FL WEEKLY WEATHER-CROP NEWS Week ending August 10, 1997 Released 4:00 P.M. August 11, 1997 WEATHER SUMMARY: Scattered storms dropped from a quarter inch to four and a quarter inches of rain at the official stations during the week of August 3 through 9. Cloud cover and the passage of a cold front over northern and central localities helped to keep daytime temperatures normal to one degree below, while the weekly averages at Miami and Key West were one to two degrees above normal. Most daytime highs were in the upper 80s and low 90s. Nighttime lows were in the 70s. FIELD CROPS: Topsoil moisture is adequate to surplus throughout the State. One hundred percent of the peanuts have pegged. Peanut condition: poor 1%, fair 4%, good 70%, excellent 25%. White mold and CBR prevalent in some peanut fields. Haying is active when rains allow. Sugarcane growth is normal. Tobacco marketing is active. Tobacco harvest is starting to wind down. Forage is making good growth. Good fruiting conditions exist for cotton. Pix is being used on cotton. Cotton and soybeans are making very good growth. Weeds are a problem due to wet soils keeping equipment out of fields. Moisture Topsoil Subsoil Rating Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very short 0 0 0 0 Short 2 0 2 5 Adequate 54 61 66 48 Surplus 44 39 32 47 LIVESTOCK AND PASTURES: Excellent moisture and growing temperature increased the condition of the range and pastures to 40 percent excellent. However, some southwest area pastures in low lying areas had standing water. The condition of the cattle was fair to excellent. Range Cattle Condition Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very poor 0 0 0 0 Poor 0 0 0 0 Fair 5 15 5 15 Good 80 45 80 55 Excellent 15 40 15 30 CITRUS: Most areas of Florida's citrus belt received more rain this week than the groves could absorb. There was considerable runoff of the excessive rain water into ditches, ponds, lakes and streams which are all refilling to near normal levels for this time of year. The recent heavy rains, hot temperatures and high humidity have provided near ideal conditions for most trees to produce a lot of new growth. New crop fruit continues to make very good growth. There is some fruit droppage from splitting in some groves with heavy soils that do not drain rapidly following hard rains and thunderstorms. Caretakers are very active cutting cover crops. Growers are spraying and fertilizing between the summer rains. A few growers are resetting groves that have had older trees removed. Main drainage ditches in larger groves are receiving normal summer clearings and maintenance. VEGETABLES: The planting of tomatoes, eggplant, and cherry tomatoes is underway in the Palmetto-Ruskin area. Wet soils in the Palmetto-Ruskin and southwest regions continue to delay the laying of plastic for planting fall crops. The frequent rainfall is also slowing the laying of lime, dolomite, and other minerals in the Southwest. Tomato producers around Quincy have at least ninety percent of plantings made.