Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 15, 2004 STORM BRINGS BENEFICIAL RAINFALL Wide spread rains fell across the State last week, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. Some areas received as much as 4 inches or more of rain from Tropical Storm Bonnie. A cold front moved through the State on Wednesday and Thursday bringing beneficial rains to most of the State. The timely rains gave a boost to the State's crops and pastures. Crop conditions were rated in mostly good to fair. Growers were cutting and baling hay, weather permitting. Farmers were spraying peanuts and pecans for disease prevention. County Extension Agents reported an average of 4.6 days suitable for fieldwork. Other activities included applying fertilizer to hayfields and pastures, harvesting tobacco, and the routine care of livestock and poultry. Crop Progress Table Aug 15, 2004 Corn, Dent 97 Corn, Mature 84 Corn, Harvested for Grain 21 Cotton, Bolls Open 7 Sorghum, Harvested for Grain 9 Soybeans, Blooming 95 Soybeans, Setting Pods 79 Soybeans, Dropping Leaves 2 Tobacco, Harvested 76 Apples, Harvested 11 Peaches, Harvested 99 Prev Week 94 69 10 1 5 89 70 0 67 9 97 Prev Year 92 75 16 4 7 87 63 1 71 15 100 5 Year Avg 95 82 29 12 4 85 63 1 71 12 100 Crop Condition Table August 15, 2004 Crop Very Poor Corn 2 Cotton 2 Hay 2 Peanuts 1 Sorghum 0 Soybeans 3 Apples 0 Pecans 8 Pasture 1 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 9 31 45 11 33 42 10 37 46 6 35 45 8 42 46 10 41 42 6 15 73 19 39 32 9 39 46 Excellent 13 12 5 13 4 4 6 2 5 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level August 15, 2004 Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 2 8 35 48 7 Dist 2(NC) 0 4 39 55 2 Dist 3(NE) 1 13 25 53 8 Dist 4(WC) 0 3 44 44 9 Dist 5(C) 5 12 45 36 2 Dist 6(EC) 0 20 44 33 3 Dist 7(SW) 2 8 36 51 3 Dist 8(SC) 1 8 38 45 8 Dist 9(SE) 0 2 36 62 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 Aug 15, 2004 Prev Year --Percentages-- Very Short 1 0 Short 18 2 Adequate 65 60 Surplus 16 38 5 Year Avg 20 31 40 9 Soil Moisture Table - District Level August 15, 2004 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 10 82 Dist 2(NC) 0 30 68 Dist 3(NE) 1 6 73 Dist 4(WC) 0 16 81 Dist 5(C) 3 28 60 Dist 6(EC) 4 33 59 Dist 7(SW) 0 11 47 Dist 8(SC) 0 9 74 Dist 9(SE) 1 10 58 Surplus 8 2 20 3 9 4 42 17 31 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY AUGUST 15, 2004 1/ 2004 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 89 66 76 2.45 5 4.01 10.93 25.20 80 ALPHARETTA 87 53 70 2.96 5 7.19 14.48 31.93 77 ARLINGTON 88 64 75 1.04 3 2.57 10.38 29.08 82 ATTAPULGUS 89 65 76 4.11 5 5.31 10.01 28.98 82 BLAIRSVILLE 82 50 65 0.94 3 3.55 8.51 29.60 75 BRUNSWICK 85 68 76 2.06 5 4.93 14.68 30.17 80 BYRON 91 63 74 2.23 3 3.29 6.65 22.37 79 CAIRO 89 65 76 3.13 6 3.60 8.57 26.06 80 CALHOUN 88 51 69 0.59 1 4.73 11.54 31.50 74 CAMILLA 89 65 76 2.65 4 3.90 7.44 24.74 83 CORDELE 93 64 75 3.90 5 6.96 14.05 27.37 80 COVINGTON 86 59 71 2.39 2 5.56 9.52 26.50 79 DAHLONEGA 84 52 69 0.77 1 2.89 10.23 28.31 75 DALLAS 84 52 69 1.73 2 4.65 9.43 31.28 76 DAWSON 90 66 75 2.12 3 2.56 8.50 24.99 81 DEARING 89 61 74 1.48 5 1.76 9.29 28.29 79 DEMPSEY 87 57 71 2.52 4 5.24 13.78 30.66 76 DIXIE 89 69 76 4.29 5 6.68 16.61 34.82 83 DUBLIN 92 63 75 3.65 6 4.22 8.31 25.28 82 DULUTH 86 53 70 1.75 1 2.75 7.09 24.59 78 DUNWOODY 84 53 70 1.33 1 7.78 13.44 31.95 77 EATONTON 89 56 71 1.23 2 1.38 7.01 22.89 81 ELLIJAY 86 50 67 0.47 1 2.03 9.94 29.52 74 FORT VALLEY 92 64 74 1.71 4 1.78 5.42 17.60 80 GAINESVILLE 83 59 71 1.17 1 3.49 7.65 23.72 78 GEORGETOWN 87 60 74 0.18 1 1.09 4.99 22.96 80 GRIFFIN 86 58 71 2.45 2 5.54 12.89 29.47 76 HOMERVILLE 88 65 75 2.64 4 3.47 8.57 27.70 79 JACKSONVILLE 91 62 74 1.80 4 2.33 6.32 24.61 81 JONESBORO 87 58 71 2.18 3 3.56 6.41 21.95 78 LAFAYETTE 86 48 67 0.54 3 3.18 10.08 27.28 73 MIDVILLE 89 60 75 3.27 4 5.61 9.37 29.47 83 NAHUNTA 90 65 75 3.68 6 7.30 15.53 38.13 81 NEWTON 89 64 75 2.09 3 2.73 8.67 27.35 82 PINE MOUNTAIN 88 56 72 1.69 2 5.18 13.29 33.57 77 PLAINS 91 59 74 4.38 3 5.90 13.06 29.66 81 ROME 88 51 69 1.36 2 3.36 9.73 33.42 74 ROOPVILLE 91 51 69 3.05 3 5.56 9.72 27.05 78 SAVANNAH 89 63 74 2.61 4 5.51 12.42 33.30 80 SNEADS 89 69 77 2.22 7 3.10 9.90 28.73 82 STATESBORO 89 62 75 3.00 5 4.04 7.50 20.80 83 TIFTON 91 67 76 1.01 5 1.12 9.12 32.55 79 VALDOSTA 89 69 77 4.75 6 6.23 10.77 26.65 79 VIDALIA 89 64 75 3.14 6 4.55 10.71 27.53 81 WATKINSVILLE 86 59 71 2.86 1 4.86 9.67 26.44 77 WILLIAMSON 87 56 71 2.18 2 4.70 12.25 27.95 77 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 August 15, 2004 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Started harvesting watermelons this past week - yields look good. Pumpkin crop looks great, should start harvest in about one month. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Mowing pastures, routine care of livestock - heavy rain fell in areas of the county this week. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST We received 3 to 3.5 inches of rain in some parts of county this week. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Receiving rainfall after 30 days of drought. Rainfall amounts varying from 2.5 - 5 inches fell in the county this week, alleviating severe drought conditions. Pastures and hayfields look much better. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Welcome rain! Around 2 inches total for the week in most parts of the county. Hope we get more! We are expecting rainfall from the hurricanes coming up the coast. Hopefully, this will address our rainfall deficit. Received some much needed rain this week - conditions improved - hopefully will allow us to get at least one more decent cutting of hay - farmers fertilizing hay fields. Welcome rain around the county! Time will tell how much the dry weather affected crops. Thanks for the rain. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Crop categories hard to assess due to dryland continuing to go backward while irrigated crops are progressing nicely. Also, in the case of corn, yields are subjective; many fields falling short of expectations. Only two hay cuttings so far. Recent rains have improved growing conditions. Some scattered showers. Soil moisture finally coming back. Cooler temperatures will help. Need to continue to get showers. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Some parts of the county have received five inches of rain. Corn harvest has been halted by the rains. We received 5.92" of rainfall. Crops are in overall good condition. Some dryland cotton fields are cutting out. Upper ninety temperatures have affected cotton growth. Rainfall amounts varying from 3-5 inches. Much needed! DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Excess rain has delayed tobacco harvest and normal fungicide and insect sprays and has delayed corn harvest. Rain was much needed for crops in critical water use stage such as peanuts, soybeans, cotton, and pastures, etc. Two week drought had taken its toll on the crop and stressed plants. Excess rains have caused problems with hay cut earlier in week and may not get baled. Averaged 1 inch of rain across the county. Earlier dry weather has taken its toll on many crops. Since we plant later than in past years the rain this week should help considerably. The county has received from 2 to 5 inches of rain. Peanuts were wilting in the field prior to these rains. Cotton was also wilting. Growers will need to scout for and treat leaf and soil-borne diseases in peanuts. Pecans need to be sprayed for scab after these rainy days. Pastures and hayfields received much needed moisture. Rain showers during the week couldn't have come a minute too soon. It was a multi-million dollar rain event for the state. 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