in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date June 20, 2004 Issue IN-CW2504 Agricultural Summary Showers and thunderstorms along with wet field conditions slowed most field activities, according to Indiana Agricultural Statistics. Ponding remains in many fields and river bottoms are flooded. Many farmers were scouting their fields assessing the damage to crops. Some may try to replant drowned out spots, but it will take several days of favorable drying conditions for the wet areas to dry out. Harvesting winter wheat, baling hay and spraying chemicals were taking place on some farms. Wheat fields are rapidly advancing toward maturity. Harvest is gaining momentum in the southwestern area of the state. Field Crops Report There were 2.2 days suitable for fieldwork. Corn condition is rated 73 percent good to excellent compared with 58 percent last year at this time. Two percent of the corn acreage has silked. Ninety-six percent of the intended soybean acreage is planted compared with 89 percent last year and 95 percent for the average. Ninety-three percent of the soybean acreage has emerged compared with 81 percent last year and 91 percent for the average. By area, 98 percent of the soybean acreage is planted in the north, 99 percent in the central region and 86 percent in the south. Soybean condition is rated 66 percent good to excellent compared with 57 percent last year at this time. Seventeen percent of the winter wheat acreage is harvested compared with 8 percent last year and 13 percent for the average. Wheat condition is rated 64 percent good to excellent compared with 65 percent last year at this time. Setting of tobacco plants is 76 percent complete compared with 53 percent last year and 77 percent for average. First cutting of alfalfa hay is 81 percent complete compared with 80 percent last year and 89 percent for the average. Major activities during the week were cleaning up and repairing equipment, mowing roads, moving grain to market, hauling manure and taking care of livestock. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 17 percent excellent, 64 percent good, 15 percent fair, 3 percent poor and 1 percent very poor. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Crop Progress Table ----------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg ----------------------------------------------------- Percent Soybeans Planted 96 95 89 95 Soybeans Emerged 93 90 81 91 Corn Silking 2 NA 0 0 Alfalfa First Cutting 81 77 80 89 Tobacco Plants Set 76 60 53 77 Winter Wheat Harvested 17 6 8 13 Crop Condition Table ------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ------------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn 3 5 19 52 21 Soybean 3 7 24 50 16 Winter Wheat 2004 2 6 28 48 16 Pasture 1 3 15 64 17 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 0 0 0 Short 1 2 5 Adequate 51 55 64 Surplus 48 43 31 Subsoil Very Short 0 1 0 Short 3 5 6 Adequate 61 65 67 Surplus 36 29 27 Days Suitable 2.2 3.9 4.5 Contact information --Greg Preston, 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 WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE... The rain storms of the past week left a lot of things floating or submerged throughout Indiana, including corn fields. Total rainfall over the several day period was greater than 10 inches for some areas in northern Indiana. The consequences of such extreme weather events on crops this late into the growing season are often severe, with few available remedies to recover lost yield potential. Here are a few thoughts to consider relative to water-damaged crops. 1. Given the warm soil temperatures, young corn will not tolerate more than several days of outright ponding before whole plant death occurs. Oxygen deprivation quickly results in significant deterioration and death of above-and below-ground plant tissue. See my earlier article for more info (Nielsen, 2004a). 2. Older plants will technically tolerate ponding or saturated soil conditions somewhat longer than young corn before death occurs. Crops that survive bouts of ponding and saturated soils will nonetheless suffer significant damage to their root systems. The immediate effects will be stunting of plant development. In the longer term, root systems compromised by ponding and saturated soils today will be less able to sustain the crops IF drought conditions develop later in the growing season. 3. For corn, damage to its root system today will predispose the crop to the development of root and stalk rots later in the season by virtue of the photosynthetic stress imposed by the limited root system during the important grain filling period following pollination. Monitor affected fields later in August for the possible development of stalk rots and modify harvest-timing strategies accordingly (Nielsen, 2003). 4. Ponding or flooding over the top of young corn plants increases the risk of infection by the soil borne fungus, Sclerophthora macrospora, that causes Crazy Top disease (Lipps and Mills, 2000). 5. Once the water recedes, deposits of sediment and crop residues that remain on crop plants either outright smother any surviving plants or greatly reduce their ability to capture sunlight and photosynthesize carbohydrates. Ironically, more rain later on may be beneficial to help wash off these deposits. 6. Given the warm soils, loss of nitrate nitrogen due to denitrification can easily approach 4 to 5% per day of saturated soil conditions (Hoeft, 2004). Loss of nitrate nitrogen on coarse-textured, sandy soils is also very rapid. Pre-plant or early side-dress applications are at most risk. More recent sidedress applications of nitrate- containing fertilizers (e.g., liquid 28%) are at more risk of N loss than are applications of anhydrous ammonia (Nielsen, 2004b). 7. Many cornfields in the affected area are "smack dab" (a Nielsen term, meaning "exactly") in the middle of their rapid growth phase prior to pollination when nitrogen uptake rates are at their peak. Assessing the need for supplemental nitrogen is complicated by the fact that the yield potential of (surviving) ponded corn will be less than normal. Where estimated nitrogen loss is significant (60 lbs or greater) in fields not yet tasseling and yield potential is still reasonable, corn may respond to an additional 50 80 lbs of applied fertilizer N up to or shortly after tasseling (Hoeft, 2004). 8. Replant considerations for damaged or destroyed corn fields will not be easy decisions, particularly in the northern half of Indiana, given that many damaged fields will not be dry enough to replant for another week. Technically, corn could still be replanted in northern Indiana through the end of June by selecting unusually early maturity hybrids (see Table 1 below). However, such late replanting is not without risk itself, including the fact that unusually early maturity hybrids are often unadapted to diseases common to an area of the state (Nielsen & Thomison, 2003). TABLE 1. Relative hybrid maturities "safe" for replanting in late June throughout Indiana. AREA OF INDIANA REPLANTING JUNE 21 REPLANTING JUNE 28 Northwest 96 92 Northcentral 95 91 Northeast 94 90 Westcentral 104 100 Central 102 98 Eastcentral 96 92 Southwest 117 112 Southcentral 108 104 Southeast 109 105 Listed hybrid maturity values aim at reaching maturity (kernel black layer) about 1 week prior to the date of an average fall frost for a given area of the state. RELATED REFERENCES Hoeft, Robert. 2004. Predicting and Measuring Nitrogen Loss. Univ. of Illinois "the Bulletin". Available online at http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/ bulletin/article.php?issueNumber=10&issueYear=2004&articleNumber=8 (URL verified 6/14/04). Lipps, Patrick E. and Dennis R. Mills. 2000. Crazy Top of Corn. Ohio State Univ. Coop. Ext. Service publication AC- 0034-01. Available online at http://ohioline.osu.edu/ac- fact/0034.html. (URL verified 6/14/04) Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2003. Stalk Health Issues in Stressed Corn. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. Available online at http://www. kingcorn.org/news/articles.03/StalkHealth- 0813.html. (URL verified 6/14/04). Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2004a. Effects of Flooding or Ponding on Young Corn. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. Available online at http:// www.kingcorn.org/news/articles.04/ Flooding-0507.html. (URL verified 6/14/04) Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2004b. Soggy Soils, N Loss, & Supplemental Nitrogen Fertilizer for Corn. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. Available online at http://www.kingcorn.org/news/articles.04/Flooding -0507.html. (URL verified 6/14/04) Nielsen, R.L. (Bob) and Peter Thomison. 2003. Delayed Planting & Hybrid Maturity Decisions. Purdue Univ. Cooperative Extension Publication AY-312-W. Available online at http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ ext/pubs/AY-312- W.pdf. (URL verified 6/14/04). R.L. (Bob) Nielsen, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University. Email address: rnielsen@purdue.edu Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday June 20, 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 |87 46 72 +0 0.69 2 72 Valparaiso_AP_I |83 46 69 -1 0.85 4 Wanatah |84 42 69 -2 0.56 5 75 Wheatfield |83 44 70 -1 1.02 4 Winamac |84 45 71 +1 0.84 5 73 North Central(2)| Plymouth |84 46 70 -1 0.69 4 South_Bend |84 47 70 +1 0.52 3 Young_America |85 48 72 +2 1.78 3 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |84 47 71 +2 1.55 5 72 Fort_Wayne |86 49 73 +3 2.11 5 West Central (4)| Greencastle |85 41 73 -1 2.47 5 Perrysville |89 48 74 +3 1.53 2 80 Spencer_Ag |88 49 75 +4 2.63 5 Terre_Haute_AFB |89 47 75 +4 1.68 5 W_Lafayette_6NW |86 45 72 +2 0.59 1 80 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |86 49 74 +3 2.28 5 Greenfield |86 50 74 +2 2.96 5 Indianapolis_AP |88 51 75 +3 2.52 4 Indianapolis_SE |86 48 74 +2 2.03 3 Tipton_Ag |86 46 73 +3 1.74 6 77 East Central (6)| Farmland |86 48 73 +4 1.34 4 69 New_Castle |84 48 72 +2 1.46 3 Southwest (7) | Evansville |89 54 77 +2 1.02 5 Freelandville |89 50 75 +2 0.81 5 Shoals |88 51 76 +4 0.35 4 Stendal |89 53 77 +3 0.92 5 Vincennes_5NE |91 51 77 +4 1.31 4 72 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |87 54 76 +5 1.03 3 Oolitic |87 49 75 +4 1.96 5 78 Tell_City |87 57 77 +3 1.99 5 Southeast (9) | Brookville |88 52 76 +7 1.57 5 Milan_5NE |87 51 75 +6 1.78 5 Scottsburg |87 51 76 +4 1.36 5 --------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table Week ending Sunday June 20, 2004 ----------------|-------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2004 thru Station | June 20, 2004 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |16.12 +6.04 28 1021 +98 Valparaiso_AP_I | 9.47 -1.19 30 938 +145 Wanatah | 9.31 -0.71 35 880 +139 Wheatfield |19.24 +9.31 41 936 +165 Winamac |10.37 +0.36 36 977 +149 North Central(2)| Plymouth |11.85 +1.41 34 925 +60 South_Bend |11.15 +1.38 34 993 +221 Young_America |11.60 +1.89 30 1073 +240 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |12.22 +2.34 38 944 +215 Fort_Wayne |12.72 +3.50 36 1019 +204 West Central (4)| Greencastle |12.91 +2.02 36 1072 +83 Perrysville |12.25 +1.52 29 1197 +292 Spencer_Ag |13.69 +2.23 36 1150 +247 Terre_Haute_AFB | 9.46 -1.19 29 1284 +302 W_Lafayette_6NW |15.80 +5.77 25 1082 +242 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |11.05 +1.11 34 1175 +203 Greenfield |12.16 +1.63 33 1116 +208 Indianapolis_AP |13.43 +3.49 34 1250 +278 Indianapolis_SE |10.72 +0.49 30 1133 +187 Tipton_Ag |11.75 +1.75 31 1045 +247 East Central (6)| Farmland |12.25 +2.10 38 1056 +288 New_Castle |13.67 +2.55 28 932 +142 Southwest (7) | Evansville |13.37 +2.29 30 1441 +249 Freelandville |10.16 -1.22 32 1266 +239 Shoals |14.76 +2.71 34 1280 +297 Stendal |14.73 +2.29 32 1361 +263 Vincennes_5NE |12.34 +0.96 33 1343 +316 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |18.99 +6.85 36 1270 +284 Oolitic |14.30 +2.84 37 1179 +257 Tell_City |18.18 +5.91 36 1454 +340 Southeast (9) | Brookville |11.37 +0.53 33 1153 +312 Milan_5NE |14.98 +4.14 45 1155 +314 Scottsburg |21.12 +10.06 37 1241 +220 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Indiana Agricultural Statistics, 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 Indiana Agricultural Statistics, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Source: Indiana Agricultural Statistics