo : 72 28 49 9 0.22 -0.41 0.00 -0.27 17 10 : East Central District : Cedar Rapids : 74 28 51 10 0.14 -0.52 0.00 -0.30 29 22 Davenport : 75 26 51 8 0.05 -0.62 0.00 -0.30 24 16 Iowa City : 76 31 54 9 0.03 -0.70 0.00 -0.33 34 20 Lowden : 75 24 49 8 0.10 -0.64 0.00 -0.33 18 11 Maquoketa : 72 24 48 8 0.11 -0.55 0.00 -0.30 11 4 Muscatine : 73 30 50 6 0.01 -0.76 0.00 -0.33 18 11 : South West District : Clarinda : 77 21 48 5 0.35 -0.34 0.00 -0.30 22 15 Glenwood : 82 25 51 7 0.34 -0.22 0.00 -0.24 28 14 Oakland : 78 24 49 8 0.66 0.05 0.00 -0.27 23 16 Red Oak : 78 24 50 5 0.88 0.21 0.00 -0.30 22 8 Sidney : 78 31 51 7 0.23 -0.40 0.00 -0.27 25 11 : South Central District : Allerton : 73 28 49 6 0.17 -0.50 0.00 -0.30 17 13 Beaconsfield : 74 28 49 6 0.00 -0.66 0.00 -0.30 15 5 Chariton : 74 24 50 7 0.48 -0.22 0.00 -0.31 23 10 Indianola : 77 28 51 8 0.07 -0.61 0.00 -0.30 25 11 Leon : 76 24 50 7 0.18 -0.50 0.00 -0.30 17 6 : South East District : Bloomfield : 75 31 51 5 0.00 -0.72 0.00 -0.32 21 5 Burlington : 76 30 53 9 0.04 -0.73 0.00 -0.33 35 21 Ottumwa : 75 30 53 8 0.15 -0.51 0.00 -0.30 33 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Precipitation (rain, melted snow or ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precipitation of 0.01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2005: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contact Information: Iowa Agricultural Statistics 210 Walnut St., Rm 833 Des Moines, IA 50309 1-800-772-0825 Fax 515-284-4342 nass-ia@nass.usda.gov