in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date October 20, 2002 Issue IN-CW4202 Agricultural Summary Farmers had near perfect conditions to harvest corn and soybeans during most of the week, according to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service. Rain temporarily halted field activities in some areas during the weekend. Corn harvest is 4 days behind average, but 3 days ahead of last year. Soybean harvest is on par with average and 12 days ahead of last year. Many farmers completed harvest of their soybean fields during the week. Reporters indicate yields continue to be highly variable in both corn and soybean fields. Fall tillage took place in many fields during the week. Seeding winter wheat, chopping corn stalks and spreading fertilizer were also major activities. Field Crops Report There were 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork. Virtually all of the corn crop is mature. Forty-four percent of the corn acreage is harvested compared with 41 percent last year and 52 percent for the 5-year average. By area, 35 percent of the corn acreage is harvested in the north, 41 percent in the central regions and 67 percent in the south. Moisture content of harvested corn is averaging 19 percent. Virtually all of the soybean acreage is shedding leaves. Ninety-eight percent of the soybean acreage is mature compared with 99 percent last year and 99 percent for the average. Seventy-eight percent of the soybean acreage is harvested compared with 59 percent last year and 78 percent for the average. By area, 83 percent of the soybean acreage is harvested in the north, 82 percent in the central regions and 59 percent in the south. Moisture content of harvested soybeans is averaging 12.0 percent. Seventy-four percent of the winter wheat acreage is seeded compared with 54 percent last year and 69 percent for the average. By area, 85 percent of the winter wheat acreage is seeded in the north, 83 percent in the central regions and 59 percent in the south. Thirty-nine percent of the winter wheat acreage has emerged compared with 28 percent last year and 35 percent for the average. Stripping of tobacco is underway on some southern farms. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 1 percent excellent, 18 percent good, 37 percent fair, 25 percent poor and 19 percent very poor. Pastures continue to improve in some areas of the state. Livestock remain in mostly good condition. Weaning of calves is taking place on some livestock farms. Crop Progress Table -------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn Harvested 44 31 41 52 Soybeans Mature 98 90 99 99 Soybeans Harvested 78 58 59 78 Winter Wheat Planted 74 49 54 69 Winter Wheat Emerged 39 23 28 35 Crop Condition Table -------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Pasture 19 25 37 18 1 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : Week : Week : Year ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 6 11 0 Short 28 26 2 Adequate 63 59 39 Surplus 3 4 59 Subsoil Very Short 19 24 2 Short 35 36 9 Adequate 45 39 58 Surplus 1 1 31 Days Suitable 5.8 5.6 1.8 Contact information --Ralph W. Gann, State Statistician --Bud Bever, Agricultural Statistician E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov http://www.nass.usda.gov/in/index.htm Other Agricultural Comments And News ONLINE TOOL CUTS THROUGH FARM BILL'S BASE ACRE, YIELD OPTIONS WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Receiving the full benefit of the 2002 Farm Bill comes down to a farmer's decision- making ability on base acres and program yields, and a Web-based spreadsheet calculator developed by a Purdue University agricultural economist can help. The free spreadsheet is located on the web at: . "The spreadsheet is designed to determine the best option for updating base acres and yields for a farm by trying to maximize the amount of money a farmer will receive over the life of the farm bill," said Allan Gray, the Purdue ag economist who developed the calculator. The six-year farm bill runs through 2007. It offers producers a handful of possible base acre/program yield choices, each affecting the support payment amounts they'll receive from the government. Purdue's online spreadsheet projects future support payments from data a farmer enters. "We calculate the estimated payments every year through 2007 from the farmer's inputs," Gray said. "Those include what their current base acres, or contract acres, are for corn and wheat, what his current farm program yields are for corn and wheat, the historical planted acres from 1998 to 2001 for corn, soybeans and wheat, and the yields on each of those in those years." The analysis doesn't stop there, Gray said. "What's unique about our spreadsheet is it takes 500 possible combinations of corn, soybean and wheat prices for 2002 to 2007," he said. "Each time we take one of those combinations, we figure out which option would be best, and then provide that to the farmer in a printable final report." Farmers will need to enter about 15 acreage-and yield-related numbers to perform the calculations. They'll also need Excel software on their computers to run the spreadsheet program. All this number crunching is necessary because the new farm bill makes major changes in federal agriculture programs. The legislation adds a new support payment a counter-cyclical payment to the traditional direct payments and marketing loans. It also establishes soybeans as a program crop and, for the first time in years, allows farmers to update base acres and program yields. Farmers can receive counter-cyclical payments on qualified crops when market prices fall below a government-set target price. Target prices vary from crop to crop. "That's one of a couple of unique things that happened with the 2002 Farm Bill," Gray said. "Another is farmers are now allowed to have base acres on soybeans. Throughout the history of farm programs going back to 1933, soybeans have never had equivalent treatment to corn." In addition, "farmers are allowed to update their base acreages and update their yields, if they choose to do so, based on their average planting history and yields from 1998 to 2001," Gray said. Farmers have not been permitted to adjust base acres up or down since 1990. Base acres are those acres of a particular crop a farmer counts toward support payments. Program yields represent the average crop production per acre. "The rules have changed such that there are now five options available to the producer for updating their base acreages and yields," Gray said. The five options include: * Option No. 1 Making no changes to existing base acres and program yields. * Option No. 2 Adding soybean base acres to current base acreage. * Option No. 3 Maximizing soybean base acres by trading other crops' base acres. * Option No. 4 Updating base acres using 1998-2001 historical planted acres and updating program yields for counter-cyclical payments. * Option No. 5 Trading selected base acres for additional soybean acres. Farmers with 100 percent corn bases are likely to choose the first option, because corn base acres are worth more in support payments than other program crops, Gray said. Producers with significant soybean acreage could take advantage of options No. 2 and 4, while farmers with historical base in oats and soybeans could increase their support levels by selecting option No. 5. The fourth option is the only one permitting farmers to update their base acres and program yields for counter-cyclical payments. "There are three viable options in Indiana, in my opinion: option 1, option 2 and option 4," Gray said. "The one that's probably going to be chosen more often than not is option 4 updating your base acres based on your historical planted acreage. "In the state of Indiana and, particularly, across the Corn Belt, we've had four years 1998 through 2001 of outstanding crops that were above trend. Because of that, updating yields for counter-cyclical payments can give farmers a pretty substantial boost in yields, both for corn and soybeans. Since you can't update yields under any other option, option No. 4 is pretty appealing to a farmer." Farmers have until April 1 to select base acre and yield options and report them to their local office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency. The sign-up period for the 2002 and 2003 direct payment and counter-cyclical payment programs ends June 2. For more information about the Purdue spreadsheet, contact a county office of the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service. County offices also have the spreadsheet program on their computers, should farmers not have access to a computer or have Excel on their hard drives. Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu Source: Allan Gray, (765) 494-4323, gray@purdue.edu Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722; Beth Forbes, bforbes@aes.purdue.edu; http://www.agriculture. purdue.edu/AgComm/public/agnews/ Related Web site: Purdue University Department of Agricultural Economics Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday October 20, 2002 --------------------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|-----------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days|Temp ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |67 27 44 -10 0.49 2 Valparaiso_AP_I |59 28 44 -10 0.26 2 Wanatah |61 26 43 -9 0.34 4 54 Wheatfield |64 27 43 -9 0.48 2 Winamac |64 28 43 -9 0.76 2 48 North Central(2)| Plymouth |64 28 43 -11 0.38 2 South_Bend |62 29 44 -9 0.21 2 Young_America |65 28 45 -7 0.44 2 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |63 27 42 -10 0.39 1 50 Fort_Wayne |62 28 45 -8 0.36 1 West Central (4)| Greencastle |65 27 44 -11 0.76 1 Perrysville |69 26 45 -9 1.15 1 57 Spencer_Ag |65 30 46 -7 0.72 1 Terre_Haute_AFB |67 28 47 -8 0.32 1 W_Lafayette_6NW |67 25 45 -8 0.30 2 54 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |65 31 48 -8 0.53 1 Greenfield |64 29 46 -8 0.45 1 Indianapolis_AP |65 33 48 -7 0.41 1 Indianapolis_SE |64 27 46 -9 0.46 1 Tipton_Ag |65 28 44 -8 0.69 1 58 East Central (6)| Farmland |65 27 44 -8 0.80 1 49 New_Castle |61 27 43 -9 0.48 2 Southwest (7) | Evansville |69 34 52 -6 0.43 2 Freelandville |66 34 48 -8 1.04 2 Shoals |66 33 48 -7 0.89 2 Stendal |68 34 49 -7 0.33 2 Vincennes_5NE |67 34 49 -7 0.66 2 56 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |64 36 50 -6 0.29 2 Oolitic |65 27 46 -8 0.97 2 57 Tell_City |69 36 52 -6 0.47 2 Southeast (9) | Brookville |65 33 47 -6 0.38 2 Milan_5NE |64 33 47 -7 0.52 3 Scottsburg |65 30 47 -8 0.30 2 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- | Accumulation | April 1, 2002 thru Station | October 20, 2002 | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |19.35 -4.39 73 3351 +174 Valparaiso_AP_I |19.38 -6.76 72 3359 +453 Wanatah |19.90 -5.17 79 3162 +402 Wheatfield |24.14 -0.07 60 3225 +409 Winamac |22.10 -2.03 71 3277 +372 North Central(2)| Plymouth |20.28 -4.64 75 3142 +84 South_Bend |17.42 -6.84 70 3338 +472 Young_America |23.31 -0.17 64 3392 +389 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |20.70 -2.76 67 3087 +354 Fort_Wayne |21.80 +0.30 63 3362 +351 West Central (4)| Greencastle |31.90 +4.85 68 3282 -130 Perrysville |30.23 +5.02 67 3467 +301 Spencer_Ag |33.50 +6.47 69 3540 +353 Terre_Haute_AFB |34.54 +9.08 67 3773 +388 W_Lafayette_6NW |26.74 +2.92 76 3421 +423 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |25.52 +1.71 70 3783 +432 Greenfield |33.22 +7.14 70 3555 +333 Indianapolis_AP |24.09 +0.28 63 3924 +573 Indianapolis_SE |28.78 +4.38 61 3554 +208 Tipton_Ag |23.97 -0.52 67 3272 +371 East Central (6)| Farmland |22.03 -1.48 66 3367 +539 New_Castle |24.90 -0.11 59 3061 +160 Southwest (7) | Evansville |26.22 +2.04 57 4412 +514 Freelandville |29.92 +4.79 57 3980 +481 Shoals |27.64 +0.49 55 3848 +456 Stendal |29.89 +3.02 57 4165 +501 Vincennes_5NE |33.80 +8.67 68 4082 +583 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |30.27 +2.96 64 3954 +586 Oolitic |30.52 +4.39 68 3738 +508 Tell_City |30.28 +2.82 52 4485 +708 Southeast (9) | Brookville |25.54 +0.37 63 3842 +781 Milan_5NE |33.29 +8.12 75 3461 +400 Scottsburg |31.30 +5.42 64 3772 +289 ------------------------------------------------------------- DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period). GDD = Growing Degree Days. Precipitation (Rainfall or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of .01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2002: AWIS, Inc. All rights reserved. The above weather information is provided by AWIS, Inc. For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS home page at www.awis.com or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955. The INDIANA CROP WEATHER REPORT (USPS 675-770), (ISSN 0442-817X) is issued weekly April through November by the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Second Class postage paid at Lafayette IN. For information on subscribing, send request to above address. POSTMASTER: Send address change to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Source: Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service