nj-crop-weather State New Jersey Crop Weather Released September 15, 2003 Week Ending September 15, 2003 Issue NJ-CW3703 In Cooperation With: U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Agricultural Marketing Service U.S. Department of Commerce/N.O.A.A. Rutgers University -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 am EDT Monday September 15, 2003 Rainfall amounts, quarter to half an inch today and tonight, tenth of an inch Tuesday morning and none Tuesday afternoon. Winds for spraying, southeast 10 to 15 mph today, south around 10 mph tonight, northwest around 10 mph Tuesday. Relative humidity in percent, 55 to 65 today, near 100 tonight, 50 to 60 Tuesday. Dew points, near 70 today, upper 60s tonight, low 60s Tuesday. Drying conditions, fair at best today, fair to good Tuesday afternoon. Frost freeze or dew, some dew tonight as well as possible wetting in showers, moderate dew Tuesday night. Percent of possible sunshine, 30 today, 40 Tuesday. There is a 50 percent probability of precipitation during the 12 hour period beginning at 8 am and ending at 8 pm that could adversely affect the performance of pesticides that require a rain free period after application. Hay cutting is not recommended for today or Tuesday morning. Somewhat drier air will move into the region Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. Future movements of hurricane Isabel could greatly affect our weather for Thursday and Friday. Estimated soil moisture in percent of field capacity has improved considerably during the past few days but still remain short in some locations. Weather conditions will be unfavorable for the occurrence of cranberry scald today and Tuesday. The latest 8 to 14 day outlook for the period of September 22, 2003 through September 28, 2003, is calling for temperatures to average near normal and precipitation to total near normal. Climate summary for the week ending 8am 9/15/03 Temperatures averaged slightly above normal. Extremes were 85 degrees at several locations on September 15, 2003, and 48 degrees at Pomona on September 12, 2003. Weekly rainfall averaged 1.88 inches north, 0.81 inches central, and 0.87 inches south. The heaviest 24 hour total reported was 3.28 inches at Long Valley on September 14, 2003 through September 15, 2003. Estimated soil moisture, in percent of field capacity, this past week averaged 89 percent north, 79 percent central, and 66 percent south. Four inch soil temperatures averaged 65 degrees north, 67 degrees central, and 68 degrees south. WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING 8 AM MONDAY 9/15/03 R A I N F A L L TEMPERATURE GDD BASE50 MON WEATHER STATIONS WEEK TOTAL DEP MX MN AVG DEP TOT DEP %FC BELVIDERE BRIDGE 1.03 38.73 12.30 83 51 68. 4 2638 197 95 CANOE BROOK .82 35.37 7.63 85 52 68. 3 2742 294 94 CHARLOTTEBURG MISSING FLEMINGTON 2.02 35.30 8.72 85 51 68. 3 2581 70 100 LONG VALLEY 4.13 35.97 7.22 78 52 65. 3 2052 -105 100 NEWTON 1.39 34.97 9.14 82 53 66. 4 2384 185 100 FREEHOLD .49 28.42 2.56 85 53 68. 2 2781 122 82 LONG BRANCH .11 30.01 3.81 78 55 68. 1 2608 6 61 NEW BRUNSWICK 1.07 32.40 6.18 85 53 68. 2 2749 -47 96 PEMBERTON MISSING TOMS RIVER .64 33.04 6.27 83 51 68. 1 2783 177 78 TRENTON 1.75 27.63 2.79 83 53 68. 1 2720 -180 100 ATLANTIC CITY MARINA missing CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE .60 25.41 2.22 80 50 67. -3 2696 80 51 DOWNSTOWN .79 27.76 3.36 83 49 68. 0 2846 -65 83 GLASSBORO 1.12 29.17 3.60 83 56 70. 2 3007 127 97 HAMMONTON .69 24.54 -1.02 85 50 68. 0 2972 83 74 POMONA .52 23.27 -.07 84 48 69. 3 2828 132 58 SEABROOK 1.48 30.23 6.79 84 54 70. 2 3076 149 98 SOUTH HARRISON .88 26.48 1.37 82 55 69 NA 2978 NA NA AGRICULTURE Days suitable for field work were 5.0. Temperatures were below normal across most the state the beginning of the week with measurable amounts of rain received, especially on Saturday and Sunday. Top soil moisture was rated 10% short, 83% adequate, and 7% surplus. Activities during the week were harvesting fruit and vegetables, re-seeding pasture and hay fields, harvesting corn silage, baling hay, and applying pesticides and herbicides sprays. Clear weather conditions, during most of the week, allowed hay harvest activities to resume in most localities, but wet conditions continued to make baling hay challenging. Vegetable disease pressure was high in most fields due to wet weather conditions. Black rot was found in some cabbage fields. Mildew, on oriental cabbages, and water rot, in some fall lettuce fields, were reported. Worm pressure was high in some sweet corn fields. Low fruit set counts were reported in some pumpkin fields while fruit rot was spotted in other fields. Peach harvest continued in the central district with the crop condition rated mostly good by our reporters. Leafspot were reported on some apple trees. Moderate temperatures and rains produced plentiful pasture in most localities. JERSEY FRESH AVAILABILITY FOR SEPTEMBER 15, 2003 Acorn Squash - Recent beautiful fall weather has developed good quantity and quality product. Beets - Good quantity and quality available. Butternut Squash - Recent beautiful fall weather has developed good quantity and quality product. Cabbage - Savoy, Green, and Red varieties being seen in good quantity and quality. Collards - Good quantity and quality available with the cooler fall weather. Cucumbers - Good quantity and quality product available. Eggplant - Good quantity and excellent quality available. Escarole & Endive - Very good quality product is being harvested in minor quantities, look towards next week for volume. Greens - Good quality and quantity of Kholrabi, Kale, Broccoli Raab, and Swiss Chard with the cooler fall weather. Herbs - Good quantity and quality for Cilantro, Dill, Parsley, and Arugula. Baby Arugula, Basil, Mustard, and Mint all have excellent quality with good quantity. Italian & White Eggplants - Fair quantities of excellent quality product available. Leeks - Good quantity and quality available. Lettuces - Minor quantities of Boston and Green & Red Leaf lettuces around. It will be another week before volume builds. Look for harvests of Romaine to begin next week with volume available in two weeks. Iceberg lettuce will be available in early October. Nectarines - The beautiful Fantasia variety is finishing up. Peaches - Growers are seeing excellent quality, color, flavor and size. This will continue through early October. Jersey Queen and Jersey Glo are being harvested in volume. We're starting to pick increasing quantities of Encore and Laurol varieties. White peaches are available in good quantities with the Lady Nancy and Sugar Giant varieties finishing up. Snow Giant is our late season variety starting to be picked in volume now and will be available through the end of the month. The new white peach varieties have the look and flavor that consumers desire and the shelf life that allows you to get the peaches to them. Let's continue to eat peaches through September. Peppers - Good quality and quantity still available. Pickles - Fair to good quantity and good quality product available. Pumpkins - The cool and wet Spring caused late planting this year and a light fruit set as well. We'll probably have 20-30% less supply this year with wholesale prices expected to be proportionately higher. Know your pumpkin grower. With all of this Summer's wetness, growers who stuck to their spray schedules seem to have excellent quality this year while growers who didn't, don't. Sweet Corn - The latter stages of our season. Though we still have a good quantity of quality corn available, there is more variability in quality now due to fall insect pressures. Sweet Potatoes - Should begin to become available in volume this week. Tomatoes -Recent weather has allowed for some very beautiful late season round, plum, and grape tomatoes. Excellent quality is finally available and will be here until frost. Turnips - Good quantity and quality available. White Potatoes - Good quantity and quality of slightly smaller potatoes through mid-October. Yellow Squash - Good quality and fair to good quantity available. Zucchini - Good quality and fair to good quantity available. JERSEY FRESH FORECAST Broccoli - Look for harvest to begin the first week of October. Brussels Sprouts - Look for harvest to begin the first week of October. Cauliflower - Look for harvest to begin the first week of October. Cranberries - Look for harvest to begin the first week of October. We will have increased amounts of high quality dry harvested red and white berries available this year.