sc-crop-weather State South Carolina Crop Weather Release Date, Week Ending Date Week Ending July 3, 2005 Issue SC-CW1418 Agricultural Summary Heavy, widespread rainfall last week put a dent in the soil moisture shortage from the previous two weeks when there was no appreciable rainfall. While the rain was especially beneficial to the corn and cotton crops, it caused additional delays to small grain harvest, impacted tobacco development in some areas and put disease pressure on melon crops, peaches and tomatoes. Soil moisture was 1% very short, 6% short, 72% adequate and 21% surplus. There were 4.9 days suitable for fieldwork. Field Crops Report CORN condition improved due to the heavy rains with the crop silking slightly ahead of normal. SOYBEANS were in mostly good condition with all developmental stages still slightly behind normal. COTTON squaring and boll setting continued well behind normal but overall condition was mostly good. SORGHUM planting was 98 percent completed with the crop in good condition. PEANUT pegging was ahead of normal and the crop was in mostly good condition. TOBACCO topping was 63 percent completed with some early harvesting underway; the crop was in fair to good condition. SWEET POTATO planting was nearly completed and the crop condition remained fair. Fruits, Vegetables, and Specialty Crops Report WATERMELONS and CANTALOUPES remained in fair to good condition although disease problems due to excessive rain were noted in several counties. Melon harvest continued to run well behind normal. Vegetable harvest was also running behind normal due to heavy rain and wet fields, although overall condition was good. SNAP BEAN harvest was 7 percent behind normal, CUCUMBER harvest was 10 percent behind normal and TOMATO harvest was 6 percent behind normal. Only 26 percent of the PEACH crop had been harvested by week's end but the crop was in mostly good condition. APPLE condition was fair to good. Small Grains, Pastures and Livestock Report LIVESTOCK and PASTURES remained in mostly good condition. SMALL GRAINS condition was fair to good overall but harvest was delayed in many areas by heavy rain and wet fields. Crop Progress Table ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Yr : 5 Yr Crop Phase 2005 2004 Avg :Crop Phase 2005 2004 Avg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --Percent-- --Percent-- Barley Ripe 99 99 99 :Rye Harvested 82 97 96 Barley Harvested 87 89 94 :Snap Beans Harvested 76 86 83 Cantaloups Harvested 49 66 66 :Sorghum Planted 98 100 97 Corn Silked 94 95 91 :Sorghum Headed 54 57 52 Corn Dough Stage 42 39 44 :Sorghum Turned Color 18 17 16 Cotton Squared 44 61 56 :Soybeans Planted 96 99 97 Cotton Bolls Set 4 8 10 :Soybeans Emerged 88 97 91 Cucumbers Harvested 87 98 97 :Soybeans Bloomed 8 9 10 Grain Hay Harvested 99 100 100 :Soybeans Pods Set 1 0 1 Other Hay Harvested 21 47 38 :Sweetpotato Planted 99 99 98 Oats Ripe 99 98 99 :Tobacco Topped 63 60 61 Oats Harvested 87 95 97 :Tobacco Harvested 2 1 1 Peaches Harvested 26 29 37 :Tomatoes Harvested 64 66 70 Peanuts Pegged 45 45 37 :Watermelons Harvested 40 60 55 Rye Ripe 98 99 100 :Winter Wht. Ripe 100 100 100 :Winter Wht. Harvested 94 98 98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crop Condition Report ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Very Excel- Very Excel- Crop Poor Poor Fair Good lent :Crop Poor Poor Fair Good lent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Percent -- -- Percent-- Apples 0 0 50 50 0 :Peanuts 0 1 15 76 8 Barley 0 0 24 45 31 :Rye 0 0 32 66 2 Cantaloups 0 6 52 42 0 :Snap Beans 0 0 1 99 0 Corn 1 1 18 70 10 :Sorghum 0 1 2 97 0 Cotton 0 1 18 75 6 :Soybeans 0 2 18 73 7 Cucumbers 0 0 30 70 0 :Sweetpotato 0 0 90 10 0 Hay 0 4 28 61 7 :Tobacco 0 6 35 58 1 Livestock 0 0 23 72 5 :Tomatoes 0 0 17 83 0 Oats 0 2 44 40 14 :Watermelons 0 4 56 40 0 Pastures 0 2 16 74 8 :Winter Wheat 0 3 25 62 10 Peaches 1 1 4 78 16 : ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending July 3, 2005 A tropical airmass remained over South Carolina for most of the week. Tuesday's drenching rains in Laurens County damaged roadways and bridges. Florence received 1.93 inches of rain in just one hour Wednesday, resulting in widespread urban flooding. Friday's weather included mid-90 degree heat. Storms on Sunday became violent with tornadoes reported near Due West and Newberry. Baseball-sized hail fell in Anderson County. Weekly rainfall totals for several locations within the Foothills and Piedmont exceeded six inches. For the period, the State average temperature was two degrees below normal. The highest official temperature reported was 97 degrees at Johnston on July 1. The lowest official temperature reported was 60 degrees at Caesars Head on the morning of July 2. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 4.49 inches at Gray Court ending at 7:00 a.m. on June 28. The average Statewide rainfall for the period was 3.0 inches. SOIL: 4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 82 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near to above normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 82 degrees. Precipitation Weekly Jan 1 Deviation Total Total From Avg Greer 5.70 28.8 2.3 Columbia 2.46 21.8 -3.2 Orangeburg 2.77 22.5 -1.8 Charlotte, NC 2.87 23.5 1.2 Augusta, GA 3.20 30.2 6.3 Florence 4.90 22.1 0.0 Myrtle Beach 1.37 15.5 -4.7 Charleston 2.04 21.3 -3.1 Savannah, GA 2.58 23.9 0.4 Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday. Contact Information Robert A. Graham, Director Stephen Pavlasek, Jr, Deputy Director Phone: 803-765-5333 E-mail: nass-sc@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/sc