Mississippi Crop Weather Released October 16, 2006 Week Ending Date October 15, 2006 Issue MS-CW4206 Agricultural Summary According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Mississippi, there were 6.5 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Sunday, October 15, 2006. Harvesting activities had little-to-no delays caused by rainfall this week. Conversely, cool, dry conditions have threatened winter crop progress. Armyworms are still a concern for grass producers across the northern half of the State. Soil moisture was rated 26 percent very short, 42 percent short, and 32 percent adequate. Crop progress for week ending 10/15/06 --------------------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-year Crop : week : week : year : average --------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Corn, harvested : 100 100 100 99 Cotton, open bolls : 100 100 99 99 Cotton, harvested : 90 77 71 58 Hay-Warm Season, harvested : 97 96 100 99 Peanuts, harvested : 60 42 -- -- Rice, harvested : 99 96 96 94 Soybeans, dropping leaves : 100 100 100 98 Soybeans, harvested : 98 96 94 82 Sweet Potatoes, harvested : 80 75 79 73 Winter Wheat, planted : 26 25 -- 21 Winter Wheat, emerged : 10 9 -- 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop condition for week ending 10/15/06 ------------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Item : poor : Poor : Fair : Good :Excellent ------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent : Livestock : 16 16 26 40 2 Pasture : 23 42 29 6 0 Peanuts : 0 2 28 59 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments "We have almost finished harvesting. There are still some soybeans to cut." -- Don Respess, Coahoma "Rains are predicted for today and producers have mixed emotions about rain. Most farm operators want to get through with the harvest, but those with wheat planted would like to see an inch or so of rain to bring their wheat up." -- Mack Young, Quitman "Fall armyworms have been a severe problem this year with food-plots, hayfields, and winter wheat and ryegrass. Hopefully the light frost we received Thursday night will end that cycle. Soybean and corn harvest is history for the most part. Irrigated cotton is being defoliated and harvested as operators try to beat the rain that we know is eventually coming." -- Jimbo Burkhalter, Tallahatchie "The harvest is continuing with yields falling under previous expectations in some situations. Winter wheat planting should finish up this week." -- Patrick Poindexter, Alcorn "Fall disking has begun. Cotton harvesting continues with below-average yields." -- Tim Needham, Tippah "Most growers have completed soybean and cotton harvest activities. Good progress has been made with fall tillage work, including fall applications of lime and fertilizer. Wheat land is ready for planting with a small percentage of the acreage planted. Most wheat growers are waiting for the optimal planting window before putting their wheat seed into the ground." -- Jerry Singleton, Leflore "Armyworms are causing problems in sweetpotatoes, soybeans, lawns, and food- plots. Pressures are starting to decrease with cooler temperatures. Late- planted sweet potatoes probably will not mature in time for harvesting." -- Bill Burdine, Chickasaw "We had a good week to harvest soybeans and cotton. Wheat planting is underway. Rain which is expected during the early part of the week will delay harvesting." -- Melvin Oatis, Benton "Fall armyworms hit ryegrass and food-plots heavily the first of this week. Cotton harvesting will be finished by the end of next week if we miss the rain forecasted for next week. Everyone is ready to get this crop behind them!" -- Stephen R. Winters Grenada "Dry field conditions allowed significant progress in harvest operations for cotton and soybeans. Fall tillage operations continued because of the dry conditions." -- Jay Phelps, Pontotoc "The harvest is all but over. This is probably the earliest harvest of all crops on record. Gins will be running for another month. Land preparation is taking place. Subsoiling, bedding and wheat planting are the main operations at this time. Yields have not been quite what producers were expecting overall. Rice yields were good-to-excellent. It is probably a record crop." -- Tommy Baird, Sunflower "Soil moisture is again at a very low level and is threatening cool season grazing crops that have been planted. The dry weather has been ideal for the harvesting of cotton and the late maturing fields of other crops." -- Ernest Flint, Attala "Dry and cool conditions during the week slowed the progress of cool season forage establishment. Soybean harvesting is winding down and cotton harvesting is underway. Corn and soybean yields were down 60-75 percent." -- Ed Williams, Oktibbeha "Producers are still cutting hay and will be for the next week. Some producers are still waiting for adequate rainfall to overseed ryegrass." -- Florieda K. Mason, Perry "It's raining this morning, Monday, October 16. Forecasters predict one half inch of rainfall. It is welcomed by those beef farmers who have planted ryegrass. More ryegrass has been planted so far this fall than was planted the fall of 2004 and 2005. There is little to no grazing in the pastures and beef producers are offering hay to their cattle. Corn harvest is 70 percent complete." -- Allen McReynolds, Wayne Mississippi Weather Summary for Week Ending 10/15/06 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : : :4 Inch Soil: : Air Temperature : Precipitation :Temperature:Avg :------------------------------------------------------:Plan Division/Station :Max:Min:Avg:Norm:DFN:One : DFN :Rain:Four :Max:Min:Avg:Evap : : : : : :Week: :Days:Weeks: : : : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Upper Delta : Cleveland :85 36 61 65 -4 0.00 -0.45 0 2.48 Lambert :85 33 62 0.00 -0.63 0 1.53 Tunica :81 36 59 64 -5 0.00 -0.69 0 2.04 Extreme/Average :85 33 61 65 -4 0.00 -0.65 0 2.01 North-Central : Calhoun City :79 35 58 64 -6 0.00 -0.63 0 3.55 Hickory Flat :80 29 57 62 -5 0.00 -0.70 0 3.07 Independence :79 29 55 62 -7 0.00 -0.63 0 3.07 Oxford :81 32 58 62 -4 0.00 -0.80 0 2.12 Extreme/Average :81 29 57 63 -6 0.00 -0.70 0 0.00 Northeast : Booneville :85 34 61 62 -1 0.00 -0.70 0 2.57 Iuka : 60 0.00 -0.70 0 0.60 Ripley :78 31 56 61 -5 0.00 -0.70 0 3.13 Tupelo :81 40 62 0.00 0.00 0 1.06 Verona :82 35 60 63 -3 0.00 -0.64 0 4.05 Extreme/Average :85 31 59 63 -4 0.00 -0.70 0 4.05 Lower Delta : Moorhead :83 39 63 67 -4 0.00 -0.70 0 5.02 Rolling Fork :87 40 65 66 -1 0.13 -0.71 2 1.60 Stoneville :84 37 65 66 -1 0.01 -0.69 1 2.54 Yazoo City :83 41 63 67 -4 0.06 -0.83 1 2.76 Extreme/Average :87 37 63 66 -3 0.00 -0.77 0 0.00 Central : Canton :83 38 61 66 -5 0.12 -0.58 1 2.08 Carthage :83 39 64 65 -1 0.14 -0.56 1 1.28 Eupora :80 35 59 63 -4 0.02 -0.75 1 2.11 Lexington :82 37 60 65 -5 0.02 -0.71 1 2.51 Extreme/Average :83 35 60 65 -5 0.05 -0.69 1 2.30 East-Central : Aberdeen :80 37 60 64 -4 0.00 -0.81 0 1.98 Houston :79 32 57 62 -5 0.01 -0.67 1 3.12 Philadelphia : 65 0.00 -0.70 0 1.21 State University:84 34 59 64 -5 0.00 -0.70 0 1.05 Extreme/Average :84 32 59 64 -5 0.00 -0.70 0 1.52 Southwest : Crystal Springs :86 43 66 67 -1 0.00 -0.71 0 2.50 Natchez :85 41 65 68 -3 0.06 -0.78 2 1.56 Oakley :87 45 67 66 1 0.01 -0.70 1 1.04 Vicksburg :84 42 64 0.00 0.00 0 1.74 Extreme/Average :87 41 65 67 -2 0.02 -0.75 1 1.74 South-Central : Collins :82 42 64 66 -2 0.00 -0.77 0 3.90 Columbia :85 44 66 67 -1 0.25 -0.47 1 3.00 Tylertown :83 42 65 68 -3 0.10 -0.74 2 2.53 Extreme/Average :85 42 65 67 -2 0.12 -0.64 1 3.45 Southeast : Beaumont : 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 Hattiesburg :86 42 66 68 -2 0.23 -0.49 3 2.39 Laurel :85 41 64 66 -2 0.01 -0.69 1 0.93 Newton :85 34 60 64 -4 0.02 -0.68 1 0.92 Extreme/Average :86 34 64 66 -2 0.01 -0.67 1 0.93 Coastal : Gulfport :85 53 71 71 0.17 -0.42 3 2.32 Pascagoula 3 NE : 69 0.27 -0.51 1 0.68 Picayune :88 54 70 68 2 0.00 -0.66 0 0.00 Extreme/Average :88 53 69 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 State :88 29 62 65 -3 0.02 -0.70 1 2.14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DFN = Departure from Normal.