State Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 11, 2004 Issue GA-CW1504 Agricultural Summary April 11, 2004 SCATTERED SHOWERS Widely scattered showers fell across the State late in the week, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. Showers brought little relief to dry fields. Dry conditions persisted throughout the State. More rain is needed to replenish soil moisture. Dry conditions have slowed spring planting and hurt crops in the field. County Extension Agents reported an average of 5.9 days suitable for fieldwork. Producers prepared land for spring planting, including irrigating hard ground prior to plowing. Operators took soil samples and applied fungicides, lime and fertilizer. Field preparations for peanuts and cotton began in fields in south Georgia. Livestock producers continued supplemental feeding. Other activities included the routine care of livestock and poultry. Crop Progress Table Corn, Planted Corn, Emerged Cotton, Planted Peanuts, Planted Sorghum, Planted Tobacco, Transplanted Wheat, Jointing Wheat, Boot Wheat, Heading Onions, Harvested Watermelons, Planted Apples, Blooming Peaches, Blooming Apr 11, 2003 81 62 1 0 4 46 93 67 39 6 65 47 98 Prev Week 67 47 0 0 1 15 91 55 22 2 37 15 68 Prev Year 56 33 1 0 1 20 94 74 35 1 54 41 94 Crop Condition Table April 11, 2004 Crop Very Poor Corn 0 Hay 5 Tobacco 0 Tobacco Beds 0 Wheat 1 Onions 6 Watermelons 0 Apples 0 Peaches 7 Pasture 6 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 6 46 44 19 53 21 3 52 42 0 32 60 11 42 43 14 45 27 8 58 30 0 0 99 9 41 43 21 48 23 Excellent 4 2 3 8 3 8 4 1 0 2 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level April 11, 2004 Very Poor Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 1 9 49 36 Dist 2(NC) 0 13 49 36 Dist 3(NE) 1 16 59 23 Dist 4(WC) 8 32 40 18 Excellent 5 2 1 2 5 Year Avg 74 60 3 0 5 52 92 75 43 2 62 37 95 Dist 5(C) 9 15 53 22 1 Dist 6(EC) 8 14 58 20 0 Dist 7(SW) 4 33 48 13 2 Dist 8(SC) 11 28 36 24 1 Dist 9(SE) 1 18 48 33 0 *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 Apr 11, 2004 Prev Year --Percentages-- Very Short 19 0 Short 54 2 Adequate 27 53 Surplus 0 45 5 Year Avg 2 10 50 38 Soil Moisture Table - District Level April 11, 2004 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 4 61 35 Dist 2(NC) 17 51 32 Dist 3(NE) 31 35 34 Dist 4(WC) 24 51 25 Dist 5(C) 22 58 20 Dist 6(EC) 9 68 23 Dist 7(SW) 19 53 26 Dist 8(SC) 25 45 30 Dist 9(SE) 11 54 35 Surplus 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY APRIL 11, 2004 1/ 2004 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 85 39 64 0.19 1 0.26 3.65 7.77 64 ALPHARETTA 81 34 58 0.33 2 1.16 4.18 9.68 57 ARLINGTON 86 38 63 1.04 1 1.21 4.82 8.80 67 ATTAPULGUS 87 40 62 0.22 2 1.45 5.21 10.00 69 BLAIRSVILLE 78 28 54 0.05 1 1.58 3.99 8.91 54 BRUNSWICK 81 45 65 0.80 2 2.18 6.21 9.38 67 BYRON 84 40 63 0.54 1 0.73 3.93 9.22 63 CAIRO 86 40 64 0.05 2 0.37 4.67 9.22 64 CALHOUN 80 30 56 0.13 1 1.73 4.90 10.08 56 CAMILLA 86 40 64 0.51 1 1.08 4.23 9.37 69 CORDELE 86 40 64 0.07 2 0.36 2.73 5.15 66 COVINGTON 82 40 61 0.10 2 0.67 3.83 9.49 62 DAHLONEGA 80 35 59 0.19 1 1.14 5.01 10.80 56 DALLAS 80 38 59 0.52 2 1.64 4.98 11.28 58 DAWSON 87 41 64 0.12 1 0.36 3.73 7.70 70 DEARING 85 34 63 0.21 2 1.17 5.77 8.58 59 DEMPSEY 81 39 61 0.20 2 0.84 3.88 8.86 63 DIXIE 87 38 65 0.59 2 0.63 4.82 9.36 71 DUBLIN 85 37 62 0.42 1 0.64 4.11 7.92 65 DULUTH 81 36 58 0.32 2 1.32 4.41 9.80 59 DUNWOODY 79 37 59 0.39 2 1.37 4.34 10.22 58 EATONTON 82 36 60 0.02 1 0.53 3.82 8.33 63 ELLIJAY 77 33 55 0.09 1 1.27 4.02 10.02 55 FORT VALLEY 83 42 63 0.72 1 0.86 3.43 7.36 65 GAINESVILLE 77 40 59 0.18 1 1.08 3.36 8.89 62 GEORGETOWN 86 36 63 0.09 1 0.21 3.70 7.70 68 GRIFFIN 80 40 61 0.16 2 0.77 3.77 8.49 61 HOMERVILLE 87 36 63 0.70 1 0.70 4.62 8.81 66 JACKSONVILLE 84 41 62 0.76 1 1.35 5.30 10.72 63 JONESBORO 81 39 61 0.39 2 0.91 3.86 9.21 60 LAFAYETTE 80 33 56 0.23 1 1.69 5.32 11.88 56 MIDVILLE 84 36 63 0.55 2 0.79 6.61 12.08 68 NAHUNTA 87 37 64 1.63 1 2.21 6.43 10.09 68 NEWTON 86 38 63 0.46 1 1.34 4.91 11.37 67 PINE MOUNTAIN 83 41 60 0.60 1 1.51 4.86 9.62 61 PLAINS 85 42 64 0.27 1 0.43 4.95 9.13 66 ROME 79 35 57 0.28 2 2.29 6.48 13.37 56 ROOPVILLE 82 36 59 0.43 2 1.60 5.26 11.03 62 SAVANNAH 87 38 63 0.97 2 0.98 4.34 7.49 65 SNEADS 82 49 65 0.23 3 0.74 4.78 10.32 68 STATESBORO 86 40 65 0.35 1 0.39 4.39 8.04 68 TIFTON 83 42 65 1.13 1 1.52 5.66 12.83 65 VALDOSTA 87 43 67 0.97 1 1.01 4.51 8.41 72 VIDALIA 86 40 65 0.47 2 0.54 4.23 8.66 66 WATKINSVILLE 81 37 61 0.01 1 0.86 4.25 9.16 61 WILLIAMSON 81 38 61 0.15 1 0.61 2.77 7.11 64 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 April 11, 2004 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL We have established a biofix for Oriental Fruit moth (see http:\\newsletters.ces.uga.edu/ngapples). For this week's count data, we collect numbers for Tufted Apple Budmoth for the first time this season. Go to the same website as above for all of this year's count data from the apple scout. Still no rain in much of the county. Soils are drying quickly with the warmer temperatures. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL A couple producers have put on fungicides on some better wheat. Since the rain shower last Thursday, producers are starting to get ready to put in some cotton. Rainfall - Thursday, April 8, that ranged from 1.2 inches in the northern part of county to 0.20 inches in the southern part of the county. Need rain. Forage and winter crops suffer from a lack of water. No moisture for planting spring crops. Majority of peaches, blueberries, and plums hammered by frost 14 days ago. Dry conditions continue to delay planting. Need a good rain. Liming and fertilizing pastures & hayfields. Some weed control work. A good wheat crop is rapidly fading due to dry conditions. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Need rain! Had just a light shower, around a tenth of an inch. Corn, small grains, pastures and hayfields needing rain really bad! Hay feeding continues to livestock due to the drought conditions and poor condition of winter grazing. Dry weather continues to deteriorate forage crop conditions. We have been extremely dry. We did receive scattered showers this morning, which has provided us with some relief. Need more rainfall. Soil conditions still dry, received only 0.3 of an inch of rain this past week. Farmers are soil sampling and beginning to fertilize hay fields and pastures with some rainfall received and hopefully more to come. Soil moisture disappearing. Extremely dry March and dry April so far is preventing grasses from growing. Please send rain! Drought conditions still persist here. Very light rainfall, about 0.2 inches fell on Thursday. It wasn't enough to help much. Many farmers are irrigating, spraying fungicides, spraying insecticides, and preparing land where they irrigated to wet the soil. Cattle and goat farmers are feeding more hay and feed than normal due to the drought. Some farmers have been unable to plant corn and watermelons due to the drought. Dry weather is basically holding up everything and in some cases dictating a change in crop plans. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Spraying in preparation for strip-till cotton planting. Ground very hard. Irrigating prior to plowing. Wheat getting some irrigation. Soil moisture continues to be short. Corn is emerging well. Rain Sunday night and today will help considerably and enable farmers to continue planting spring crops. Still dry. Some scattered showers. Cool temperatures. Hope for rain this week. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST It rained! We received 0.45" of rainfall. Still dry! Rainfall amounts, Thursday, April 8, range from 0.20 - 0.60 inches. Still very dry, planting basically halted except for land under irrigation units. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Got some much needed, scattered rain. Started planting tobacco on Thursday. Corn needed the rain and small grains at critical water needs going into seed pollenation and head fill. Irrigation of crops was possible. Laying of rows for cotton and peanuts in conventional tillage and spraying herbicides for burndown on conservation tillage. Listed one day suitable for fieldwork because as of survey date (4-8-04). Soil had been too hard packed for field work. On survey date we had a shower that may have been enough to soften soil for field work after drying out which would be Friday or Saturday. Received 3/10 inches of rain during the week. A welcome sight. Rain made a dramatic improvement in all crop areas. Scattered showers Thursday really helped with tobacco transplanting. The rain also helped soil moisture for bedding land for cotton and peanuts. Showers are predicated for Sunday. These would really help get pastures and hayfields started growing. Thursday's rain was a tremendous benefit to our soil moisture condition. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Finally got rain on Thursday. Some rain on Thursday, not much rainfall in some areas of the county. 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