Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date October 17, 2004 COLD FRONT ARRIVES A cold front moved through the State bringing cooler temperatures and scattered showers, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Services. Cooler temperatures produced frost in some areas. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork. Farmers continued planting and harvesting were weather permitted. Cotton harvest resumed as fields dried. In south Georgia, cloudy and rainy weather delayed peanut harvest. Combining of peanuts continued with yields lower than anticipated. Farmers were actively planting small grains for grazing and cover crops. Apple harvest progressed more rapidly than normal. Some reports of bacteria spot damage in greenbean fields. In other activities, farmers planted rye and winter wheat, and harvested soybeans. Crop Progress Table Oct 17, 2004 Corn, Harvested for Grain 96 Cotton, Bolls Open 96 Cotton, Harvested 33 Peanuts, Dug 80 Peanuts, Combined 63 Rye, Planted 34 Sorghum, Harvested for Grain 59 Soybeans, Dropping Leaves 80 Soybeans, Harvested 12 Wheat, Planted 9 Wheat, Emerged 4 Other Small Grains, Planted 27 Apples, Harvested 86 Pecans, Harvested 5 Prev Week 94 94 21 64 44 25 54 66 7 6 1 17 76 3 Prev Year 100 92 28 84 69 43 66 74 14 12 6 29 74 7 5 Year Avg 99 93 32 84 70 40 62 74 15 9 3 29 79 5 Crop Condition Table October 17, 2004 Crop Very Poor Cotton 9 Hay 1 Peanuts 4 Soybeans 2 Pecans 17 Pasture 0 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 21 38 28 6 37 52 12 38 39 8 40 44 36 30 17 4 35 56 Excellent 4 4 7 6 0 5 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level October 17, 2004 Very Poor Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 0 9 38 46 Dist 2(NC) 0 1 34 63 Dist 3(NE) 0 0 6 80 Dist 4(WC) 0 10 42 47 Dist 5(C) 0 3 30 59 Dist 6(EC) 0 2 43 55 Dist 7(SW) 0 5 34 54 Dist 8(SC) 2 5 42 48 Dist 9(SE) 0 1 44 51 Excellent 7 2 14 1 8 0 7 3 4 *A list of the counties in each of the nine Georgia Agricultural Statistics Districts is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga/ctyests/districts.pdf. Soil Moisture Table Oct 17, 2004 Prev Year --Percentages-- Very Short 0 6 Short 15 35 Adequate 70 55 Surplus 15 4 5 Year Avg 7 30 57 6 Soil Moisture Table - District Level October 17, 2004 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 11 84 Dist 2(NC) 0 37 60 Dist 3(NE) 0 20 74 Dist 4(WC) 1 31 66 Dist 5(C) 0 7 71 Dist 6(EC) 0 15 71 Dist 7(SW) 1 19 77 Dist 8(SC) 0 0 62 Dist 9(SE) 0 4 71 Surplus 5 3 6 2 22 14 3 38 25 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY OCTOBER 17, 2004 1/ 2004 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 81 47 68 0.94 5 5.74 15.42 41.74 72 ALPHARETTA 78 40 60 0.10 3 3.13 16.65 48.43 67 ARLINGTON 81 46 66 0.80 5 2.08 14.55 43.96 72 ATTAPULGUS 82 45 67 0.95 6 3.37 10.76 39.84 72 BLAIRSVILLE 74 34 56 0.44 3 3.04 14.84 44.48 65 BRUNSWICK 82 51 70 2.92 4 4.72 16.78 47.21 74 BYRON 80 44 64 0.28 2 3.62 9.36 32.08 71 CAIRO 82 47 67 1.22 5 3.68 10.96 37.93 74 CALHOUN 80 39 61 0.88 3 1.40 11.76 43.26 66 CAMILLA 81 46 67 0.87 4 3.21 11.22 36.13 73 CORDELE 82 47 66 0.51 3 5.07 14.87 42.24 72 COVINGTON 78 43 63 0.03 3 3.67 15.36 41.86 71 DAHLONEGA 74 39 58 0.43 3 2.89 14.99 43.90 65 DALLAS 77 43 61 0.12 1 1.01 9.92 41.20 67 DAWSON 82 43 65 0.12 3 1.18 9.27 34.26 72 DEARING 81 44 64 0.39 2 5.11 11.42 39.78 72 DEMPSEY 78 43 62 0.15 4 1.93 12.40 43.26 67 DIXIE 83 46 68 0.91 3 4.05 11.03 45.86 75 DUBLIN 83 47 66 0.37 3 3.96 13.95 39.76 73 DULUTH 78 40 61 0.08 2 2.27 10.51 35.10 67 DUNWOODY 77 42 61 0.09 3 3.99 16.34 48.29 66 EATONTON 80 39 63 0.44 5 6.45 17.50 40.62 70 ELLIJAY 77 36 57 0.66 3 1.77 14.60 44.51 64 FORT VALLEY 81 42 64 0.22 3 2.38 9.32 27.28 69 GAINESVILLE 74 45 61 0.31 4 3.02 14.07 37.94 68 GEORGETOWN 84 44 65 0.14 3 1.78 11.80 35.00 72 GRIFFIN 77 53 65 0.13 3 7.27 13.53 43.00 70 HOMERVILLE 84 47 68 