sc-crop-weather South Carolina Weekly Weather and Crop Progress Report Released: June 2, 2008 Week Ending Date: June 1, 2008 Issue: SC-CW002208 GENERAL A good part of the Pee Dee region received rain this past week, but amounts in many areas remained below average. The Upstate area of South Carolina has been slighted from adequate precipitation for a long time. Savannah River lakes have been well below normal for many months now. The dry weather has allowed farmers a lot of time for field work, but moisture is needed for good crop development. Warmer, more seasonable temperatures were causing soil moisture ratings to decline at a faster pace. State average ratings were 7% very short, 57% short, and 36% adequate. Like the preceding week, there was a statewide average of 6.2 days that were suitable for field work. FIELD CROPS More rain is needed to help prevent yield loss in older CORN. Conditions fell due to inadequate moisture for most of the state, but the crop remains mostly good overall. COTTON planting was mostly complete as of last week. There has been slight thrip injury to some plants. Cotton was reported as 1% very poor, 2% poor, 35% fair, 60% good, and 2% excellent. OATS continued to ripen fast. Dry weather has allowed for ongoing small grain harvest with acceptable yields reported thus far. Conditions were little changed from a week ago. PEANUT planting was finishing up in many areas. The crop remains mostly good, as development was just beginning. Conditions were 1% poor, 30% fair, 67% good, and 2% excellent. Farmers were still busy in the fields planting SOYBEANS with most single crop beans already in the ground. Conditions weakened from the week before, but the majority of the crop was mostly good. The SWEET POTATO crop was over half-way planted. The crop was in fair condition. Rains in the Pee Dee, coupled with warm temperatures have helped TOBACCO to come on strong. WINTER WHEAT has been helped by favorable weather for harvest. Like oats, conditions were similar to the prior week. OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST LIVESTOCK conditions declined slightly, but were still mostly good. PASTURE conditions dropped significantly with the warmer temperatures, as the Upstate continued to be shorted on rain. GRAIN HAY cutting was ahead of last year, as well as the five-year average, and was nearing completion. PEACHES were progressing well. Conditions fell somewhat from the previous week, but were still looking good for most producers. Growers were continuing to apply preventative disease controls. VEGETABLE conditions were lower. Cantaloupes and cucumbers were in mostly fair condition, while tomatoes remained mostly good. Snapbean conditions ranged from poor to excellent. Crop Progress for Week Ending June 1, 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop and Stage : 2008 : 2007 :5-Yr Avg :: Crop and Stage : 2008 : 2007 :5-Yr Avg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Cantaloup, Planted : 98 100 98 :: Peanuts, Planted : 89 85 89 Corn, Emerged : 99 100 99 :: Snapbeans, Fresh, Harvested : 8 0 6 Corn, Silked : 3 5 6 :: Sorghum, Planted : 82 89 76 Cotton, Planted : 92 94 90 :: Soybeans, Planted : 60 54 52 Cucumbers, Fresh, Planted : 100 100 100 :: Soybeans, Emerged : 40 33 29 Cucumbers, Fresh, Harvested : 8 14 14 :: Sweet Potatoes, Planted : 54 50 54 Hay, Grain Hay, Harvested : 96 92 89 :: Watermelons, Planted : 98 99 98 Oats, Turned Color : 97 95 94 :: Winter Wheat, Turning Color : 95 94 95 Oats, Ripe : 72 67 63 :: Winter Wheat, Ripe : 60 62 58 Oats, Harvested : 31 26 13 :: Winter Wheat, Harvested : 12 11 10 Peaches, Harvested : 8 4 7 :: : ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Condition for Week Ending June 1, 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent :: Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Apples : 0 0 75 25 0 :: Peanuts : 0 1 30 67 2 Cantaloup : 0 3 60 37 0 :: Snapbeans : 0 20 30 40 10 Corn : 0 8 36 53 3 :: Sorghum : 0 10 25 65 0 Cotton : 1 2 35 60 2 :: Soybeans : 0 6 40 52 2 Cucumbers : 0 5 65 29 1 :: Sweet Potatoes : 0 0 75 25 0 Hay : 0 6 46 44 4 :: Tobacco : 0 0 14 80 6 Livestock : 0 5 37 57 1 :: Tomatoes : 0 3 43 53 1 Oats : 0 2 27 63 8 :: Watermelons : 0 6 52 42 0 Pasture : 0 11 55 33 1 :: Winter Wheat : 0 2 28 59 11 Peaches : 0 7 17 76 0 :: : --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending June 1, 2008 The week began with Monday's cool 50-degree morning, then warming into the 80's through Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, a nearly stationary boundary became the avenue for rounds of showers and a few lone thundershowers. Givhans, in Dorchester County, measured a soaking 2.49 inches of rain during a thundershower. Most of the heavier rains were limited to eastern locations of the state. High temperatures on Thursday were reported in the 70's as a result of the cloud cover. Clearing skies on Friday afternoon and southwesterly surface winds signaled the start of summer-like weather for the weekend. On both Saturday and Sunday most of South Carolina baked under the high angle sun with localized maximum temperatures climbing into the middle 90's. Isolated, convective thunderstorms with high winds and small hail were reported Sunday afternoon and evening over the Pee Dee and central coast area. The state average temperature for the period was near normal. The highest official temperature reported was 97 degrees at Darlington AP on June 1. The lowest official temperature reported was 49 degrees at Bennettsville, Orangeburg, Dillon, Jamestown, Witherbee, and Cades on the morning of May 26. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.97 inches at Walhalla ending at 7:00 a.m. on May 31. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.4 inches. SOIL: 4-inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 78 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 78 degrees. Precipitation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location : Weekly : Jan 1 : Deviation : Total : Total : from Average ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greer : 0.16 16.44 -5.8 Columbia : 0.22 15.19 -4.2 Orangeburg : 0.52 15.40 -4.0 Charlotte, NC : 1.14 15.13 -3.5 Augusta, GA : 0.01 16.89 -2.5 Florence : 0.52 16.64 -0.7 N Myrtle Beach : 0.47 16.44 0.3 Charleston : 0.90 13.35 -3.4 Savannah, GA : 0.20 12.91 -4.7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday.