Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date December 19, 2004 FREEZING TEMPERATURES A cold front moved through the State bringing the first hard freeze of the year, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. Most areas dropped below freezing. Planting of small grains was limited, but active in a few locations. Soil moisture levels were rated 6 percent short, 81 percent adequate, and 13 percent surplus. Producers continued to harvest soybeans and cotton. Wheat remained in mostly good condition. There were reports of frost damage to small grains. Supplemental feeding continued to increase due to declining pasture conditions. However, pasture was rated in mostly good to fair condition. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.6 days suitable for fieldwork. Vegetables were rated in mostly good to fair condition. Other activities included producers shredding cotton stalks, repairing farm equipment, and the routine care of livestock and poultry. Crop Progress Table December 19, 2004 Data for the table will resume in April 2005. Crop Condition Table December 19, 2004 Crop Very Poor Vegetables 0 Wheat 0 Pasture 3 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 4 40 53 1 26 70 13 38 43 Excellent 3 3 3 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level December 19, 2004 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 4 13 48 35 0 Dist 2(NC) 0 3 26 64 7 Dist 3(NE) 0 4 46 44 6 Dist 4(WC) 3 10 45 39 3 Dist 5(C) 8 11 21 59 1 Dist 6(EC) 0 19 39 42 0 Dist 7(SW) 2 14 38 42 4 Dist 8(SC) 5 20 39 31 5 Dist 9(SE) 0 2 43 54 1 *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 Dec 19, 2004 Prev Year --Percentages-- Very Short 0 NA Short 6 NA Adequate 81 NA Surplus 13 NA 5 Year Avg NA NA NA NA Soil Moisture Table - District Level December 19, 2004 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 0 50 Dist 2(NC) 0 1 88 Dist 3(NE) 0 0 84 Dist 4(WC) 0 0 93 Dist 5(C) 0 4 81 Dist 6(EC) 0 16 75 Dist 7(SW) 1 6 75 Dist 8(SC) 0 8 85 Dist 9(SE) 0 13 86 Surplus 50 11 16 7 15 9 18 7 1 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY DECEMBER 19, 2004 1/ 2004 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 67 25 44 0.00 0 2.91 3.97 45.77 50 ALPHARETTA 54 19 34 0.02 1 8.10 10.61 60.38 41 ARLINGTON 66 23 43 0.00 0 4.31 5.71 50.53 48 ATTAPULGUS 68 25 45 0.00 0 6.86 8.26 49.77 51 BLAIRSVILLE 53 12 31 0.01 1 6.89 12.04 57.22 43 BRUNSWICK 70 30 48 0.00 0 2.71 2.89 50.14 54 BYRON 63 20 41 0.00 0 2.12 3.39 36.44 50 CAIRO 68 25 45 0.00 0 7.34 9.60 48.86 61 CALHOUN 56 17 35 0.00 0 8.26 13.01 58.05 41 CAMILLA 67 24 43 0.00 0 5.93 6.25 43.05 50 CORDELE 65 22 42 0.00 0 5.17 5.68 48.20 51 COVINGTON 57 18 37 0.00 0 2.35 4.29 47.65 45 DAHLONEGA 56 16 35 0.00 0 6.41 11.58 56.35 43 DALLAS 56 19 36 0.03 1 9.42 11.64 54.56 44 DAWSON 64 24 41 0.00 0 3.65 4.10 38.72 52 DEARING 61 19 40 0.00 0 4.15 5.46 45.60 52 DEMPSEY 57 20 37 0.00 0 3.87 7.03 52.60 43 DIXIE 69 26 45 0.00 0 2.76 5.46 52.70 51 DUBLIN 66 20 41 0.00 0 2.42 3.18 43.69 49 DULUTH 57 20 36 0.00 0 7.95 10.55 46.74 44 DUNWOODY 55 20 36 0.00 0 8.41 11.13 60.80 43 EATONTON 59 17 37 0.00 0 3.06 4.98 47.01 43 ELLIJAY 52 16 32 0.00 0 8.29 14.02 59.71 42 FORT VALLEY 62 22 40 0.00 0 2.40 3.76 32.73 46 GAINESVILLE 55 21 37 0.00 0 5.72 8.34 46.76 46 GEORGETOWN 62 22 41 0.00 0 4.31 5.64 41.13 51 GRIFFIN 56 21 39 0.00 0 4.54 8.03 53.36 49 HOMERVILLE 69 25 44 0.00 0 1.93 2.59 54.46 53 JACKSONVILLE 62 22 40 0.00 0 3.94 4.88 46.48 49 JONESBORO 58 20 37 0.01 1 3.90 8.25 46.06 44 LAFAYETTE 56 17 35 0.00 0 7.63 11.69 48.75 45 MIDVILLE 63 19 41 0.00 0 1.32 1.90 46.01 50 NAHUNTA 69 22 44 0.00 0 1.48 2.18 62.31 54 NEWTON 68 22 42 0.00 0 6.15 6.48 44.80 53 PINE MOUNTAIN 58 18 37 0.00 0 5.96 8.37 59.56 45 PLAINS 63 24 41 0.00 0 3.42 4.37 47.55 45 ROME 57 19 36 0.00 0 6.64 8.32 48.22 44 ROOPVILLE 59 20 36 0.02 1 6.32 9.48 50.95 46 SAVANNAH 67 22 43 0.00 0 2.11 2.34 49.58 52 STATESBORO 64 23 43 0.00 0 2.76 3.27 36.38 50 TIFTON 65 26 44 0.00 0 3.63 4.69 53.68 51 VALDOSTA 69 28 47 0.06 2 2.02 2.91 45.34 55 VIDALIA 65 25 44 0.00 0 3.06 4.05 49.22 51 WATKINSVILLE 57 20 38 0.00 0 6.96 10.34 50.81 43 WILLIAMSON 56 20 38 0.00 0 3.91 6.49 49.39 45 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 December 19, 2004 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Rains last week and through the weekend have continued to delay soybean harvest. Quality going down fast. Arctic blast coming may freeze ground to enable producers to get back into the fields, but many are trying to make the decision if it is feasible to harvest. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Seasonably cold weather finally arrived. Cold temperatures this morning. Low around 12 degrees. Routine care of livestock and poultry. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST Extreme cold snaps everything into dormancy for winter. The coldest temperatures (19F)of the season has taken its toll on much of the remaining pastures in the county. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Really cold! Low's in the 20's several mornings this week. Hay feeding to livestock continued to increase. Small grains looking good but showed some signs of cold damage. Some areas in pastures and wheat fields were too wet. Otherwise conditions are alright. Cold weather is the best way to describe the conditions in the county. Hopefully, we'll see a suppression in insects and diseases. Cold! Hard freeze. First killing frost this week. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Hard freezes and some low wet spots where some cotton slowed grain growth remains. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST First hard freeze occurred this week. Cotton harvesting continues. Small grains look good overall. Plantings continued. Cold conditions prevented early hour cotton harvesting. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Cold, need some rainfall. Winter grazing needs rainfall. Farmers were destroying cotton stalks. Tobacco producers are trying to justifying planting tobacco with low contract prices being offered. Most are not to excited about planting tobacco in 2005. Colder temperatures negatively affected crop conditions. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST No comments available. 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