in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 25, 2004 Issue IN-CW1704 Agricultural Summary Much needed precipitation during the week helped relieve dry soil conditions around most of the state, according to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service. Major field activities were temporarily delayed in some areas, but farmers welcomed the rain. Planting of corn and soybeans continued to make excellent progress for this time of the season. Corn planting is 4 days ahead of the previous record pace established in 2001 and 10 days ahead of the average pace. Field Crops Report There were 4.1 days suitable for fieldwork. Forty-two percent of the intended corn acreage is planted compared with 21 percent for last year and 14 percent for the 5-year average. Five percent of the corn acreage has emerged compared with 1 percent last year and 1 percent for the average. By area, 34 percent of the corn is planted in the north, 45 percent in the central region and 54 percent in the south. Eight percent of the intended soybean acreage is planted compared with 3 percent last year and 3 percent for the average. Sixty-nine percent of the winter wheat acreage is jointed compared with 70 percent last year and 73 percent for the 5-year average. One percent of the winter wheat is headed compared with 1 percent last year and 2 percent for the average. Winter wheat condition is rated 86 percent good to excellent compared with 82 percent last year at this time. Major activities during the week were tillage of soils, nitrogen application, spreading lime and fertilizer, spraying chemicals, repairing equipment, moving grain to market, hauling manure and taking care of livestock. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 9 percent excellent, 63 percent good, 23 percent fair, 4 percent poor and 1 percent very poor. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Hay supplies are mostly adequate, but in short supply in a few areas of the state. Hay is still being fed on some livestock farms. Lambing is nearing completion. Spring calving continued on cattle operations. Crop Progress Table ----------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg ----------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn Planted 42 15 21 14 Corn Emerged 5 NA 1 1 Soybean Planted 8 NA 3 3 Winter Wheat Jointed 69 46 70 73 Winter Wheat Headed 1 0 1 2 Crop Condition Table ------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ------------------------------------------------------------- Percent Pasture 1 4 23 63 9 Winter Wheat 2004 1 1 12 66 20 Winter Wheat 2003 0 2 16 62 20 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : : Week : Week : Year : ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 4 8 3 Short 14 23 15 Adequate 64 60 59 Surplus 18 9 23 Subsoil Very Short 4 6 6 Short 19 17 19 Adequate 68 70 65 Surplus 9 7 10 Days Suitable 4.1 5.9 4.1 Contact information --Greg Preston, State Statistician --Bud Bever, Agricultural Statistician E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov http://www.nass.usda.gov/in/index.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Agricultural Comments And News DRY TOPSOIL CONCERNS SOME CORN GROWERS Corn planting in the Hoosier (crossed out in honor of Purdue) Boilermaker state is off to the races with 15 % of the state's crop acreage already in the ground, well ahead of the five-year average of 5 % (Indiana Ag. Stats. Service, 4/19/04) and ahead of the previous record pace (8 %) set in 1976. Three reasons for the early rapid rate of corn planting are dry soils, warm soil temperatures (relative to early April), and short-term memories of last year's wet May that delayed some corn planting until early June. Some of the regulars at the Chat 'n Chew Cafe are beginning to fuss about the dryness of the soil, especially topsoil moisture. As of 18 April, 31 % of the state's topsoil moisture was in fact rated as short to very short (Indiana Ag. Stats. Service, 4/19/04). Thunderstorms rolling through Indiana this week are replenishing soil moisture in some, but not all, areas of the state. One of the concerns when surface soils are dry is the increased risk of injury to corn germination or to young corn seedlings from pre-plant anhydrous ammonia applications. Such injury is caused by desiccation of below ground plant parts that come into contact with the ammonia zone. Symptoms of anhydrous injury include poor or weak germination, discolored kernels, wilted seedlings, and brown stubbed-off roots. Shallow injection depths (less than 7 - 8 inches), coarse-textured soils, and dry surface soils (especially cloddy soils) all increase the risk of ammonia movement farther than normal from the point of injection (Sawyer, 2000) and thus the risk of injury to corn germination and young corn seedlings. Another concern related to dry surface soils is whether soil moisture at the seed zone is uniformly adequate for germination. Uneven soil moisture in the seed zone is the primary cause of uneven emergence, the results of can easily reduce yield potential by 6 to 9 percent (Carter et al., 2002). Under normal conditions, seeding depths of 1 ½ to 2 inches are usually sufficient to achieve uniform soil moisture in the seed zone. Seeding depth decisions when surface soils are on the dry side may require planting as deep as 2 ½ to 3 inches if necessary to achieve uniformly moist seedbed conditions, especially when the short-term weather forecast is not promising any significant rainfall. The key factor when faced with dry surface soils is taking the time DURING planting to visually inspect the soil moisture levels at the seed zone and change planter depth settings accordingly to best ensure placement of seeds into a uniformly moist seedbed. References: Carter, Paul, Emerson Nafziger, and Joe Lauer. 2002. Uneven Emergence in Corn. North Central Regional Extension Publication No. 344. Available online at http://cecommerce.uwex.edu/pdfs/NCR344.PDF. (Verified 4/21/04). Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2002. Requirements for Uniform Germination and Emergence of Corn. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. Available online at http://www.kingcorn.org/news/articles.02/Germ&Emerg_Req-0520.html. (Verified 4/20/04). Sawyer, John. 2000. Anhydrous application and dry soils. Integrated Crop Mgmt. Newsletter, Iowa State Univ. Available online at http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2000/10-23-2000/anhydrous.html (Verified 4/19/04). For other Corny News Network articles, browse through the CNN Archives at http://www.kingcorn.org/news/index-cnn.html. For other information about corn, take a look at the Corn Growers' Guidebook at http://www.kingcorn.org. R.L. (Bob) Nielsen Agronomy Dept., Purdue Univ. West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054. Email address:rnielsen@purdue.edu Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday April 25, 2004 --------------------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|------------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days |Temp ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |89 41 58 +5 1.06 3 61 Valparaiso_AP_I |87 37 58 +7 0.71 2 Wanatah |88 32 55 +5 0.80 2 60 Wheatfield |86 39 57 +7 1.04 3 Winamac |86 38 58 +6 1.01 4 North Central(2)| Plymouth |86 37 57 +4 0.49 3 South_Bend |87 37 59 +9 0.40 2 Young_America |86 43 60 +8 0.86 4 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |86 39 58 +8 0.69 4 Fort_Wayne |86 37 60 +8 0.79 4 West Central (4)| Greencastle |83 43 61 +6 0.97 5 Perrysville |86 42 61 +8 1.54 4 60 Spencer_Ag |85 48 62 +8 1.11 6 Terre_Haute_AFB |85 49 65 +10 1.13 3 W_Lafayette_6NW |87 41 60 +8 1.33 3 62 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |83 44 62 +8 1.42 4 Greenfield |85 44 60 +7 1.10 3 Indianapolis_AP |85 48 63 +9 1.40 4 Indianapolis_SE |85 44 60 +6 1.37 4 Tipton_Ag |86 42 59 +8 1.59 4 62 East Central (6)| Farmland |84 40 59 +8 1.35 4 New_Castle |82 42 57 +6 1.20 3 Southwest (7) | Evansville |83 52 67 +9 1.27 2 Freelandville |83 51 63 +8 0.94 4 Shoals |84 50 64 +9 1.73 6 Stendal |83 52 65 +8 1.17 3 Vincennes_5NE |85 50 65 +10 1.37 5 61 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |82 52 63 +8 2.38 5 Oolitic |82 48 63 +9 1.95 5 63 Tell_City |82 53 66 +9 1.84 4 Southeast (9) | Brookville |86 46 60 +8 0.93 2 Milan_5NE |84 44 61 +8 1.71 6 Scottsburg |84 44 63 +7 2.16 6 --------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table Week ending Sunday April 25, 2004 ----------------|-------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2004 thru Station | April 25, 2004 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W | 1.06 -1.94 3 118 +31 Valparaiso_AP_I | 0.85 -2.47 3 124 +64 Wanatah | 0.98 -2.21 3 99 +54 Wheatfield | 2.74 -0.44 9 107 +59 Winamac | 1.11 -1.98 6 119 +55 North Central(2)| Plymouth | 0.68 -2.55 5 104 +33 South_Bend | 0.44 -2.79 4 132 +80 Young_America | 0.86 -2.02 4 129 +67 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City | 0.70 -2.32 5 105 +62 Fort_Wayne | 0.83 -2.00 6 121 +64 West Central (4)| Greencastle | 1.00 -2.05 6 127 +26 Perrysville | 1.54 -1.69 4 159 +78 Spencer_Ag | 1.88 -1.42 10 133 +47 Terre_Haute_AFB | 1.23 -1.97 5 176 +74 W_Lafayette_6NW | 1.33 -1.75 3 144 +79 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP | 1.53 -1.52 6 157 +64 Greenfield | 1.28 -2.06 9 127 +53 Indianapolis_AP | 1.60 -1.45 6 176 +83 Indianapolis_SE | 1.52 -1.56 6 139 +55 Tipton_Ag | 1.61 -1.64 5 113 +63 East Central (6)| Farmland | 2.06 -0.92 9 111 +65 New_Castle | 1.36 -2.03 7 84 +34 Southwest (7) | Evansville | 1.90 -1.41 5 218 +55 Freelandville | 1.13 -2.03 8 170 +55 Shoals | 2.38 -0.97 9 172 +58 Stendal | 1.76 -1.91 6 193 +57 Vincennes_5NE | 2.03 -1.13 9 187 +72 South Central(8)| Leavenworth | 3.79 -0.03 9 165 +47 Oolitic | 2.64 -0.66 10 143 +46 Tell_City | 4.24 +0.24 9 219 +74 Southeast (9) | Brookville | 2.30 -0.84 8 126 +55 Milan_5NE | 3.20 +0.06 12 131 +60 Scottsburg | 3.14 -0.33 11 156 +41 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: AWIS, 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 or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The INDIANA CROP WEATHER REPORT (USPS 675-770), (ISSN 0442-817X) is issued weekly April through November by the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 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 Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Source: Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service