in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 4, 2004 Issue IN-CW1404 Agricultural Summary THIS REPORT IS THE FIRST CROP WEATHER REPORT FOR THE 2004 GROWING SEASON. A SERIES OF WEEKLY CROP PROGRESS REPORTS WILL BE PUBLISHED EACH MONDAY AT 3:00 P.M. EST THROUGHOUT THE CROP SEASON. These reports will cover planting and harvesting activities, crop development, weather data and timely crop management information provided by Purdue University experts. For the earliest possible access, look for these reports on the internet shortly after the 3:00 P.M. release time. Our home page address is located at the bottom of this publication. Follow the links to view the text and PDF files. Field Crops Report There were 1.5 days suitable for fieldwork. Rain early in the week halted most field activities around the state. Some fieldwork was accomplished late in the week on the lighter type well drained soils. Strong steady winds also helped dry out soils during the weekend. A few scattered fields of corn have been planted, but most farmers are making final preparations to equipment and waiting for warmer weather and drier soil conditions to begin 2004 planting of corn and soybeans. Seeding of oats has taken place in some areas. Growth and development of hay and pastures have been slow. Twelve percent of the winter wheat acreage is jointed compared with 5 percent last year and 10 percent for the 5-year average. Winter wheat condition is rated 85 percent good to excellent compared with 80 percent last year at this time. Wheat growth was slow earlier, but has greened up rapidly during the last two weeks and growing. Major activities during the week were moving grain to market, tillage of soils, applying fertilizer and spreading lime, spraying chemicals, preparing equipment, hauling manure and taking care of livestock. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 6 percent excellent, 58 percent good, 29 percent fair, 5 percent poor and 2 percent very poor. Pastures are slowly improving. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Hay supplies are rated 3 percent very short, 9 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 7 percent surplus. Lambing and calving are active. Crop Progress Table ----------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg ----------------------------------------------------- Percent Winter Wheat Jointed 12 NA 5 10 Crop Condition Table ------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ------------------------------------------------------------- Percent Pasture 2 5 29 58 6 Winter Wheat 2004 0 1 14 64 21 Winter Wheat 2003 0 2 18 68 12 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 0 NA 3 Short 1 NA 8 Adequate 54 NA 66 Surplus 45 NA 23 Subsoil Very Short 2 NA 9 Short 3 NA 13 Adequate 68 NA 67 Surplus 27 NA 11 Days Suitable 1.5 NA 3.7 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 SOYBEAN SEED SIZE ALERT * Soybean seed available for planting the 2004 crop will be 10 to 20 % smaller. * The quantity of soybean seed this year is very good. * Drills and planters MUST be re-calibrated to adjust for the smaller seed. Sub-samples of seed taken from plots at the Agronomy Center for Research and Education at harvest in 2003 indicated that the harvested seed was 12 to 20 % smaller than the seed utilized to plant the plots. The smaller seed was most likely the result of late season heat and moisture stresses on the 2003 soybean crop. The smallness of the seed does not appear to have reduced germination and should have no negative effect on the vigor of seed available to plant the 2004 crop. However, seed available to farmers this year will most likely be 10 to 20 % smaller than last year. This will vary depending on the location of the seed production and the maturity group. Seed produced in southern Indiana may be near normal in size while seed from northern Indiana will be smaller than normal. Group II soybeans had reached the R-5.5 growth stage when the moisture stress was most severe, resulting in much smaller seed than normal. The Group III soybeans were at the R-5.0 stage of growth during the most stressful period resulting in significant seed abortion but less reduction in seed size. The smaller seed means that a farmer will need to purchase 10 to 20% fewer units of seed in 2004 to plant the same land area as 2003. Producers need to obtain seed counts from their seed supplier prior to finalizing the number of units needed in 2004. In addition to adjusting seed purchases, producers MUST recalibrate drills and planters to account for the reduced seed size. Always check the seed tag for the percent germination and the number of seeds per pound before calibrating drills and planters. When calibrating drills, collect seed from ALL of the rows since the seeding rate varies widely from one row to another. Failure to recalibrate will result in excessive seeding rates, additional expense for unneeded seed, (just when seed costs are already much higher than those in 2003), and plant stands that are too thick. Thick stands will result in plants that are likely to be taller with smaller stems and subject to lodging. If lodging occurs while the plants are green and growing there will be an overall reduction in the total leaf canopy and some plants will die, resulting in a yield reduction. On the other hand, if lodging occurs after physiological maturity, the soybeans will mature in a near normal fashion but field losses will occur at harvest. Purdue recommends seeding rates of 200,000, 165,000 and 130,000 seeds per acre for 7.5, 15 and 30 inch rows respectively. This recommendation is based on seed with a germination of at least 90 % and that 90 % of those seeds will emerge and become established as normal plants. The resultant stand should be 165,000, 135,000 and 105,000 plants per acre respectively for 7.5, 15 and 30 inch rows. Ellsworth P. Christmas, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University. Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday April 4, 2004 --------------------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|------------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days |Temp ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |77 31 48 +2 0.80 2 49 Valparaiso_AP_I |76 32 46 +2 0.71 2 Wanatah |76 29 45 +3 0.70 2 50 Wheatfield |75 32 47 +5 1.48 5 Winamac |77 31 48 +4 0.07 2 North Central(2)| Plymouth |77 32 48 +3 0.19 2 South_Bend |77 31 47 +4 0.17 3 Young_America |77 32 49 +5 0.80 2 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |74 32 49 +6 0.12 3 Fort_Wayne |74 31 49 +6 0.23 3 West Central (4)| Greencastle |78 33 48 -1 0.73 3 Perrysville |76 29 48 +3 0.48 3 52 Spencer_Ag |77 31 48 +2 1.12 4 Terre_Haute_AFB |74 31 48 -1 0.72 3 W_Lafayette_6NW |77 29 48 +4 0.74 2 51 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |77 34 49 +2 1.23 3 Greenfield |77 34 48 +3 1.56 4 Indianapolis_AP |80 33 49 +2 1.04 3 Indianapolis_SE |77 33 48 +2 1.12 3 Tipton_Ag |75 33 49 +5 0.87 3 East Central (6)| Farmland |76 34 48 +5 0.80 5 New_Castle |75 31 47 +3 0.43 3 Southwest (7) | Evansville |81 34 51 -2 0.15 3 Freelandville |77 32 49 +1 0.33 3 Shoals |81 34 50 +2 0.92 4 Stendal |79 34 51 +0 0.73 4 Vincennes_5NE |79 34 50 +2 0.87 4 51 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |79 35 48 -2 0.91 4 Oolitic |78 33 49 +2 0.91 4 49 Tell_City |80 40 52 +2 0.86 4 Southeast (9) | Brookville |80 35 50 +4 0.84 5 Milan_5NE |78 34 49 +3 1.20 6 Scottsburg |80 32 49 -2 0.76 4 --------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table Week ending Sunday April 4, 2004 ----------------|-------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2004 thru Station | April 4, 2004 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W | 0.00 -0.44 0 0 -8 Valparaiso_AP_I | 0.00 -0.50 0 0 -4 Wanatah | 0.00 -0.48 0 0 -4 Wheatfield | 0.71 +0.23 2 0 -4 Winamac | 0.00 -0.47 0 0 -4 North Central(2)| Plymouth | 0.00 -0.48 0 0 -4 South_Bend | 0.01 -0.51 1 0 -4 Young_America | 0.00 -0.44 0 0 -4 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City | 0.01 -0.47 1 0 -3 Fort_Wayne | 0.01 -0.43 1 0 -4 West Central (4)| Greencastle | 0.03 -0.45 1 0 -8 Perrysville | 0.00 -0.50 0 0 -8 Spencer_Ag | 0.17 -0.35 1 0 -8 Terre_Haute_AFB | 0.08 -0.40 1 0 -9 W_Lafayette_6NW | 0.00 -0.45 0 0 -4 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP | 0.09 -0.41 1 0 -8 Greenfield | 0.08 -0.44 2 0 -5 Indianapolis_AP | 0.10 -0.40 1 0 -8 Indianapolis_SE | 0.08 -0.40 1 0 -8 Tipton_Ag | 0.02 -0.48 1 0 -4 East Central (6)| Farmland | 0.12 -0.34 2 0 -4 New_Castle | 0.04 -0.48 1 0 -4 Southwest (7) | Evansville | 0.03 -0.53 1 1 -17 Freelandville | 0.08 -0.44 1 0 -12 Shoals | 0.15 -0.41 1 1 -11 Stendal | 0.13 -0.47 1 1 -13 Vincennes_5NE | 0.05 -0.47 1 0 -12 South Central(8)| Leavenworth | 0.11 -0.53 1 0 -12 Oolitic | 0.22 -0.32 1 0 -8 Tell_City | 0.08 -0.56 1 5 -11 Southeast (9) | Brookville | 0.19 -0.33 3 0 -5 Milan_5NE | 0.22 -0.30 3 0 -5 Scottsburg | 0.23 -0.33 1 0 -12 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: 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