1.16 4 9.50 22.85 51.83 73 JACKSONVILLE 81 42 64 0.29 3 6.09 15.46 40.21 71 JONESBORO 78 42 62 0.21 3 3.23 13.87 35.82 68 LAFAYETTE 78 41 60 0.64 2 1.20 8.31 35.59 67 MIDVILLE 81 45 66 0.38 3 3.80 13.07 43.73 71 NAHUNTA 82 44 67 1.30 4 6.25 21.81 60.12 73 NEWTON 80 46 66 1.02 5 2.60 10.04 37.59 73 PINE MOUNTAIN 79 39 62 0.21 2 3.84 15.13 48.70 67 PLAINS 81 43 64 0.19 4 1.94 13.24 42.90 68 ROME 80 41 61 0.20 4 0.27 4.64 38.65 68 ROOPVILLE 79 37 60 0.12 4 0.93 11.98 39.03 68 SAVANNAH 80 44 64 3.03 3 4.70 12.91 46.89 72 STATESBORO 81 45 65 0.67 4 4.10 11.52 32.66 72 TIFTON 82 49 67 0.53 6 6.58 16.06 48.78 71 VALDOSTA 85 50 69 1.53 5 5.81 15.46 42.02 73 VIDALIA 81 47 67 0.62 5 3.22 15.38 44.89 73 WATKINSVILLE 78 42 62 0.36 4 5.21 13.25 39.69 67 WILLIAMSON 78 42 62 0.18 2 2.63 12.05 40.25 68 1/ Weather data supplied by Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (AEMN) and the office of the State Climatologist, University of Georgia. For detailed Georgia weather data visit the AEMN homepage, www.georgiaweather.net. NA - not available. District Highlights These comments are written by the Georgia County Extension Agents, and have been complied and edited by the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. DISTRICT COMMENTS October 17, 2004 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Light showers this week fell on some hay fields before they were baled - small grain fields were tilled prior to planting. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Cool, dry weather prevails. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL No comments available. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Another dry week! Much cooler temperatures late in the week! Small grains and winter grazing could use a shower but hopefully no more hurricanes! Corn and grain sorghum harvest neared completion. Many hay producers harvesting hay. For many of them it's only their second cutting of the year. Looks like hay will be short this winter and hay quality will be poor also due to too little rain early in the year and too much later in the year. Small grain and winter grazing planting continues. We are seeing quite a few winter food plots go in. We should be okay in terms of winter grazing for our livestock. Cotton may not have been hurt as badly as first thought. The peanut loss was from late digging. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Foggy, wet weather continues to hamper peanut and cotton harvest, only 6-7 hours of harvest time/day, peanuts covered in dirt breaking loose and being left in field behind combine. Good moisture for small grain forage planting. Irrigated cotton yields in 1 1/2 - 3 bale range. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.15" of rainfall. Heavy loss of peanuts at harvest. Bacteria spot attacking greenbean pods. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Showers earlier in week delayed peanut and cotton harvest. Peanut grades and yields in general are mostly lower than expected. No cotton grades or yields as of yet, but appears weak. Working around wet areas in harvest operations. Had 0.5 inches of rain this week. Mostly overcast this week. Excessive moisture in many fields. Look for warmer and drier conditions to help harvest crop already over due for harvest. Thunderstorms came through the county Thursday night dropping more than 1 inch of rain. This will stop peanut and cotton harvest for 2 or 3 days. Some fields were still muddy from the hurricanes. Harvest was just beginning to get going well. We need 3 to 4 weeks of good open weather for harvest. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Good rainfall on Friday delayed cotton and peanut harvest for one day. Contact Information David S. Abbe, Director Georgia Agricultural Statistics Phone: 706-546-2236 E-mail: nass-ga@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga