in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date May 2, 2004 Issue IN-CW1804 Agricultural Summary Corn and soybean planting was in full swing during the week, according to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service. Weekend rain halted field activities in most areas, but the rain helped the dry soil conditions. Topsoil moisture was becoming very dry in many areas of the state, especially in the northern regions. Recent showers and wet fields have slowed field activities in some southern counties. Windy conditions hindered spraying activities again last week. Planting of corn and soybeans continued to make excellent progress. Corn planting is 3 days ahead of the previous record pace established in 2001 and 14 days ahead of the average pace. Soybean planting is 5 days ahead of the average pace. Field Crops Report There were 4.4 days suitable for fieldwork. Seventy percent of the intended corn acreage is planted compared with 43 percent for last year and 33 percent for the 5-year average. Twenty percent of the corn acreage has emerged compared with 8 percent last year and 7 percent for the average. By area, 69 percent of the corn is planted in the north, 71 percent in the central region and 68 percent in the south. Twenty-three percent of the intended soybean acreage is planted compared with 13 percent last year and 12 percent for the average. By area, 31 percent of the soybean acreage is planted in the north, 21 percent in the central region and 12 percent in the south. Eighty percent of the winter wheat acreage is jointed compared with 81 percent last year and 89 percent for the 5-year average. Eleven percent of the winter wheat is headed compared with 6 percent last year and 10 percent for the average. Winter wheat condition is rated 86 percent good to excellent compared with 84 percent last year at this time. Major activities during the week were tillage of soils, nitrogen application, spreading fertilizer, spraying chemicals, repairing equipment, grain and livestock marketing, hauling manure and taking care of livestock. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 11 percent excellent, 63 percent good, 21 percent fair, 4 percent poor and 1 percent very poor. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Spring calving continued on cattle operations. Crop Progress Table ----------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg ----------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn Planted 70 42 43 33 Corn Emerged 20 5 8 7 Soybean Planted 23 8 13 12 Winter Wheat Jointed 80 69 81 89 Winter Wheat Headed 11 1 6 10 Crop Condition Table ------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ------------------------------------------------------------- Percent Pasture 1 4 21 63 11 Winter Wheat 2004 0 1 13 68 18 Winter Wheat 2003 0 2 14 61 23 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 4 4 1 Short 13 14 6 Adequate 59 64 55 Surplus 24 18 38 Subsoil Very Short 3 4 6 Short 20 19 16 Adequate 66 68 61 Surplus 11 9 17 Days Suitable 4.4 4.1 3.6 Contact information --Greg Preston, State Director --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 DANDELIONS EVERYWHERE! During our trip to Davis Purdue Ag Center this week, we noticed a number of fields with heavy infestations of flowering dandelions in the central part of the state, just north of Indianapolis. In addition, our conversations with farmers and agronomists in Indiana would indicate that this is a relatively widespread problem throughout a good portion of the eastern half of Indiana. The purpose of this article is to summarize some of treatments one can use if they have dandelions that need treatment before planting. In general, dandelions are typically tougher to control in the spring than they are in the fall. In addition, they are tougher to control in the early part of the spring (March) than they are in the latter part of the spring (late April Early May). The reason is that herbicide activity is typically less when daytime air temperatures do not regularly get above 50 ºF. Why if the plant is not actively growing (or is dormant), it will not translocate herbicide to active meristematic sinks. The result is that the herbicide is metabolized or inactivated in the plant and can not do it's work at the target site. A second reason is that by mid-April, dandelions have flowered at least once and many physiological processes in the plants change after the onset of reproductive growth. In OSU and Purdue trials, the best control for late spring treatments is usually obtained with a