sc-crop-weather State South Carolina Crop Weather Release Date, Week Ending Date Week Ending April 17, 2005 Issue SC-CW1407 Agricultural Summary Rain and cool weather hampered a number of farm activities across the State last week. Vegetable planting ran behind schedule in many parts of the State, and corn planted two weeks ago was just germinating in some areas. Fair weather in Allendale county allowed growers to complete their melon crop planting as fields began to dry out. Many growers were also concerned about potential disease problems in small grains as rain and high winds have prevented efforts to treat crops with disease preventative fungicides. Soil moisture was 3% short, 71% adequate and 26% surplus. There were 4.8 days suitable for field work. Field Crops Report Three percent of the State's SOYBEANS had been planted by the end of the week. CORN was in fair to mostly good condition with planting at 69 percent with 47 percent of the crop emerged. Three percent of the COTTON crop and 17% of the SORGHUM crop were reported planted at week's end. PEANUT planting was 2 percent complete while TOBACCO transplanting was 40% complete by the end of the week. Fruit, Vegetables and Specialty Crops Report CANTALOUPE planting was 53 percent complete and WATERMELON planting was 62 percent complete at the end of the week with both crops in mostly fair condition. CUCUMBER planting was 66 percent complete and SNAP BEAN planting was 53 percent complete with both crops in mostly good condition. Sixty-eight percent of the TOMATO crop was planted and was in fair to good shape. PEACH trees were in mostly good condition, while half of the APPLE trees were reported in excellent condition with the other 50 percent fair to good. Small Grains, Pastures and Livestock Report LIVESTOCK remained in fair to mostly good condition as did PASTURES. All SMALL GRAINS were in mostly good condition except BARLEY which was in fair to excellent shape. Thirty-six percent of WINTER WHEAT, 30 percent of BARLEY, 55 percent of RYE, and 39 percent of OATS had headed by week's end, and all had started turning color. Crop Progress Table ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Yr : 5 Yr Crop Phase 2005 2004 Avg :Crop Phase 2005 2004 Avg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --Percent-- --Percent-- Barley Headed 30 26 33 :Rye Headed 55 56 59 Barley Turned Color 1 1 4 :Rye Turned Color 4 4 5 Cantaloups Planted 53 68 65 :Snap Beans Planted 53 62 60 Corn Planted 69 80 77 :Sorghum Planted 17 19 17 Corn Emerged 47 53 47 :Soybeans Planted 3 5 4 Cotton Planted 3 5 5 :Tobacco Planted 40 44 41 Cucumbers Planted 66 74 77 :Tomatoes Planted 68 88 83 Grain Hay Harvested 10 10 15 :Watermelons Planted 62 73 76 Oats Headed 39 47 53 :Winter Wht. Headed 36 46 48 Oats Turned Color 3 4 5 :Winter Wht. Turned Color 1 3 2 Peanuts Planted 2 3 4 : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crop Condition Table ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Very Excel- Very Excel- Crop Poor Poor Fair Good lent :Crop Poor Poor Fair Good lent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Percent -- -- Percent-- Apples 0 0 25 25 50 :Peaches 0 0 7 71 22 Barley 0 0 31 41 28 :Rye 0 0 19 78 3 Cantaloups 0 10 88 2 0 :Snap Beans 0 0 22 69 9 Corn 0 1 28 69 2 :Tobacco 0 8 22 69 1 Cucumbers 0 0 25 75 0 :Tomatoes 0 0 57 43 0 Livestock 0 0 20 69 11 :Watermelons 0 6 73 21 0 Oats 0 2 22 70 6 :Winter Wheat 0 3 19 67 11 Pastures 0 1 25 62 12 : ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending April 17, 2005 A unseasonably cold boundary dropped south from Canada early in the week. Stormy weather was reported on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. Large hail fell in Anderson and Charleston Counties. Clouds and drizzle, circulating around low pressure, passed eastward through South Carolina on Thursday. Afternoon high temperatures felt more like mid-winter and remained in the 40's. Increasing northeast winds of between 30 and 40 mph forced blowing sand and large breakers along the beaches. Clearing skies were observed Saturday evening. The cold and dry air mass allowed the mercury on Sunday morning to fall below freezing across the higher elevations and produced frost at the usual cold sites. For the period, the state average temperature was five degrees below normal. The highest official temperature reported was 84 degrees at Jamestown on April 11. The lowest official temperature reported was 29 degrees at Cedar Creek on the morning of April 17. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.37 inches at Cedar Creek ending at 7:00 a.m. on April 13. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.5 inches. SOIL: 4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 65 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near to above normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 63 degrees. Precipitation Weekly Jan 1 Deviation Total Total From Avg Greer 0.70 12.5 -3.5 Columbia 0.57 12.2 -2.7 Orangeburg 0.02 11.8 -3.2 Charlotte, NC 2.03 12.2 -1.5 Augusta, GA 0.01 15.5 0.5 Florence 0.16 10.2 -2.5 Myrtle Beach 0.47 8.8 -3.6 Charleston 0.13 10.4 -2.4 Savannah, GA 0.07 12.4 -0.1 Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday Contact Information Robert A. Graham, Director Jean Besco, Computer Specialist Phone: 803-765-5333 E-mail: nass-sc@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/