in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date September 18, 2005 Issue IN-CW3805 Agricultural Summary Scattered rain showers around the state have slowed harvest progress during the week, according to the Indiana Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. The best progress for corn harvest is in the southern region with about 14 percent harvested. Soybean harvest is the furthest along in the central region with about 7 percent harvested. Last week's rain will help some of the late maturing soybeans and will improve fall pasture. Field Crops Report There were 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork. Corn condition is rated 43 percent good to excellent compared with 79 percent last year at this time. Ninety-five percent of the corn acreage has reached the dent stage compared with 95 percent last year and 93 percent for average. Fifty-nine percent of the corn is mature compared with 62 percent last year and 52 percent for the average. Seven percent of the corn has been harvested compared with 7 percent for both last year and the average. Moisture content of harvested corn is averaging about 22 percent. Soybean condition is rated 52 percent good to excellent compared with 73 percent last year. Seventy-one percent of the soybean acreage is shedding leaves compared with 75 percent last year and 62 percent for the average. Six percent of the soybean acreage has been harvested compared with 13 percent last year and 5 percent for the average. Moisture content of harvested soybeans is averaging about 12 percent. Three percent of the winter wheat acreage has been planted compared with three percent for both last year and the average. Tobacco harvest is 51 percent complete compared with 72 percent for both last year and the average. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 1 percent excellent, 22 percent good, 45 percent fair, 23 percent poor and 9 percent very poor. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Crop Progress Table ----------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg ----------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn in Dent 95 87 95 93 Corn Mature 59 38 62 52 Corn Harvested 7 2 7 7 Soybeans Shedding Lvs 71 45 75 62 Soybeans Mature 32 14 46 27 Soybeans Harvested 6 1 13 5 Tobacco Harvested 51 31 72 72 Winter Wheat Planted 3 2 3 3 Crop Condition Table ---------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ---------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn 6 14 37 38 5 Soybeans 4 11 33 44 8 Pasture 9 23 45 22 1 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable for Fieldwork Table -------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : -------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 9 14 3 Short 33 31 28 Adequate 56 53 67 Surplus 2 2 2 Subsoil Very Short 18 17 4 Short 35 36 17 Adequate 46 46 75 Surplus 1 1 4 Days Suitable 5.8 6.8 6.7 Contact information --Greg Preston, Director --Jamie Price, Agricultural Statistician E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov http://www.nass.usda.gov/in/index.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Agricultural Comments And News ASIAN LADY BEETLE: BENEFICIAL OR NUISANCE? * Lady beetles will be quite noticeable this fall around buildings. * Heated buildings are used only for over wintering, not reproduction. * Preparations now may prevent massive home invasion later. The multicolored Asian lady beetle certainly has made a turnaround in numbers after very low populations a year ago. The most obvious reason for the rapid increase is that their major food source, the soybean aphid, was so plentiful this past season. Few argue their benefit after seeing these beetles and their larvae devouring aphids in soybean fields. At this late point in the season, the beetles are dispersing to wooded areas to seek out and devour soybean aphid adults and eggs that have migrated from soybean to buckthorn plants. Unfortunately, however, the Asian lady beetle has the annoying habit of congregating in large numbers on and in buildings during the late fall. These beetles are most attracted to buildings where abrupt color contrasts occur in a longitudinal fashion. For example black shutters on a white house, dark windows on a light colored house, or light colored gutter drain pipes on a dark house. For this reason, beetles usually first appear on the southwest-facing sides of light-colored buildings, close to wooded areas. Congregating begins in mid October and usually reaches its peak by the end of the month. Congregation is usually initiated by the first cold weather snap in October that is followed by warm temperatures. During this congregating activity, hundreds of thousands of beetles may appear around homes, creating a serious nuisance. When outside temperatures fall, the beetles move into tight cracks and crevices, such as under siding or in wall voids, or may cluster tightly into the corners of attics or garages. Once there the beetles eventually find their way into the home through small cracks or openings in window-sills, doorjambs or foundations. There the beetles essentially remain in a hibernation-like state for several months. Because the beetles are out of sight during the winter months, homeowners are often fooled into believing that the beetles are gone. That is, until the first warm days of late winter or early spring, when the beetles seem to come to life again and begin crawling about. At this time the nuisance factor intensifies because the beetles are attracted to the living areas of the home where temperatures are more moderate. Clusters of several hundred to thousands in living rooms, bedrooms, or kitchens are not uncommon. It almost appears that there are more beetles at this time of year that there were in the fall although the beetles have not increased in number over the winter months. Beetles have merely concentrated and shifted indoors. They do not directly damage anything, e.g., food and furniture, in the home. Their presence is simply an annoying nuisance. Not only do Asian lady beetles become a nuisance by flying into living areas, dropping from light fixtures, and bumping into people but they also release a foul smelling material when handled or disturbed. Some homeowners have also complained that on very warm days, especially when a person is perspiring, that the beetles pinch when they land on bare skin. A more serious threat may be that if accumulations of dead beetles are not cleaned up, particles of dried and crushed beetle bodies may become airborne and complicate allergies or asthma if inhaled by occupants. In most circumstances, a combination of several control methods is the best answer to Asian lady beetle problems. Preventing beetles from entering the home is the best and most effective control practice. Sealing them out by caulking cracks and around utility service openings, fixing broken window screens and doorjambs, plugging cracks in the foundation or roof, and any other similar physical barriers will help prevent the lady beetles from entering in the first place. Sweeping or vacuuming them up and disposing of them may be the best option for a few beetles. A more drastic and costly measure involves using pesticides as a building perimeter treatment during late fall. Use materials that leave a long-lasting residue. Wettable powders, micro-encapsulated and suspended concentrate formulations seem to work best. On the outside of the home, pest control operators have used long-lasting/ rapid knockdown chemicals such as Demand or Suspend with excellent success. Talstar, Tempo, or Demon may also be used. These materials may afford protection for up to 1 month, depending upon the site of application. Of these materials bifenthrin and deltamethrin are the longest lasting. In either case, the key to control is to apply the chemicals to the outside of the home in October while the beetles begin to congregate but before they enter the home. This article also contains some pictures and a table, which can all be viewed at: http://128.210.99.160/entomology/ext/targets/p&c/p&c2005/p&c24_2005. pdf, pages 1, 2, and 3. Tim Gibb, John Obermeyer and Christian Krupke, Department of Entomology, Purdue University. The INDIANA CROP & WEATHER REPORT (USPS 675-770), (ISSN 0442-817X) is issued weekly April through November by the USDA, NASS, Indiana Field Office, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Second Class postage paid at Lafayette IN. For information on subscribing, send request to above address. POSTMASTER: Send address change to the USDA, NASS, Indiana Field Office, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table Week ending Sunday September 18, 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|------------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days |Temp ----------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |95 49 68 +3 2.19 4 Valparaiso_AP_I |92 50 68 +4 1.88 3 Wanatah |91 45 67 +3 1.41 4 73 Wheatfield |92 50 69 +6 1.37 3 Winamac |92 49 68 +4 2.26 4 70 North Central(2)| Plymouth |92 48 68 +3 1.82 4 South_Bend |93 48 69 +5 1.41 3 Young_America |92 50 69 +4 1.21 2 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |91 51 68 +5 1.05 4 71 Fort_Wayne |91 51 69 +5 0.88 2 West Central(4) | Greencastle |89 51 70 +3 0.40 2 Perrysville |95 48 70 +4 1.23 2 74 Spencer_Ag |89 53 71 +6 0.41 2 Terre_Haute_AFB |89 50 70 +4 0.08 1 W_Lafayette_6NW |93 47 69 +4 0.98 3 77 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |87 55 71 +5 0.82 3 Greenfield |86 53 70 +4 1.09 4 Indianapolis_AP |87 56 72 +6 0.67 3 Indianapolis_SE |87 52 70 +4 0.26 1 Tipton_Ag |89 50 69 +4 0.74 2 76 East Central(6) | Farmland |86 50 68 +5 2.23 4 68 New_Castle |87 52 70 +6 1.21 3 Southwest (7) | Evansville |88 53 73 +4 0.01 1 Freelandville |89 53 72 +5 0.01 1 Shoals |89 54 72 +5 0.06 2 Stendal |88 54 73 +6 0.04 1 Vincennes_5NE |91 53 73 +5 0.04 1 79 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |88 55 72 +6 0.12 2 Oolitic |88 53 71 +5 0.09 2 77 Tell_City |88 56 74 +5 0.03 1 Southeast (9) | Brookville |89 56 72 +7 1.45 3 Milan_5NE |87 55 71 +6 1.04 4 Scottsburg |89 51 72 +4 0.11 3 ----------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table (Continued) Week ending Sunday September 18, 2005 ------------------------------------------------ Accumulation -------------------------------- April 1, 2005 thru Station September 18, 2005 -------------------------------- Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF -------------------------------- | | | | Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) Chalmers_5W |15.47 -5.57 52 3147 +274 Valparaiso_AP_I |14.32 -8.12 46 2967 +343 Wanatah |15.29 -6.47 56 2851 +342 Wheatfield |20.30 -0.86 97 3008 +442 Winamac |18.07 -3.11 58 3037 +395 North Central(2)| Plymouth |14.60 -6.89 57 2934 +158 South_Bend |11.31 -9.55 54 3055 +448 Young_America |18.39 -2.03 52 3020 +292 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |15.78 -4.73 57 2859 +373 Fort_Wayne |14.11 -4.80 55 3016 +288 West Central(4) | Greencastle |25.02 +1.25 50 3014 -58 Perrysville |17.96 -4.49 53 3255 +395 Spencer_Ag |25.49 +1.42 57 3089 +200 Terre_Haute_AFB |18.41 -4.07 52 3315 +265 W_Lafayette_6NW |12.99 -8.00 55 3097 +384 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |18.29 -2.80 55 3353 +328 Greenfield |28.39 +5.33 68 3103 +196 Indianapolis_AP |18.64 -2.45 55 3389 +364 Indianapolis_SE |21.10 -0.46 56 3123 +107 Tipton_Ag |20.61 -0.70 58 2880 +247 East Central(6) | Farmland |20.42 -0.33 55 2909 +337 New_Castle |23.50 +1.40 51 2784 +148 Southwest (7) | Evansville |20.35 -0.86 51 3668 +164 Freelandville |20.37 -1.74 54 3448 +298 Shoals |22.63 -1.32 65 3440 +385 Stendal |22.44 -1.37 51 3654 +348 Vincennes_5NE |25.62 +3.51 57 3574 +424 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |22.41 -1.90 55 3499 +464 Oolitic |20.96 -2.00 58 3193 +273 Tell_City |21.97 -2.41 43 3822 +444 Southeast (9) | Brookville |20.83 -1.46 55 3268 +494 Milan_5NE |23.54 +1.25 83 3199 +425 Scottsburg |22.64 -0.15 63 3367 +229 ------------------------------------------------------------------ DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period). GDD = Growing Degree Days. Precipitation (Rainfall or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of .01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2005: Agricultural Weather Information Service, Inc. All rights reserved. The above weather information is provided by AWIS, Inc. For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS home page at: www.awis.com