combination of 2,4-D (1 lb. ai/A) and glyphosate (0.75 lb. ae/A). Keep in mind that use of this rate of 2,4-D usually will require 30 day preplant interval before planting soybean and a 7 to 14 day preplant interval before planting corn. However, there are a number of 2,4-D products available and the preplant interval varies by product. If you feel you cannot wait the required interval before planting, then one can use at least 0.75 lb. ae/A of glyphosate and plant anytime after application. In Purdue trials conducted in 2003, we evaluated glyphosate applied at 0.75 lb. ae/A and 1.125 lb. ae/A and found that control ranged from 60 to 70 % at 19 days after treatment, and 93 to 97 % control at 37 days after treatment. Both treatments then received another post-emergence treatment of 0.75 lb. ae/A of glyphosate. On July 12, dandelion control with 0.75 followed by 0.75 lb. ae/A was 77 %, while control with 1.125 ae/A followed by 0.75 lb. ae/A was 91 %. It appeared that utilization of a higher rate of glyphosate in the initial treatment was beneficial in weakening the plant so it could be controlled better by the follow-up application. So keep in mind that it is unlikely that complete control will be obtained by a single application in the spring, but utilization of a followup application of glyphosate in RR soybeans and Distinct or 2,4-D in corn will help provide additional control or suppression of dandelions. Bill Johnson and Glenn Nice, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University. Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday May 2, 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 |79 35 55 -2 1.04 2 57 Valparaiso_AP_I |77 35 54 +0 0.75 3 Wanatah |80 30 54 +1 0.61 4 58 Wheatfield |78 35 53 -1 1.92 5 Winamac |77 34 54 -1 0.82 2 North Central(2)| Plymouth |78 32 53 -3 0.86 3 South_Bend |79 34 56 +2 0.84 5 Young_America |78 36 55 +1 1.07 2 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |79 29 54 +2 1.07 4 Fort_Wayne |78 31 56 +2 1.21 3 West Central (4)| Greencastle |77 34 55 -3 0.59 3 Perrysville |80 36 57 +2 1.25 2 58 Spencer_Ag |80 35 57 +2 1.44 3 Terre_Haute_AFB |79 39 58 +1 0.56 2 W_Lafayette_6NW |78 33 56 +2 0.94 3 60 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |76 37 57 -1 0.54 3 Greenfield |78 35 56 -1 0.86 3 Indianapolis_AP |77 39 58 +2 0.63 3 Indianapolis_SE |77 36 57 +0 0.92 3 Tipton_Ag |77 36 55 +1 0.74 3 East Central (6)| Farmland |77 30 55 +2 1.02 3 New_Castle |75 31 54 +0 1.32 4 Southwest (7) | Evansville |79 40 62 +2 1.18 3 Freelandville |77 43 59 +2 1.10 3 Shoals |79 39 59 +2 1.68 4 Stendal |79 43 61 +3 1.28 3 Vincennes_5NE |78 40 59 +0 1.40 3 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |78 38 58 +0 2.39 4 Oolitic |76 33 58 +2 1.61 5 58 Tell_City |79 44 62 +3 2.14 4 Southeast (9) | Brookville |79 33 57 +2 2.26 4 Milan_5NE |78 34 57 +3 1.74 5 Scottsburg |79 34 59 +1 3.29 4 --------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table Week ending Sunday May 2, 2004 ----------------|-------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2004 thru Station | May 2, 2004 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W | 2.10 -1.81 5 164 +26 Valparaiso_AP_I | 1.60 -2.63 6 169 +68 Wanatah | 1.59 -2.46 7 144 +65 Wheatfield | 4.66 +0.65 14 145 +60 Winamac | 1.93 -2.00 8 164 +56 North Central(2)| Plymouth | 1.54 -2.60 8 145 +27 South_Bend | 1.28 -2.75 9 185 +95 Young_America | 1.93 -1.79 6 178 +74 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City | 1.77 -2.08 9 149 +71 Fort_Wayne | 2.04 -1.56 9 175 +78 West Central (4)| Greencastle | 1.59 -2.44 9 172 +15 Perrysville | 2.79 -1.35 6 214 +84 Spencer_Ag | 3.32 -1.00 13 186 +51 Terre_Haute_AFB | 1.79 -2.39 7 236 +78 W_Lafayette_6NW | 2.27 -1.72 6 197 +88 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP | 2.07 -1.89 9 212 +65 Greenfield | 2.14 -2.18 12 177 +54 Indianapolis_AP | 2.23 -1.73 9 238 +91 Indianapolis_SE | 2.44 -1.62 9 195 +60 Tipton_Ag | 2.35 -1.81 8 158 +69 East Central (6)| Farmland | 3.08 -0.74 12 158 +75 New_Castle | 2.68 -1.69 11 125 +37 Southwest (7) | Evansville | 3.08 -1.25 8 300 +62 Freelandville | 2.23 -1.97 11 235 +60 Shoals | 4.06 -0.37 13 240 +68 Stendal | 3.04 -1.73 9 271 +69 Vincennes_5NE | 3.43 -0.77 12 250 +75 South Central(8)| Leavenworth | 6.18 +1.31 13 228 +51 Oolitic | 4.25 -0.06 15 203 +54 Tell_City | 6.38 +1.26 13 305 +92 Southeast (9) | Brookville | 4.56 +0.42 12 179 +64 Milan_5NE | 4.94 +0.80 17 188 +73 Scottsburg | 6.43 +1.98 15 222 +46 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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