ga-crop-weather State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 27, 2006 Issue GA-CW3406 Agricultural Summary August 27, 2006 SCATTERED RAINS CONTINUED Scattered rains reached many areas of the State again this week, providing relief from scorching temperatures and easing some soil moisture concerns, according to the USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office. Rainfall totals were widely varied. Some stations reported only a trace while others reported well over two inches. Stations reported the highest rainfall totals on Thursday. Weeklong highs remained near 90 with nighttime lows near 70. Soil moisture conditions were rated at 16% very short, 43% short, 39% adequate, and 2% surplus. Crop conditions varied with precipitation totals. Rainfall was beneficial for producers who received it, but overall conditions remain dry. Dead pegs were reported in dryland peanuts as a result of the hot, dry conditions. Many producers are concerned the crop will not recover before cool temperatures arrive. The scattered rains helped cotton begin growing and blooming again, although some fear it is already too late for early planted fields. Anticipated yields also varied with rainfall. County extension agents reported farms expecting good yields and farms predicting disastrous yields only a few miles apart. Hayfields were still reported in mostly fair to poor condition. Steady rain will be critical in order to replenish hay reserves for winter. Armyworms were reported in pastures and hay fields. Farmers have been spraying hayfields in an attempt to control the growing insect populations. Cotton defoliation has begun and bolls are beginning to open in some fields. Soybeans were blooming and podding. Cutworms and white mold were reported in peanuts in central Georgia. Other activities included harvesting corn, planting fall greenbeans, and preparing onion beds. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork. CROP PROGRESS Aug 27, Prev Prev 5 Year 2006 Week Year Avg Corn, Dent 98 95 97 98 Corn, Mature 91 85 84 91 Corn, Harvested 48 30 23 42 Soybeans, Blooming 96 88 95 97 Soybeans, Setting Pods 82 66 79 86 Soybeans, Dropping Leaves 7 4 4 7 Sorghum, Harvested 29 12 10 13 Cotton, Bolls Open 34 16 8 22 Apples, Harvested 14 14 8 17 Peaches, Harvested 99 97 98 100 Peanuts, Dug 0 0 0 1 Tobacco, Harvested 83 72 91 88 CROP CONDITION August 27, 2006 Crop Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Corn 14 29 30 22 5 Soybeans 14 34 31 20 1 Sorghum 10 23 38 25 4 Cotton 16 27 32 23 2 Pasture 14 34 34 17 1 Apples 9 29 42 11 9 Hay 14 37 34 14 1 Peanuts 9 23 38 28 2 Pecans 17 36 34 13 0 PASTURE CONDITION - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 27, 2006 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 33 51 16 0 0 Dist 2(NC) 18 31 24 26 1 Dist 3(NE) 9 28 60 3 0 Dist 4(WC) 4 35 38 20 3 Dist 5(C) 21 27 47 5 0 Dist 6(EC) 20 48 20 12 0 Dist 7(SW) 14 31 23 29 3 Dist 8(SC) 9 33 35 22 1 Dist 9(SE) 6 13 55 26 0 *A list of the counties in each of the nine Georgia Agricultural Statistics Districts is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga/ctyests/districts.pdf. Soil Moisture Table Aug 27, 2006 Prev Year 5 Year Avg --Percentages-- Very Short 16 3 9 Short 43 19 29 Adequate 39 69 55 Surplus 2 9 7 SOIL MOISTURE - DISTRICT* LEVEL August 27, 2006 Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 32 62 6 0 Dist 2(NC) 20 33 47 0 Dist 3(NE) 13 50 37 0 Dist 4(WC) 11 51 34 4 Dist 5(C) 11 47 41 1 Dist 6(EC) 18 50 30 2 Dist 7(SW) 14 36 48 2 Dist 8(SC) 18 38 42 2 Dist 9(SE) 15 32 49 4 *A list of the counties in each of the nine Georgia Agricultural Statistics Districts is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga/ctyests/districts.pdf. Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY AUGUST 27, 2006 1/ 2006 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALBANY 94 73 81 2.35 4 6.31 9.57 32.95 88 ALMA 96 71 81 3.48 2 4.50 5.42 30.12 83 ALPHARETTA 93 67 78 0.89 5 2.13 8.20 26.35 81 ARLINGTON 97 68 79 1.16 3 2.95 7.51 26.71 84 ATTAPULGUS 95 70 80 1.17 5 6.09 8.88 28.21 86 BLAIRSVILLE 87 59 74 0.07 1 3.27 6.25 31.88 81 BOWEN 94 71 80 0.32 4 4.56 7.09 25.03 89 BRUNSWICK 96 72 81 4.27 3 6.91 8.15 25.07 83 BYROMVILLE 96 71 79 2.48 3 5.71 7.76 26.51 84 BYRON 94 69 79 1.15 2 3.46 7.84 22.79 84 CAIRO 95 72 80 1.38 3 3.11 5.42 22.57 84 CALHOUN 94 65 78 1.33 2 2.93 4.26 25.05 82 CAMILLA 93 71 80 0.24 3 6.82 11.14 32.84 89 CLARKS HILL 94 67 78 0.11 3 2.87 7.45 30.18 84 CORDELE 95 71 80 1.89 2 4.67 7.27 23.82 85 COVINGTON 93 68 77 1.69 3 3.60 6.86 19.31 82 DAHLONEGA 88 62 75 0.12 3 1.80 3.94 22.48 78 DALLAS 94 69 78 0.13 1 2.21 3.94 26.36 82 DAWSON 93 70 80 1.79 3 4.64 6.52 18.54 83 DEARING 95 70 79 0.91 3 5.59 8.49 26.80 83 DEMPSEY 93 69 78 0.43 3 3.18 4.89 19.84 82 DIXIE 93 69 79 1.30 3 5.26 8.76 27.85 86 DUBLIN 96 69 80 0.32 4 3.08 3.70 21.74 84 DULUTH 93 67 78 0.08 2 4.28 5.26 27.12 83 DUNWOODY 91 69 77 0.16 2 3.60 5.19 27.29 81 EATONTON 94 67 77 0.87 3 4.59 6.48 22.55 83 ELBERTON 95 68 78 0.18 1 2.38 5.85 22.41 82 ELLIJAY 89 63 75 0.48 2 2.29 4.14 29.07 81 FORT VALLEY 94 70 79 1.81 4 3.37 6.54 19.13 81 GAINESVILLE 90 69 77 0.63 3 2.51 3.14 21.36 83 GEORGETOWN 94 71 79 0.92 4 2.19 4.55 22.21 86 GRIFFIN 91 70 78 0.55 2 3.76 5.72 21.51 82 HOMERVILLE 98 67 81 0.53 2 1.84 4.85 21.42 85 JACKSONVILLE 94 69 78 1.79 3 3.80 7.97 22.36 84 JONESBORO 94 70 78 0.81 5 5.43 7.32 27.38 82 LAFAYETTE 95 62 77 0.64 3 2.49 5.43 25.15 81 MCRAE 96 66 80 0.35 5 2.46 4.37 23.44 90 MIDVILLE 96 71 79 0.58 3 1.63 2.58 19.64 86 NAHUNTA 95 69 80 1.56 5 4.67 6.41 23.02 85 NEWTON 94 71 80 0.57 3 5.10 7.27 31.64 88 PINE MOUNTAIN 93 68 78 1.30 3 4.85 8.33 24.75 83 PLAINS 93 70 79 1.59 4 8.54 13.42 32.43 83 ROME 94 66 78 0.91 3 1.66 4.38 25.19 82 SASSER 92 70 79 1.97 4 6.30 9.09 24.11 82 SAVANNAH 97 72 81 1.48 4 4.04 6.38 26.87 86 SHELLMAN 94 71 80 0.80 3 2.56 5.15 18.83 88 SKIDAWAY 93 72 80 4.36 6 6.61 11.01 27.86 82 SNEADS 94 73 81 0.19 2 0.22 0.39 15.74 88 STATESBORO 93 55 72 1.24 4 2.80 7.66 22.86 86 TIFTON 93 72 80 0.25 2 1.35 4.05 24.57 82 TIGER 87 58 73 0.07 2 3.20 4.71 33.71 79 VALDOSTA 97 72 82 0.39 2 2.61 7.17 28.65 83 VIDALIA 95 70 80 1.88 6 3.23 6.14 20.28 85 WATKINSVILLE 91 67 77 0.29 2 3.93 6.46 26.90 82 WILLIAMSON 93 69 78 0.43 2 1.98 4.65 18.92 84 WOODBINE 98 71 81 1.79 4 4.86 6.34 21.69 85 1/ Weather data supplied by Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (AEMN) and the office of the State Climatologist, University of Georgia. For detailed Georgia weather data visit the AEMN homepage, www.georgiaweather.net. NA - not available. District Highlights These comments are written by the Georgia County Extension Agents, and have been compiled and edited by the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. DISTRICT COMMENTS August 27, 2006 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Scattered outbreaks of armyworms showing up on hayfields in our county. Scattered showers across the county this week; some areas received 2+ inches of rain; armyworms have also been spotted all across the county, farmers are spraying hay fields to control. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST A few scattered showers, pastures and soybeans starting to suffer again from lack of moisture. Cutworms, white mold in peanuts. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Nothing good. Dry, armyworms, feeding hay. Hopes are for soil moisture leading up to winter grazing establishment. August rains got cotton growing and blooming again. Now we have to decide whether to save the poor bottom crop or hope the top crop moves along and we don't have an early frost. Peanuts look fair with not much of a root crop. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Scattered showers in some parts of the county. Some areas got 1 inch of rain or more while others got none. Heavy armyworm populations in some pastures and hayfields. We have been receiving scattered showers, but we need to get some rainfall to get the much needed cuttings of hay for the winter. Beneficial rains. Still scattered though. Cotton beginning to open in some fields. Soybeans blooming and podding. Haying has begun again. Peanuts - hopeful! DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Still dry over 80% of county; some cotton defoliation started, corn harvest in full swing - too late for rains to help cotton or peanuts. Some scattered rain. Now armyworms in forages. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Some dryland peanut fields have dead pegs on the plants due to the hot, dry weather, raising the concern that these fields may not be able to produce a worthwhile crop before cool nights set in. Received 0.47" of rainfall. Corn harvesting. Greenbean fall plantings. Hay quality is good. Growings baling unmanaged hay fields to supplement winter feed. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Still dry. At this point not sure if rains will help crop much. Only time will tell. Hay will be short this fall and winter. Rains bring some relief to drought-stressed crops. Widely scattered rain fall. Some areas with good amounts 2-4 inches with other parts of the county with no precipitation at all. Crop yields will vary with the amount of rain received. We will have some good yields to a complete disaster just miles apart. Scattered showers helped to alleviate some moisture stress for some of our crops. Some areas that were planted in cotton earlier in the planting season will not be able to benefit from the rains, however most of our crops and forages were greatly benefited from the rainfall. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Cotton defoliation to begin today. Onion seed beds to be planted soon. Rain fell on much of the county over the Thursday evening hours. First rain in many weeks for much of the county. Find agricultural statistics for your county, State, and the Nation at www.usda.gov/nass/. Media Contact: Douglas G. Kleweno, Director USDA, NASS, Georgia Field Office Phone: 706-546-2236 E-mail: nass-ga@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga