in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date October 27, 2002 Issue IN-CW4302 Agricultural Summary Soybean harvest is nearing completion on many farms as favorable weather allowed farmers to make good progress early in the week, according to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service. Rain late in the week slowed fieldwork in some areas of the state. Most farmers were able to resume harvesting and other field activities during the weekend. Corn harvest progressed rapidly in some areas. Corn harvest is 1 day behind average, but 8 days ahead of last year. Soybean harvest is 2 days ahead of average and 11 days ahead of last year. Fall tillage made excellent progress during the week. Seeding winter wheat, chopping corn stalks, stripping tobacco, spreading fertilizer and lime were other major activities. Field Crops Report There were 5.1 days suitable for fieldwork. Sixty-six percent of the corn acreage is harvested compared with 49 percent last year and 67 percent for the 5-year average. By area, 62 percent of the corn acreage is harvested in the north, 62 percent in the central regions and 79 percent in the south. Moisture content of harvested corn is averaging 18 percent. Virtually all of the soybean acreage is mature except for some double cropped soybean fields. Eighty-nine percent of the soybean acreage is harvested compared with 68 percent last year and 87 percent for the average. By area, 91 percent of the soybean acreage is harvested in the north, 92 percent in the central regions and 76 percent in the south. Moisture content of harvested soybeans is averaging 12.0 percent. Eighty-nine percent of the winter wheat acreage is seeded compared with 68 percent last year and 84 percent for the average. By area, 95 percent of the winter wheat acreage is seeded in the north, 91 percent in the central regions and 83 percent in the south. Sixty-four percent of the winter wheat acreage has emerged compared with 50 percent last year and 59 percent for the average. Stripping of tobacco continued on farms in southern areas of the state. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 1 percent excellent, 23 percent good, 40 percent fair, 22 percent poor and 14 percent very poor. Pastures continue to improve. Livestock remain in mostly good condition. Hay is scarce in some areas of the state. Fall calving continued. Crop Progress Table -------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn Harvested 66 44 49 67 Soybeans Harvested 89 78 68 87 Winter Wheat Planted 89 74 68 84 Winter Wheat Emerged 64 39 50 59 Crop Condition Table -------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Pasture 14 22 40 23 1 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : Week : Week : Year ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 6 6 0 Short 23 28 0 Adequate 65 63 26 Surplus 6 3 74 Subsoil Very Short 19 19 1 Short 35 35 4 Adequate 45 45 45 Surplus 1 1 50 Days Suitable 5.1 5.8 2.3 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 FALL HERBICIDES WAGE COLD WAR ON WINTER ANNUAL WEEDS WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. A nip in the air signals the coming winter. Right behind are winter annual weeds. It's decision time for farmers concerned that their fields will blossom with unwanted vegetation at the first hint of spring. They might want to consider applying herbicides this fall while temperatures are warm enough for the products to be effective, said Glenn Nice and Bill Johnson, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service weed specialists. With many producers harvesting crops later than usual this year because of planting delays in April and May, the fall spraying calendar could be tighter, Nice said. "Some herbicide labels have a cutoff date and a cutoff soil temperature for spraying," Nice said. "Last year we had a very late winter, and a lot of people were able to apply fall herbicides up to the end of November. This year may be a little different. Weather forecasters are calling for a colder winter, and it might come quicker, so our application window could be a lot smaller than it normally is." Most herbicide labels recommend applying the product while the soil is cool but not frozen, Johnson said. Farmers might want herbicide applications to coincide with fall fertilization, he said. "As a general rule, I'd say think about putting on your fall-applied +herbicides about the time you put on fall-applied nitrogen," Johnson said. "You want your soil temperatures below 50 degrees, you want a good seedbed and you want some vegetation up and growing. "But you don't want to do it too late, particularly if you use glyphosate-type products that don't work very well under cool weather conditions. If you get into some really cool weather conditions, you need to use more of the Contact-type products, the Gramoxone-based products." Not all fields will benefit from fall herbicide applications, and not every product is right for every field, Johnson said. Fields with a history of winter annual weed problems especially those in long-term no-till production and conventional tillage acres in creek and river bottoms - often respond better to fall herbicides, he said. Some herbicides work only in certain crop rotations. Farmers should carefully read labels for planting restrictions, Johnson said. "There are products you can choose that tie you into a specific cropping sequence and there are products that don't tie you into