nj-crop-weather State New Jersey Crop Weather Released May 17, 2004 Week Ending May 17, 2004 Issue NJ-CW2004 In Cooperation With: U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Agricultural Marketing Service U.S. Department of Commerce/N.O.A.A. Rutgers University -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warm Weather Speeds Plant Growth Days suitable for field work were 5.7. There were measurable amounts of rainfall during the week across most of the state. Temperatures were above normal across the state for the week. Soil moisture was rated 6% short, 87% adequate, and 7% surplus. Irrigation water supplies were rated 95% adequate and 5% surplus. Farmers were busy fertilizing, cultivating, plowing, and planting where field conditions allowed. Barley fields were mostly headed out in the southern and central counties. Wheat fields were over seventy percent headed out in the central and southern counties with a report of some powdery mildew in some central district fields. Soybean planting accelerated in central and northern districts. Field corn began to emerge in the central district. Some hay fields were sprayed for cereal rust mite in the portions of the state. Vegetables were reported as being in mostly good condition, with some irrigation of vegetables in the south. Sweet corn planting continued in the south where conditions allowed. Pea planting activities continued in the northern counties. Transplanting of cucumbers, eggplant and, peppers continued across the state. Cucumbers, directly seeded into fields, emerged in some southern fields. Early transplanted tomato plants began to flower, while early planted snap beans began to emerge in southern localities. Cantaloupe transplanting continued in southern areas; while in most central localities cantaloupe plants were still in greenhouses. Cabbage transplanting finished in central and southern areas. Harvest of green and red lettuces, cilantro, leeks, and endive continued in the south. Escarole harvest began in some southern fields. Asparagus and spinach harvest was active across the state. Basil and arugula planting continued in southern areas of the state. Irish potato vines were reported in good condition. Apple and peach bloom set was good in the central district. In the southern district, peaches are sizing well and the crop is heavy. Strawberries were rated as being in fair to excellent condition across the state. Harvest of strawberries, planted under plastic, began in some fields in the south; while picking of Chandler strawberries began in the central district. Blueberries continued to bloom in southern localities with crop condition ratings of mostly good. There was a report of spraying for fire blight due to hot weather during the past week. Livestock producers were aggressively rotating pastures to maximize growth of grasses this season. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 AM EDT MON MAY 17 2004 RAINFALL AMOUNTS, NONE TODAY, TENTH OF AN INCH POSSIBLE TONIGHT, NONE TUESDAY. WINDS FOR SPRAYING, BECOMING SOUTHEAST AROUND 10 MPH TODAY, SOUHTEAST AROUND 10MPH EARLY TONIGHT, THEN LIGHT AND VARIABLE, SOUTHWEST AROUND 10 MPH TUESDAY. RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN PERCENT, 45 TO 55 TODAY, 90 TO 100 TONIGHT, 45 TO 55 TUESDAY. DEW POINTS, 60 TO 65 THROUGH TUESDAY. DRYING CONDITIONS FAIR TO GOOD TODAY AND AGAIN TUESDAY. FROST, FREEZE, OR DEW, AS WELL AS POSSIBLE WETTING FROM DEW PLUS IN A SHOWER TONIGHT AND AGAIN TUESDAY NIGHT. PERCENT OF POSSIBLE SUNSHINE, 60 TODAY, 60 TUESDAY. THERE IS A 20 PERCENT PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION DURING THE 12 HOUR PERIOD BEGINNING AT 8 AM AND ENDING AT 8 PM THAT COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF PESTICIDES THAT REQUIRE A RAIN FREE PERIOD AFTER APPLICATION. ESTIMATED SOIL MOISTURE IN PERCENT OF FIELD CAPACITY HAS BECOME FAVORABLE IN MOST LOCATIONS. FOUR INCH SOIL TEMPERATURES ARE GENERALLY IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S. SOIL TEMPERATURES WILL HOLD STEADY OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. TEMPERATURES IN THE RESPRESENTATIVE CRANBERRY BOGS WILL REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING FOR THE NEXT FEW NIGHTS. HAY CUTTING WILL SEE FAIR DRYING CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS WITH FAIRLY GOOD DRYING FOR MUCH OF THE DAY, BUT WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND AGAIN TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE LATEST 8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK FOR THE PERIOD MAY 24, 2004 THROUGH MAY 30, 2004, IS CALLING FOR TEMPERATURES TO AVERAGE NEAR NORMAL AND PRECIPITATION TO TOTAL NEAR NORMAL. Climate summary for the week ending 8 am May 17, 2004 Temperatures averaged much, much above normal, averaging 70 degrees north, 70 degrees central, and 74 degrees south. Extremes were 91 degrees at several locations on May 13, 2004, and 50 degrees at Belvidere on May 17, 2004. Weekly rainfall averaged 1.63 inches north, 0.56 inches central, and 0.33 inches south. The heaviest 24 hour total reported was 1.63 inches at Charlotteburg on May 10, 2004 through May 11, 2004. Estimated soil moisture, in percent of field capacity, this past week averaged 92 percent north, 77 percent central, and 58 percent south. Four inch soil temperatures averaged 67 degrees north, 66 degrees central, and 69 degrees south. WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING 8 AM MONDAY May 17, 2004 R A I N F A L L TEMPERATURE GDD BASE50 MON WEATHER STATIONS WEEK TOTAL DEP MX MN AVG DEP TOT DEP %FC BELVIDERE BRIDGE .91 9.51 -.25 87 50 71. 11 369 204 89 CANOE BROOK 2.23 12.33 1.56 91 55 72. 13 388 245 97 CHARLOTTEBURG 2.24 11.54 .93 86 51 69. 12 341 258 92 FLEMINGTON 1.33 12.05 1.81 89 54 71. 11 371 216 92 LONG VALLEY 1.01 9.78 -1.21 86 54 69. 11 311 204 93 NEWTON 2.06 10.31 .87 87 52 70. 12 319 210 97 FREEHOLD .77 11.84 1.65 91 53 71. 10 429 230 85 LONG BRANCH .12 11.15 .63 89 54 67. 7 299 132 56 NEW BRUNSWICK 1.17 10.74 .79 89 54 70. 8 381 156 98 TOMS RIVER .51 11.80 1.59 91 57 72. 11 440 256 63 TRENTON .22 10.61 1.39 88 55 72. 9 413 159 61 CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE .30 9.27 .33 86 55 71. 10 386 163 33 DOWNSTOWN .41 9.64 .45 88 59 75. 12 487 222 52 GLASSBORO .62 13.06 3.31 88 59 74. 12 497 244 65 HAMMONTON .34 10.14 .66 90 57 75. 13 503 258 41 POMONA .10 8.10 -.82 88 56 73. 12 442 240 36 SEABROOK .22 10.43 2.08 89 65 76. 13 546 276 55 SOUTH HARRISON .62 12.47 3.00 88 60 75 NA 520 NA NA JERSEY FRESH AVAILABILITY FOR MAY 17, 2004 Arugula & Baby Arugula - Being harvested in good quality and volume. Asparagus - Good quality is being harvested in good volume. The season should run until mid-June. We're just past the peak of the season. Beets - Harvesting good quality and light volume. Cilantro - Good quality spring planted is available in good volume. Collards - Should be harvested in minimal volume later this week. Dandelions - Spring planted available in good volume. Dill - Harvesting good quality and volume. Escarole/Endive - Harvesting good quality Endive in fair volume. Escarole is just starting to be harvested in good quality though minimal volume. Green Onions & Leeks - A small volume of over-wintered product is still available. Transplanted leeks should be available by mid-June. Spring planted varieties due in July. Lettuces - Harvesting good quality lettuces in heavy volume. Parsley - Good quality spring planted available in light quantity. Radishes - Good quality and volume being harvested. Spinach & Baby Spinach - Good quality and volume of spring planted available. JERSEY FRESH FORECAST Basil - Should be available by the end of the month or 1st week of June. Blueberries - Early varieties like Weymouth beginning in mid June. Volume available 7-10 days later. Duke variety starting around June 21 with volume a week later. Bluecrop variety after that. Cabbage - Should be available by the end of the month or first week of June. Iceberg Lettuce - Should be available by the end of the month. Strawberries - Good quality Sweet Charlie and Chandler berries are available in good quantity. Our berries are picked ripe, have more red interior color, and a larger berry size since they're physically more mature. They're a better quality and better tasting berry. The bulk of our berries will be harvested towards the end of May, with lower volumes to continue through the first week of June. Unfortunately, winter was very hard on the plugs that were planted last summer. It seems that we have lost a significant amount of our expected '04 production. Turnips - Should begin harvesting some time next week.