in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 11, 2003 Issue IN-CW1903 Agricultural Summary Rain and wet field conditions halted field activities during most of the week, according to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service. Thunderstorms and strong winds occurred in some areas during the week causing damage on some farms. Standing water exists in low lying areas of many fields and flooding is occurring along river bottom land. Soil moisture has improved from the recent showers in most areas of the state. Corn planting is 2 days ahead of average. Soybean planting is 5 days behind the average pace. Early emerged corn fields were looking good, but some replanting may now be necessary in drowned out areas. Field Crops Report There were .6 days suitable for fieldwork. Fifty-eight percent of the intended corn acreage is planted compared with 11 percent last year and 54 percent for the 5-year average. By area, 68 percent of the corn acreage is planted in the north, 64 percent in the central region and 25 percent in the south. Thirty-two percent of the corn acreage has emerged, compared with 4 percent last year and 25 percent for the average. Twenty- one percent of the soybean acreage is planted compared with 3 percent last year and 31 percent for the average. By area, 30 percent of the soybean acreage is planted in the north, 23 percent in the central region and 3 percent in the south Ninety-four percent of the winter wheat acreage is jointed compared with 99 percent last year and 99 percent for the 5-year average. Thirty-five percent of the winter wheat is headed compared with 35 percent last year and 40 percent for the average. Winter wheat condition is rated 79 percent good to excellent compared with 62 percent last year at this time. Major activities during the week were tillage of soils, spraying chemicals, repairing equipment, moving grain to market, hauling manure and taking care of livestock. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 15 percent excellent, 58 percent good, 21 percent fair, 5 percent poor and 1 percent very poor. Pastures and forage crops continue to improve aided by the recent rain and warmer temperatures. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Spring calving remains active. Crop Progress Table -------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn Planted 58 50 11 54 Corn Emerged 32 11 4 25 Soybeans Planted 21 17 3 31 Winter Wheat Jointed 94 83 99 99 Winter Wheat Headed 35 8 35 40 Tobacco Plants Set 2 1 0 2 Crop Condition Table -------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Pasture 1 5 21 58 15 Winter Wheat 2003 1 3 17 55 24 Winter Wheat 2002 1 7 30 49 13 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : Week : Week : Year ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 0 1 0 Short 1 6 0 Adequate 27 55 13 Surplus 72 38 87 Subsoil Very Short 0 6 0 Short 7 16 0 Adequate 56 61 27 Surplus 37 17 73 Days Suitable 0.6 3.6 1.0 Contact information --Greg Preston, 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 HERBICIDE RESISTANCE GROWING LIKE WEEDS, SPECIALIST SAYS WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Farmers applying popular herbicides to their fields one day might receive an unwelcome chemical reaction: weeds ignoring the products altogether. Scores of crop-damaging weeds are developing immunity to even the strongest herbicides in farmers' arsenals, said Bill Johnson, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service weed specialist. What's more, fewer chemical methods for controlling the undesired vegetation are being introduced to replace them. It all adds up to trouble for producers, but all is not lost if farmers change some current practices, Johnson said. "We are developing glyphosate-resistant weeds at a rate of about one new species per year over the last four years," he said. "There are about 250 species of herbicide-resistant weeds in the world. The highest number is in areas where production row-crop agriculture is most intense and relies almost exclusively on herbicides for weed control. That would be North America, Australia and Europe." Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, considered the king of herbicides. So dominant is Roundup that 83 percent of United States soybean acres are expected to be planted to Roundup-tolerant varieties this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Indiana farmers are projected to plant 91 percent of their soybean acres to Roundup Ready varieties. Statewide, several weeds are demonstrating resistance to herbicide ingredients and brand-name products, Johnson said. "In Indiana we have glyphosate-resistant marestail; jimsonweed resistant to atrazine; giant and common ragweed resistant to First Rate, pigweed resistant to Scepter, Classic and Pursuit; and lambsquarter resistant to atrazine." Herbicide resistance in weeds started slowly in the 1970s and picked up steam in the early 1980s. Between 1990 and 2000 the number of confirmed herbicide-tolerant weeds worldwide jumped from about 125 to more than 240. The rapid increase in weeds unaffected by herbicides was caused, in part, by the use of herbicides with identical control methods known as modes-of-action - on both soybeans and corn, Johnson said. The same is now happening to herbicides with acetolactase synthase (ALS) inhibitors. ALS inhibitors kill weeds by preventing them from producing essential amino acids necessary for growth. Weed-control chemistry isn't keeping up with weed physiology, Johnson said. "For the most part we haven't lost active ingredients in corn or soybean production, but we're not getting new active ingredients introduced, either," he said. "In the 1980s and through the early part of the 1990s, we probably were getting one or two new herbicides with a relatively new mode-of-action every couple of years. We haven't gotten a new mode-of-action introduced into research programs in probably four or five years." Developing effective new herbicides is a time-consuming and expensive task, Johnson said. "There's probably a misconception out there that companies can turn on the spigot and turn out a new active ingredient, when in fact it takes probably $100 million and 10 years of research to get a new product to the marketplace," he said. Although weeds are gradually winning the control war, farmers still have a fighting chance. Johnson recommends producers avoid using similar mode-of-action herbicides on two or more crops. Also, planting soybeans in narrow rows helps minimize weed emergence later in the crop season, and can be effective with corn, as well. "One of the best things we can do is rotate crops," Johnson said. "We rotate crops for insect and disease problems, and we need to rotate crops for weed problems. Most of our corn and soybean crops in Indiana are rotated. However, there are certain areas where soybeans are grown continuously. "The other thing we can do - if soil erosion is not a big problem - is introduce tillage back into our systems. That could be some primary tillage in the fall, some secondary tillage in the spring or simply using a rotary hoe and cultivator in the crop. There aren't too many weeds that have developed resistance to being torn out of the ground by a piece of steel." Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu Source: Bill Johnson, (765) 494-4656, wgjohnso@purdue.edu Related Web sites: Purdue University Weed Science Page: http://www.btny.purdue.edu/weedscience/ International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds: http://www.weedscience.org/ Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University. Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday May 11, 2003 --------------------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|-----------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days|Temp ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |86 42 62 +4 4.37 6 60 Valparaiso_AP_I |84 45 62 +5 4.24 5 Wanatah |83 43 60 +5 4.40 5 63 Wheatfield |86 47 62 +5 4.26 5 Winamac |84 48 61 +3 3.34 5 60 North Central(2)| Plymouth |82 47 61 +3 2.84 5 South_Bend |79 46 61 +5 3.63 5 Young_America |85 50 63 +6 3.88 5 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |79 47 62 +6 4.95 6 58 Fort_Wayne |81 50 63 +6 4.34 6 West Central (4)| Greencastle |85 47 64 +4 4.29 6 Perrysville |88 49 65 +7 3.34 5 62 Spencer_Ag |83 47 65 +7 3.75 7 Terre_Haute_AFB |85 51 66 +6 3.54 5 W_Lafayette_6NW |87 47 64 +7 3.15 5 63 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |84 52 65 +6 4.20 5 Greenfield |84 49 65 +7 4.57 6 Indianapolis_AP |84 53 66 +7 3.73 5 Indianapolis_SE |83 47 65 +6 3.59 6 Tipton_Ag |84 45 63 +6 7.23 6 66 East Central (6)| Farmland |85 45 64 +8 3.57 5 61 New_Castle |81 36 63 +6 3.57 6 Southwest (7) | Evansville |83 54 70 +8 3.40 6 Freelandville |81 48 66 +6 6.40 7 Shoals |83 47 66 +7 4.23 7 Stendal |83 48 67 +6 4.16 6 Vincennes_5NE |83 48 66 +6 4.68 7 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |82 46 67 +7 3.99 6 Oolitic |83 45 66 +7 4.86 7 61 Tell_City |85 48 69 +7 3.87 6 Southeast (9) | Brookville |85 52 68 +11 3.48 6 Milan_5NE |83 44 66 +8 4.43 7 Scottsburg |82 46 67 +7 3.87 6 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- | Accumulation | April 1, 2003 thru Station | May 11, 2003 | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W | 8.81 +3.75 21 278 +59 Valparaiso_AP_I | 8.01 +2.67 16 267 +100 Wanatah | 8.61 +3.48 17 224 +87 Wheatfield | 8.45 +3.44 15 270 +121 Winamac | 6.24 +1.32 16 273 +93 North Central(2)| Plymouth | 6.68 +1.46 15 248 +56 South_Bend | 7.69 +2.73 16 278 +125 Young_America | 5.89 +1.10 19 302 +128 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City | 7.57 +2.72 19 244 +109 Fort_Wayne | 7.52 +2.93 16 266 +103 West Central (4)| Greencastle | 6.95 +1.59 20 303 +58 Perrysville | 6.48 +1.18 16 343 +136 Spencer_Ag | 7.27 +1.56 19 342 +129 Terre_Haute_AFB | 6.79 +1.28 17 363 +119 W_Lafayette_6NW | 7.29 +2.15 20 326 +146 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP | 6.57 +1.44 17 357 +124 Greenfield | 7.88 +2.26 19 335 +135 Indianapolis_AP | 6.73 +1.60 17 368 +135 Indianapolis_SE | 6.71 +1.35 16 337 +120 Tipton_Ag | 9.64 +4.32 15 261 +107 East Central (6)| Farmland | 5.60 +0.71 15 290 +143 New_Castle | 5.19 -0.49 16 256 +104 Southwest (7) | Evansville | 7.47 +1.75 18 468 +122 Freelandville |10.07 +4.43 18 391 +126 Shoals | 8.26 +2.33 16 397 +138 Stendal | 8.74 +2.46 16 435 +135 Vincennes_5NE | 8.19 +2.55 18 402 +137 South Central(8)| Leavenworth | 8.09 +1.78 20 409 +144 Oolitic | 8.79 +3.10 18 376 +148 Tell_City | 8.93 +2.36 16 509 +195 Southeast (9) | Brookville | 5.55 +0.07 15 377 +191 Milan_5NE | 7.67 +2.19 21 350 +164 Scottsburg |10.26 +4.47 18 389 +121 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2003: 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