fl-crop-weather Week ending October 11, 1998 Released 4:00 P.M. October 13, 1998 WEATHER SUMMARY: Florida's weather consisted of warm temperatures and scattered showers during the week of October 4 through 10. Temperatures averaged two to four degrees above normal with most daytime highs in the 80s and most nighttime lows in the 60s and 70s. Rainfall at the major stations totaled around a half inch or less. Palmetto-Ruskin reported traces to two inches of rain. Dade County reported an inch and a half falling mainly during the night. FIELD CROPS: Topsoil moisture in the Panhandle is adequate to surplus. The Peninsula topsoil moisture is adequate with scattered areas of surplus moisture. Wet fields are delaying cotton, peanut, and soybean harvests. Rains have caused delayed digging of peanuts and delayed harvesting resulting in loss of pods and reduced yield. Some peanuts have been plowed up for almost three weeks and farmers are not able to harvest them. Cotton is being hit hard due to continued rain, hard locks, discoloration, and lost bolls. Haying was delayed by rain in some areas. Tobacco marketing is winding down. Fall army worms are a serious pest in hay fields and pastures. Sugarcane mills are making preparations to open later in the month. Sugarcane planting is active. Peanut conditions: very poor 4%, poor 45%, fair 35%, and good 16%. Thirty-nine percent of the peanuts for nuts are reported harvested. Moisture Topsoil Subsoil Rating Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very short 0 0 0 0 Short 0 2 1 2 Adequate 67 81 55 77 Surplus 33 17 44 21 LIVESTOCK AND PASTURES: In the northern part of the State, land preparations were underway for planting of cool season forages. Army worms were still active. Grass growth in the southern part of the State has slowed seasonally. Cattle and calves were mostly in fair to good condition. Range Cattle Condition Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very poor 0 0 0 0 Poor 0 0 0 0 Fair 30 40 20 35 Good 65 55 75 60 Excellent 5 5 5 5 CITRUS: There was very little rain this week in the citrus belt except for a few scattered showers in isolated areas. Surface soil moisture is generally adequate due to the heavy rainfall in all areas during September. New growth has slowed, which is normal for this time of year as there are fewer hours of day light. New crop fruit continues to make good progress with the help of the summer and early fall positive growing conditions. Harvesting crews are moving into many early types of oranges, tangerines and white and colored grapefruit and a few Satsumas. Most fresh fruit packing houses are still looking for and testing crops for early picking. Caretakers are mowing, chopping and discing cover crops in all areas of the citrus belt. Growers are spraying fresh fruit crops and fertilizing young trees. Dead tree removal and burning trash and debris continue. A few resets are being planted mostly in the larger groves. Estimated boxes harvested week ended Crop Sep 27 Oct 4 Oct 11 Navel oranges 0 10,000 50,000 Early & Mid oranges (Excluding Navels) 5,000 16,000 68,000 All grapefruit 99,000 142,000 402,000 Tangerines 2,000 28,000 72,000 VEGETABLES: Mostly clear skies enabled growers to increase planting. Crops being harvested include cantaloupes, cucumbers, pickles, watermelons, and cherry tomatoes from the Palmetto- Ruskin region; squash, peppers, and specialty types of eggplant from the East Coast area; and okra from Dade County. SNAP BEANS: East Coast--Condition is fair to good. Germination is good for recent seedings. Oldest acreage started to bloom. Dade--Condition is mostly good. Planting increased. Southwest--The crop remains in fair to good condition. Planting continued at a steady pace. West Central--Condition remained poor to fair. Growers completed fall crop planting. CABBAGE: West Central--Crop condition is fair to good. Planting increased seasonally. Hastings--Planting preparations are underway. CARROTS: All areas--Initial planting was underway by late August with current activity continuing at a steady pace. Digging is expected to begin in the Everglades and Hastings regions by early to mid-December. CELERY: Everglades--Planting increased seasonally. SWEET CORN: East Coast--Producers continued to prepare land for winter crop planting. West Central--Picking is expected to start in early November in eastern localities. Southwest-- Condition remains fair to good. CUCUMBERS, Fresh Market: West Central--Crop condition remained fair to good. Producers finished planting and started picking with activity to gain momentum over the next seven to ten days. East Coast--Condition is good. Recent seedings germinated well. Workers continued to thin stands. Southwest--Condition remains fair to good. Planting was slow but steady. PICKLES: West Central--Condition is fair to good. Harvesting gained momentum. Quality was fair to good. Sizes were fair. Volume was fair to good. Dade--Growers continued to prepare for planting which is expected to begin soon. EGGPLANT: East Coast--Crop condition is fair to good. Oldest acreage bloomed and set fruit with oldest fruit gaining size. Harvesting of specialty types began with good quality and color. West Central--Condition remained fair. Dade--Condition is rated very good. Planting remained active. Some fields were staked. Southwest--The crop condition is fair to good. Light planting continued at a steady pace. OKRA: Dade--Condition remains good. Harvesting remained active with good quality available. Yield declined seasonally. Growers expect to start harvesting fall acreage in a couple of weeks. PEPPERS: East Coast--Crop condition is mostly good. Initial picking started with variable quality and sizes available. Earlier bloom loss resulted in a lighter volume of fruit from the first hands. Spraying remained active. Southwest--Condition is fair to good. Oldest acreage started to set fruit. Planting was steady. West Central--Condition dropped to fair. Growers finished planting. POTATOES: Southwest--Planting started. RADISHES: Everglades--Planting continued at a steady pace. Digging is expected to start within the next five to seven days. SQUASH: East Coast--Crop condition is good. Growers cut both zucchini and yellow types. Quality was good with fancy and medium sizes available. West Central--Condition remained poor to fair. Planting slowed seasonally with some growers finished. Southwest--Condition is fair to good. Planting remained steady. Dade--Condition remained good with oldest plants to start blooming within the next five to seven days. STRAWBERRIES: Plant City, Palmetto-Ruskin--Condition is rated fair to good. Planting gained momentum. TOMATOES: Quincy--Recent rains lowered some quality with yield lowered due to grade out. Picking is expected to increase over the next five to seven days and continue into November. East Coast--Crop condition remained fair to good. Oldest plant growth neared the top of stakes. Young plant growth was good. Harvest is expected to begin in late October. Growers applied side dressings of fertilizer as needed. Palmetto-Ruskin--Crop condition improved and is rated fair to good. Fruit gained size with some of the oldest plants showing medium sizes. Picking is expected to start in two weeks. Southwest--Crop condition remained fair to good. Plant growth was good. Oldest fruit set was fair due to hot temperatures during August and September. Dade--Crop condition is good. Nighttime showers boosted plant growth. Planting increased slowly. CHERRY TOMATOES: Palmetto-Ruskin--Condition improved and is rated fair to good. Picking produced fair to good quality fruit. Southwest--Condition is fair to good. Planting remained steady. PLUM TOMATOES: Southwest--Crop condition remained fair to good. Planting was steady. Palmetto-Ruskin--Condition improved and is rated fair to good. Harvesting is expected to start in one to two weeks. WATERMELONS: Palmetto-Ruskin--Crop condition improved and is rated fair to good. Harvesting started with fair to good quality available. Sizes were small and medium. Volume was light. Southwest--Condition improved and is rated good. To receive this report via e-mail, send an e-mail message to nass-state-releases@news.usda.gov with the following message: subscribe fl-crop-weather. The report will be e-mailed automatically to your e-mail address each week.