Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date July 18, 2004 BENEFICIAL RAINS WELCOMED Weather across the State was hot and humid for much of the week. Showers occurred in some areas, during the latter part of the week, according the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. However, even where there were rainfall, many areas failed to receive significant amounts. Additional moisture is needed across the State to aid the soil moisture levels and minimize stress to crops. Subsoil moisture levels were rated in mostly adequate to short category. Crops were rated in mostly good to fair condition. Farmers were cutting and baling hay where weather permitted. Pastures benefitted from the recent rains. Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus continued to plague in tobacco. Farmers applied chemicals to cotton for corn earworms and stink bugs. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.1 days suitable for fieldwork. During the week, other agricultural activities included harvesting tobacco, weed control, checked for insects, and the routine care of livestock. Crop Progress Table Corn, Dough Corn, Dent Corn, Mature Cotton, Squaring Cotton, Setting Bolls Peanuts, Blooming Peanuts, Pegging Sorghum, Planted Soybeans, Blooming Soybeans, Setting Pods Tobacco, Harvested Watermelons, Harvested Apples, Harvested Peaches, Harvested Jul 18, 2004 86 57 10 95 59 97 84 96 54 21 25 91 0 67 Prev Week 80 40 2 90 44 91 69 95 40 10 13 85 0 65 Prev Year 85 50 12 91 56 92 72 98 36 13 28 90 6 68 5 Year Avg 88 62 20 92 60 95 78 98 40 17 26 87 3 77 Crop Condition Table July 18, 2004 Crop Very Poor Corn 2 Cotton 0 Hay 1 Peanuts 0 Sorghum 0 Soybeans 1 Tobacco 5 Apples 0 Pecans 8 Pasture 1 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 6 28 50 3 23 54 7 32 51 1 21 58 2 39 54 6 39 50 20 45 28 4 11 70 15 38 36 6 27 53 Excellent 14 20 9 20 5 4 2 15 3 13 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level July 18, 2004 Very Poor Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 7 12 25 47 Dist 2(NC) 0 0 34 63 Excellent 9 3 Dist 3(NE) 1 14 30 47 8 Dist 4(WC) 0 3 22 57 18 Dist 5(C) 3 11 32 48 6 Dist 6(EC) 0 6 34 59 1 Dist 7(SW) 0 2 12 65 21 Dist 8(SC) 0 1 30 39 30 Dist 9(SE) 0 0 32 62 6 *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 Jul 18, 2004 Prev Year --Percentages-- Very Short 4 1 Short 24 12 Adequate 65 70 Surplus 7 17 5 Year Avg 10 27 55 8 Soil Moisture Table - District Level July 18, 2004 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 1 5 80 Dist 2(NC) 0 27 66 Dist 3(NE) 9 25 61 Dist 4(WC) 1 15 75 Dist 5(C) 10 48 42 Dist 6(EC) 8 34 57 Dist 7(SW) 1 12 74 Dist 8(SC) 1 20 70 Dist 9(SE) 0 5 79 Surplus 14 7 5 9 0 1 13 9 16 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY JULY 18, 2004 1/ 2004 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 95 66 79 0.90 2 6.76 11.06 21.20 82 ALPHARETTA 93 60 76 3.05 2 8.00 11.04 25.52 81 ARLINGTON 95 67 78 3.87 4 8.33 13.14 27.41 85 ATTAPULGUS 95 66 78 1.98 7 5.81 11.78 24.78 85 BLAIRSVILLE 89 52 71 0.16 3 5.09 9.24 26.18 77 BRUNSWICK 95 69 80 2.68 4 9.90 11.41 25.39 83 BYRON 97 64 80 0.35 2 3.64 7.39 19.36 84 CAIRO 96 67 80 0.71 4 5.04 10.39 22.58 83 CALHOUN 92 59 75 0.55 3 6.78 11.24 26.77 81 CAMILLA 96 67 80 0.76 3 3.61 7.18 20.99 89 CORDELE 96 70 80 1.12 4 6.32 10.88 21.47 84 COVINGTON 94 63 78 0.16 2 3.98 8.05 21.01 87 DAHLONEGA 90 55 74 0.26 2 7.26 10.68 25.67 77 DALLAS 91 63 76 0.93 3 5.35 8.68 27.21 82 DAWSON 95 68 79 0.26 3 4.48 11.43 22.46 85 DEMPSEY 93 62 77 0.78 3 8.63 12.63 25.70 84 DIXIE 95 67 79 2.10 5 11.35 15.38 29.56 86 DUBLIN 97 68 81 0.36 2 3.83 9.37 21.10 90 DULUTH 95 60 77 0.66 4 4.11 9.80 22.09 80 DUNWOODY 91 62 76 1.78 2 7.43 11.35 25.95 81 EATONTON 95 60 78 0.03 2 5.53 10.36 21.52 90 ELLIJAY 89 55 72 1.16 4 7.78 11.11 27.59 78 FORT VALLEY 96 66 80 0.02 2 2.33 6.18 15.84 89 GAINESVILLE 92 62 77 0.08 1 4.12 5.17 20.23 81 GRIFFIN 93 64 78 0.96 3 7.41 10.87 24.32 81 HOMERVILLE 95 67 79 2.13 4 5.92 12.73 25.06 83 JACKSONVILLE 97 64 80 0.28 2 3.92 8.73 22.55 86 JONESBORO 93 63 79 0.08 1 2.66 6.48 18.39 82 LAFAYETTE 92 60 76 0.16 3 6.86 9.12 24.12 79 MIDVILLE 97 67 81 0.75 3 4.37 8.40 24.47 88 NAHUNTA 96 67 78 1.74 5 8.78 17.84 31.38 84 PINE MOUNTAIN 95 61 77 0.44 2 7.96 13.96 28.83 81 PLAINS 95 68 79 0.87 4 7.01 11.60 24.62 85 ROME 93 62 76 0.84 3 6.40 9.91 30.17 81 ROOPVILLE 95 60 76 0.42 3 4.36 7.13 21.70 83 SAVANNAH 98 67 80 1.15 3 7.31 17.09 28.93 84 SNEADS 97 69 80 1.57 6 7.11 9.77 25.95 86 STATESBORO 99 68 81 0.92 4 4.29 6.77 17.60 89 TIFTON 93 69 80 1.01 3 8.05 13.54 31.48 81 VALDOSTA 96 69 79 1.36 4 5.18 8.69 21.06 88 VIDALIA 99 67 80 0.57 2 6.73 11.88 23.55 83 WATKINSVILLE 94 61 78 0.16 2 4.83 8.47 21.60 83 WILLIAMSON 92 62 77 1.03 2 7.61 12.19 23.60 83 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 July 18, 2004 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL No comments available. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL The afternoon showers have slowed down hay producers who have hay on the ground and are waiting for dry weather. Cotton looked good. Some reports of produces spraying for worms but worm pressure has been spotty. Dairy men have started putting up silage. Scattered showers Saturday and Sunday. Hay cutting & baling was going full bore; routine care of livestock. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Really hot temperatures and no rain! Hay harvest continued in full swing. Most hay producers were frantically working to cut and bale their first cutting of hay for this year. Pastures greening-up nicely from the recent rains. Corn and grain sorghum conditions continued to improve. Rains helped to produce a pretty good cutting of hay. Mud had been a problem for dairy cattle. We continued to be really vulnerable to dry weather. Scattered showers provided opportunities for producers to fertilize for another cutting of hay. Vegetable crops have benefitted from the recent rains. However it has been extremely hot and dry over the past week. Farmers cutting and baling hay this week - scattered rainfall one day only mostly dry conditions this week - lower humidity at end of week helped cure hay. Dry again. Need rain. A lot of hay was put up this past week as drier weather allowed for good curing time. Please send rain! We have been two weeks without significant rainfall. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL High temperatures caused dryland cotton to wilt. Green color coming back to yellow, rain soaked peanuts. Second cutting of hay being baled. Some spraying in cotton for corn ear worms and stink bugs. Need rain, crops stressed. Scattered afternoon showers have been helpful but are not widespread. Pecan scab still running strong. Insects moderate in peanuts and cotton. Hot, humid days still sapped moisture out of ground. Some scattered showers have helped. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Most crops in good condition due to frequent rains. Percentage of TSWV increased in peanut fields, especially so in early planted peanuts. We received 0.08" of rainfall. Crops, overall in good condition. Fungicide applications on schedule for peanuts. Symptoms of TSWV detected in some fields. Variable rainfall in the county, some parts of county wet and some parts need rain. Stink bugs a problem in cotton. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Less rain than in past weeks. Stink bug pressure great in cotton. Scattered showers have hampered hay baling. Parts of the county have not received rainfall. Crops in these areas are hurting for moisture. However, row crops overall look pretty good. Rain fall will be needed to finish out the crop. 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