State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date March 21, 2004 Issue GA-CW1204 Agricultural Summary DRY CONDITIONS Much of the State experienced warm temperatures and dry conditions last week, according the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. Dry conditions prevailed around the state as top soil moisture was reduced by warm temperatures and wind. The warm weather improved pastures, small grains and winter grazing. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.2 days suitable for fieldwork. Producers continued preparing land for spring planting. Fertilizer was applied to pastures, hay fields and pecan trees. Corn planting continued around the state. Peppers and cabbage reportedly looked good. Greenhouse tobacco transplants were clipped. Rain is needed to replenish surface moisture. Routine care of livestock and poultry continued. Crop Progress Table March 21, 2004 Data for this table will resume in April 2004. Crop Condition Table March 21, 2004 Crop Very Poor Vegetables 1 Wheat 0 Pasture 2 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 4 29 59 3 30 60 10 45 41 Excellent 7 7 2 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level March 21, 2004 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 0 6 50 44 0 Dist 2(NC) 0 0 26 71 3 Dist 3(NE) 0 5 69 25 1 Dist 4(WC) 1 18 47 34 0 Dist 5(C) 7 13 43 36 1 Dist 6(EC) 5 7 42 42 4 Dist 7(SW) 1 9 40 45 5 Dist 8(SC) 0 12 49 36 3 Dist 9(SE) 0 13 33 53 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 Mar 21, 2004 Prev Year 5 Year Avg Very Short Short Adequate Surplus --Percentages-- 3 NA NA 34 NA NA 60 NA NA 3 NA NA Soil Moisture Table - District Level March 21, 2004 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 20 73 Dist 2(NC) 0 19 73 Dist 3(NE) 0 8 88 Dist 4(WC) 9 26 60 Dist 5(C) 5 53 42 Dist 6(EC) 4 15 81 Dist 7(SW) 6 46 46 Dist 8(SC) 2 42 51 Dist 9(SE) 1 41 57 Surplus 7 8 4 5 0 0 2 5 1 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY MARCH 21, 2004 1/ 2004 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 84 41 65 0.00 0 0.94 7.00 7.51 62 ALPHARETTA 78 36 56 0.18 4 1.58 7.62 8.70 55 ARLINGTON 86 45 65 0.06 1 1.35 6.90 7.65 65 ATTAPULGUS 85 41 65 0.03 3 1.95 7.77 8.58 67 BLAIRSVILLE 72 29 51 0.81 5 2.38 7.15 8.14 51 BRUNSWICK 84 46 65 1.38 2 4.25 8.16 8.58 65 BYRON 84 40 63 0.07 3 1.33 7.69 8.56 61 CAIRO 85 43 65 0.02 2 1.93 8.01 8.87 62 CALHOUN 78 36 54 0.48 5 2.33 7.63 8.83 54 CAMILLA 86 42 64 0.21 1 1.22 7.73 8.50 66 CORDELE 85 42 65 0.07 1 1.33 4.60 4.86 62 COVINGTON 80 38 61 0.09 2 1.42 8.06 8.91 59 DAHLONEGA 74 32 55 0.37 3 2.64 8.97 10.03 53 DALLAS 80 37 58 0.32 3 2.08 8.90 9.96 56 DAWSON 86 41 64 0.06 1 1.67 7.05 7.40 69 DEARING 81 39 63 0.41 3 2.54 7.18 7.82 57 DEMPSEY 80 39 61 0.09 2 1.21 6.89 8.11 59 DIXIE 85 42 65 0.00 0 1.92 8.20 8.73 68 DUBLIN 85 39 64 0.06 1 1.46 6.86 7.34 63 DULUTH 79 37 57 0.18 2 1.56 7.54 8.66 56 DUNWOODY 78 36 58 0.15 3 1.49 7.89 9.00 56 EATONTON 80 33 59 0.11 2 1.51 7.15 7.91 58 ELLIJAY 74 32 53 0.46 4 1.90 8.01 9.21 53 FORT VALLEY 84 40 63 0.04 1 1.07 5.96 6.54 62 GAINESVILLE 78 37 56 0.21 3 1.21 6.83 8.02 57 GEORGETOWN 86 44 64 0.09 1 1.85 6.84 7.58 63 GRIFFIN 80 40 61 0.08 2 1.22 6.73 7.80 59 HOMERVILLE 85 40 64 0.00 0 2.04 7.70 8.11 64 JACKSONVILLE 83 39 63 0.07 2 1.69 8.66 9.44 60 JONESBORO 80 40 60 0.13 2 1.15 7.09 8.43 58 LAFAYETTE 80 36 54 0.51 3 3.15 9.24 10.70 53 MIDVILLE 