sc-crop-weather State South Carolina Crop Weather Release Date, Week Ending Date Week Ending July 4, 2004 Issue SC-CW1417 Agricultural Summary Numerous thundershowers brought torrential rainfall to some areas of the State last week. Flooding was reported in scattered areas, but the rains were mainly beneficial to crops and pastures. A few places were still without much rain at the end of the week lowering projected corn yields and stressing fruit bearing crops in those areas. Soil moisture ratings were 1% very short, 15% short, 72% adequate and 12% surplus. There were 5.2 days suitable for field work. Field Crops Report About 40% of the CORN crop had doughed and started to mature; crop condition remained fair to good and even showed a slight improvement due to the rain. Almost two-thirds of the COTTON crop had squared and started setting bolls with the crop in mostly good condition. Almost half the PEANUTS had pegged with that crop in fair to good condition. SOYBEAN planting neared completion with 10% of the crop bloomed. The crop remained in fair to mostly good condition. SORGHUM planting was finished by the end of the week and 18% of the crop had turned color and was in fair to good condition. SWEETPOTATO planting was complete at week's end with that crop in good shape. TOBACCO harvesting began last week with 63% of the crop topped; crop condition ranged from fair to excellent. Fruits, Vegetables and Specialty Crops Report The APPLE crop remained in mostly fair to good condition. The PEACH crop remained in good to excellent condition with 30% of the crop harvested. CANTALOUP harvesting was 70% complete while WATERMELON harvesting was 66% complete; both crops were in mostly fair condition. CUCUMBER harvesting was 99% complete at week's end. Eighty-seven percent of the SNAPBEAN crop had been harvested and the crop remained in good condition. More than two-thirds of the TOMATO crop had been harvested with the crop in mostly good shape. Small Grains, Pastures and Livestock Report GRAIN HAY harvesting was complete at week's end while OTHER HAY harvesting was almost one-half complete with the crop in fair to good condition. PASTURES were in fair to good condition while LIVESTOCK remained in good shape. All SMALL GRAINS had nearly finished ripening and 90% or more had been harvested with the crops mostly in fair condition except barley which remained mostly good. Crop Progress Table ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Yr : 5 Yr Crop Phase 2004 2003 Avg. :Crop Phase 2004 2003 Avg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --Percent-- --Percent-- Barley Ripe 99 99 100 :Rye Harvested 97 88 96 Barley Harvested 90 88 96 :Snapbeans Harvested 87 86 81 Cantaloups Harvested 70 60 66 :Sorghum Planted 100 99 97 Corn Silked 96 86 90 :Sorghum Headed 58 55 51 Corn Doughed 41 39 44 :Sorghum Turned Color 18 16 16 Corn Matured 1 1 8 :Soybeans Planted 99 95 96 Cotton Squared 63 41 57 :Soybeans Emerged 98 90 90 Cotton Bolls Set 9 1 10 :Soybeans Bloomed 10 4 10 Cucumbers Harvested 99 94 96 :Swtpotatoes Planted 100 98 98 Grain Hay Harvested 100 99 100 :Tobacco Topped 63 62 60 Other Hay Harvested 49 40 47 :Tobacco Harvested 1 3 2 Oats Ripe 98 100 100 :Tomatoes Harvested 68 74 74 Oats Harvested 96 91 97 :Watermelons Harvested 66 44 55 Peaches Harvested 30 30 41 :Winter Wht Ripe 100 100 100 Peanuts Pegged 47 31 36 :Winter Wht Harvested 98 95 98 Rye Ripe 99 99 100 : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop Condition Table ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Very Excel- Very Excel- Crop Poor Poor Fair Good lent :Crop Poor Poor Fair Good lent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Percent -- -- Percent-- Apples 0 0 60 40 0 :Peanuts 0 3 42 44 11 Barley 0 0 24 76 0 :Rye 0 17 77 6 0 Cantaloups 0 11 81 8 0 :Snapbeans 0 0 3 96 1 Corn 4 10 31 46 9 :Sorghum 0 1 40 51 8 Cotton 0 3 26 66 5 :Soybeans 1 4 26 59 10 Cucumbers 0 0 9 63 28 :Sweetpotato 0 0 0 100 0 Hay 2 11 35 49 3 :Tobacco 0 7 21 53 19 Livestock 0 2 23 70 5 :Tomatoes 0 0 24 75 1 Oats 2 24 50 24 0 :Watermelons 0 6 63 29 2 Pastures 1 10 37 46 6 :Winter Wheat 1 5 44 48 2 Peaches 2 3 10 37 48 : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending July 4, 2004 A nearly stationary trough axis, positioned west to east through central South Carolina, made for another wet and stormy week. The humid airmass combined with the late day heating to produce torrential downpours and localized flooding. Widespread thunderstorms on Wednesday dropped large hail in Aiken which covered the ground. Damaging winds were observed from the Midlands eastward to the coast. Intense lightning was blamed on a water craft fatality in Charleston County. Clarendon County received unofficial radar estimates of five inch rains. At month's end, west central counties had measured an average of one foot of rain. On Thursday, a water spout formed over the Charleston Harbor, near the Custom House, sending startled visitors hurrying for shelter. The holiday weekend saw increasing hot, humid weather and widely scattered evening thunderstorms. For the period, the state average temperature was two degrees below normal. The highest official temperature reported was 95 degrees at Darlington and Jamestown on July 4. The lowest official temperature reported was 57 degrees at Caesars Head on the morning of June 30. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 3.82" at Edgefield ending at 7:00 a.m. on July 1. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 1.9." SOIL: 4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 84 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 82 degrees. Precipitation Temperature Weekly Jan 1 Deviation Average Average Total Total From Avg Maximum Minimum Average Greer 0.72 18.0 -8.6 83 68 76 Columbia 0.78 22.6 -2.6 86 72 75 Augusta, GA 3.77 23.6 -0.5 87 70 78 Cheraw* 1.06 14.0 -12.1 86 68 77 Chester* 0.59 12.0 -13.3 84 68 76 Johnston* 2.43 22.0 -4.0 86 68 77 Sumter* 7.03 21.2 -4.0 85 70 77 Clemson* 1.96 16.3 -12.5 81 67 74 Florence 1.20 13.8 -8.5 87 71 79 Myrtle Beach 2.89 17.5 -3.1 84 71 78 Allendale* 2.53 22.8 -1.1 88 70 79 Charleston 1.12 17.0 -7.0 89 72 80 Beaufort* 0.37 15.3 -8.1 88 74 81 * Rainfall totals ending Sunday 7:00 a.m. All others ending midnight. 0.72 1.96 0.59 1.06 Divisional Temperature & Precipitation 1.20 (weighted by geographic area) 0.78 7.03 2.89 Division Avg Temp Tot Prec 2.43 Mountains 70 2.9 Northwest 75 1.4 North Central 76 0.6 Northeast 78 3.1 West Central 77 2.2 Central 78 2.4 Southern 80 1.1 2.53 Statewide 79 1.9 1.12 * NA=Not Available M=Missing E=Estimate 0.37 Contact Information Robert A. Graham, Director Ruben McCann, Agricultural Statistician Phone: 803-765-5333 E-mail: nass-sc@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/sc/