a specific cropping sequence," he said. "If you're determined to plant corn in a field, then you can pick products like Princep that allow you to go into corn. If you're unsure about crop rotation, you can use the Sencor/Python mixtures or the glyphosate or 2,4-D products, which wouldn't tie you into that crop rotation." Johnson also recommends purchasing only those herbicides that come with a manufacturer's guarantee. Often if weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances prevent a farmer from applying herbicides in a timely manner, or the product fails to perform as advertised, the manufacturer will provide a burndown treatment, Johnson said. Both Purdue weed specialists said favorable fall weather could portend a weed explosion next spring, although predicting which species might top the list is impossible to say. This past spring Indiana farmland was covered in cressleaf groundsel, a bright yellow plant commonly known as golden ragwort and butterweed. Whatever herbicide a farmer might select, the product needs to keep fields clean through the spring and, possibly, into the summer. "One thing you have to consider is you want a fall-applied herbicide to stick around long enough to control your winter annuals and, maybe, even give you some help with the start of the summer annuals," Nice said. "You don't want it to stick around too long, though. In the case of a wet, warm winter, you're going to get increased microbial degradation and hydrolysis. However, in a cold, dry winter, you're going to get that fall-applied herbicide sticking around for quite a while, and it'll probably serve you very well for the spring." Additional fall herbicide recommendations and application rates can be found in Purdue Extension publication WS- 28-W, "Fall-Applied Herbicide Applications in Indiana," written by a host of specialists in Purdue's Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, and Extension educators. The publication can be downloaded online at: http://www.agcom.purdue.edu/AgCom/Pubs/BP/WS-28-W.pdf. Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu Sources: Glenn Nice, (765) 496-2121, gnice@purdue.edu Bill Johnson, (765) 494-4614, wgjohnso@purdue.edu Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722; Beth Forbes, bforbes@aes.purdue.edu; http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/AgComm/public/agnews/ Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday October 27, 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 |64 28 45 -7 0.36 2 Valparaiso_AP_I |57 28 43 -8 0.22 2 Wanatah |58 25 42 -8 0.15 3 49 Wheatfield |58 27 42 -7 0.32 2 Winamac |57 29 43 -7 0.35 3 46 North Central(2)| Plymouth |57 29 42 -9 0.34 2 South_Bend |56 31 43 -7 0.22 4 Young_America |59 30 44 -6 0.49 1 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |55 27 42 -7 0.48 1 47 Fort_Wayne |57 31 44 -6 0.55 1 West Central (4)| Greencastle |62 29 45 -8 1.10 3 Perrysville |59 31 45 -7 0.63 3 54 Spencer_Ag |64 32 47 -4 1.39 2 Terre_Haute_AFB |62 31 48 -5 0.75 2 W_Lafayette_6NW |61 31 44 -6 0.44 2 50 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |61 35 47 -5 0.85 2 Greenfield |63 32 46 -6 0.97 2 Indianapolis_AP |63 35 48 -4 0.92 2 Indianapolis_SE |63 32 46 -6 1.01 3 Tipton_Ag |60 29 43 -6 0.63 2 55 East Central (6)| Farmland |62 32 44 -5 0.66 1 45 New_Castle |62 29 44 -6 0.97 1 Southwest (7) | Evansville |68 36 54 -1 1.20 2 Freelandville |64 36 49 -5 1.59 2 Shoals |66 33 49 -3 1.02 2 Stendal |67 39 51 -3 1.40 2 Vincennes_5NE |64 35 49 -4 1.14 2 52 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |64 30 51 -2 0.84 2 Oolitic |66 33 49 -2 1.40 2 54 Tell_City |68 40 55 +0 0.96 2 Southeast (9) | Brookville |68 33 48 -2 1.58 1 Milan_5NE |65 35 48 -3 1.27 2 Scottsburg |65 33 49 -4 1.48 2 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- | Accumulation | April 1, 2002 thru Station | October 27, 2002 | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |19.71 -4.60 75 3351 +149 Valparaiso_AP_I |19.60 -7.23 74 3359 +429 Wanatah |20.05 -5.62 82 3162 +384 Wheatfield |24.46 -0.25 62 3225 +391 Winamac |22.45 -2.31 74 3277 +353 North Central(2)| Plymouth |20.62 -4.93 77 3142 +61 South_Bend |17.64 -7.30 74 3338 +451 Young_America |23.80 -0.31 65 3392 +371 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |21.18 -2.87 68 3087 +335 Fort_Wayne |22.35 +0.29 64 3362 +328 West Central (4)| Greencastle |33.00 +5.26 71 3282 -160 Perrysville |30.86 +5.05 70 3467 +276 Spencer_Ag |34.89 +7.20 71 3540 +329 Terre_Haute_AFB |35.29 +9.20 69 3775 +360 W_Lafayette_6NW |27.18 +2.73 78 3421 +401 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |26.37 +1.93 72 3783 +403 Greenfield |34.19 +7.41 72 3555 +308 Indianapolis_AP |25.01 +0.57 65 3924 +544 Indianapolis_SE |29.79 +4.73 64 3554 +181 Tipton_Ag |24.60 -0.59 69 3272 +352 East Central (6)| Farmland |22.69 -1.38 67 3367 +521 New_Castle |25.87 +0.16 60 3061 +142 Southwest (7) | Evansville |27.42 +2.58 59 4441 +504 Freelandville |31.51 +5.69 59 3983 +453 Shoals |28.66 +0.75 57 3853 +430 Stendal |31.29 +3.71 59 4178 +482 Vincennes_5NE |35.23 +9.41 70 4085 +555 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |31.11 +3.02 66 3967 +569 Oolitic |31.92 +5.02 70 3744 +489 Tell_City |31.24 +3.07 54 4520 +704 Southeast (9) | Brookville |27.12 +1.25 64 3843 +760 Milan_5NE |34.56 +8.69 77 3461 +378 Scottsburg |32.78 +6.20 66 3777 +263 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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