83 40 64 0.05 1 2.84 10.83 11.34 65 NAHUNTA 87 39 64 0.54 2 3.29 8.18 8.42 65 NEWTON 85 44 64 0.34 1 1.61 9.47 10.37 64 PINE MOUNTAIN 84 40 60 0.36 3 1.94 7.18 8.47 59 PLAINS 84 43 64 0.12 1 2.85 8.18 8.82 62 ROME 82 37 56 0.46 4 3.17 10.28 11.54 55 ROOPVILLE 84 34 58 0.12 2 1.38 8.15 9.55 59 SAVANNAH 86 38 64 0.00 0 1.20 5.84 6.51 62 SNEADS 88 48 66 0.13 1 2.28 9.17 9.71 65 STATESBORO 84 41 64 0.00 0 1.80 7.21 7.65 64 TIFTON 83 47 65 0.15 1 1.59 10.78 11.46 61 VALDOSTA 85 47 67 0.00 0 1.49 7.07 7.40 70 VIDALIA 84 42 65 0.00 0 1.10 7.59 8.12 62 WATKINSVILLE 80 38 59 0.20 3 1.29 7.41 8.50 58 WILLIAMSON 81 40 61 0.13 2 1.05 5.65 6.63 59 1/ Weather data supplied by Georgia Automated Environmential 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 March 21, 2004 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Routine care of livestock and poultry. Warm weather led to improvement in pastures and small grains. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Corn planting continues. Dry weather, farmers have expressed soil moisture concerns. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL No rain this week. Warm temperatures have helped improve small grain, winter grazing, and pasture conditions to some extent but we are needing some rain really bad. Farmers continue to prepare land for spring planting but need moisture. We need rainfall. The past few fronts have missed us totally. Dry! Dry weather is slowing the growth of winter grazing. Have had some problems with cows consuming extremely low quality hay. Need rain badly! DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Corn planting continues. Approximately 10-12% complete. Warm weather has spring green up well under way. Corn is being planted. Temperature has dropped, hope to warm back up this week. Corn planting is well underway. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST We received 0.17" of rainfall. Wheat and livestock good condition overall. Lime application and field preparation continues. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Getting dry. Pepper and cabbage on plastic looks good. A lot of tillage work going on. Clipping tobacco plants in the greenhouse. Applying fertilizer to pecan trees. Received a number of lawn weed control calls. Fire ants are beginning to become active. Winter grazing needs some rain. Some folks burning pastures. We have good subsoil moisture, but top soil moisture is getting less due to land preparation. High temperatures and wind have removed some top soil moisture. The recent rain gap and hot windy days are drying soil, and are causing some concerns from corn growers planting now. As usual it feels like we have went from winter right into summer. Field work is progressing on corn, tobacco, and cotton soil preparation for planting. Fertilizing pastures and hayfields. Cleaning up and fertilizing pecan orchards. It is very dry. Rain is needed pretty quickly. Some farmers are irrigating wheat. Irrigating wheat is like throwing money into a black hole. You don't see a return on it! DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Dry weather continues, corn planting well underway. Cool weather will postpone tobacco planting this coming week. Contact Information David S. Abbe, State Statistician Phone: 706-546-2236 E-mail: nass-ga@nass.usda.gov Website: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ga