Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 22, 2004 GOOD WEEK FOR FARMING ACTIVITIES Drier weather conditions returned last week resulting in ideal weather for harvesting crops, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. Isolated showers were reported Statewide, but were less significant in Districts 1, 2, 4, and 5. Soil moisture in District 5, Central District, was rated 10% very short. Late planted soybeans need rain. Growers were cutting and baling hay. Army worms were reported in hay fields and pastures. Some spraying of peanuts for disease control. Harvesting tobacco was active. Growers were spraying for insects and foliar fertilizing cotton. Cattlemen continued supplemental feeding. County Extension Agents reported an average of 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork. Other activities include harvesting corn, planting fall vegetables and the routine care of livestock. Crop Progress Table Aug 22, 2004 Corn, Dent 99 Corn, Mature 92 Corn, Harvested for Grain 35 Cotton, Bolls Open 16 Sorghum, Harvested for Grain 14 Soybeans, Blooming 98 Soybeans, Setting Pods 88 Soybeans, Dropping Leaves 5 Tobacco, Harvested 84 Apples, Harvested 16 Prev Week 97 84 21 7 9 95 79 2 76 11 Prev Year 96 86 27 9 12 95 79 2 80 18 5 Year Avg 98 90 42 20 9 92 75 4 81 15 Crop Condition Table August 22, 2004 Crop Very Poor Corn 2 Cotton 3 Hay 2 Peanuts 2 Sorghum 1 Soybeans 2 Apples 0 Pecans 8 Pasture 1 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 10 32 46 12 32 42 8 33 53 6 34 48 6 40 48 13 38 42 9 23 59 20 38 32 10 37 48 Excellent 10 11 4 10 5 5 9 2 4 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level August 22, 2004 Very Poor Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 2 8 48 36 Dist 2(NC) 1 5 30 64 Dist 3(NE) 2 17 30 45 Dist 4(WC) 0 5 40 49 Dist 5(C) 4 13 43 37 Dist 6(EC) 1 18 36 44 Dist 7(SW) 0 12 27 56 Dist 8(SC) 2 6 39 43 Dist 9(SE) 0 2 32 64 Excellent 6 0 6 6 3 1 5 10 2 *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 22, 2004 Prev Year --Percentages-- Very Short 5 0 Short 24 6 Adequate 66 66 Surplus 5 28 5 Year Avg 23 34 36 7 Soil Moisture Table - District Level August 22, 2004 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 2 42 53 Dist 2(NC) 8 34 57 Dist 3(NE) 1 11 85 Dist 4(WC) 3 35 57 Dist 5(C) 10 29 58 Dist 6(EC) 8 24 67 Dist 7(SW) 7 21 67 Dist 8(SC) 1 13 80 Dist 9(SE) 0 5 77 Surplus 3 1 3 5 3 1 5 6 18 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY AUGUST 22, 2004 1/ 2004 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 94 68 78 1.12 2 4.95 9.30 26.32 81 ALPHARETTA 91 64 75 0.31 2 6.72 13.68 32.24 79 ARLINGTON 91 66 77 0.40 3 2.06 9.77 29.48 84 ATTAPULGUS 92 69 78 1.55 5 5.74 10.96 30.53 84 BLAIRSVILLE 87 57 70 1.53 4 4.95 8.58 31.13 76 BRUNSWICK 94 69 79 0.82 3 5.41 13.65 30.99 82 BYRON 91 65 76 0.85 4 3.86 6.93 23.22 80 CAIRO 93 69 79 1.11 5 4.59 8.00 27.17 82 CALHOUN 93 62 74 2.56 4 7.29 12.25 34.06 78 CAMILLA 92 68 78 0.89 2 4.63 7.31 25.63 85 CORDELE 91 65 78 0.38 3 6.28 10.16 27.75 81 COVINGTON 92 63 76 0.27 1 5.76 7.79 26.77 81 DAHLONEGA 87 60 72 1.42 3 4.06 9.29 29.73 75 DALLAS 89 65 75 0.02 1 4.09 8.87 31.30 79 DAWSON 92 64 78 0.44 1 2.97 6.43 25.43 83 DEARING 93 65 78 0.16 4 1.88 5.04 28.45 80 DEMPSEY 90 62 75 0.47 4 5.43 10.91 31.13 79 DIXIE 92 70 78 1.49 3 6.75 16.26 36.31 85 DUBLIN 94 65 77 0.61 4 4.79 6.11 25.89 83 DULUTH 92 63 75 0.15 3 2.65 5.92 24.74 79 DUNWOODY 90 64 75 0.75 2 6.75 12.22 32.70 79 EATONTON 91 62 76 0.30 3 1.67 4.75 23.19 82 ELLIJAY 89 60 71 2.87 4 4.80 9.02 32.39 75 FORT VALLEY 91 65 76 0.52 4 2.28 3.81 18.12 82 GAINESVILLE 88 65 75 0.47 4 3.96 6.04 24.19 80 GEORGETOWN 90 61 76 0.38 2 0.56 4.31 23.34 81 GRIFFIN 89 64 76 0.44 3 5.59 10.02 29.91 78 HOMERVILLE 95 67 78 1.50 3 4.92 9.94 29.98 82 JACKSONVILLE 92 64 76 1.01 4 3.07 4.83 25.62 81 JONESBORO 91 63 76 1.44 2 5.00 6.47 23.39 79 LAFAYETTE 92 58 73 1.49 2 4.65 10.69 28.77 74 MIDVILLE 92 68 77 2.70 3 7.58 10.09 32.17 83 NAHUNTA 96 67 78 0.56 5 7.31 13.80 38.69 83 NEWTON 93 66 78 1.57 4 4.00 9.46 28.92 83 PINE MOUNTAIN 90 60 74 0.04 2 4.78 10.35 33.61 77 PLAINS 92 63 76 0.04 1 5.08 10.71 29.70 81 ROME 92 61 74 0.60 3 3.84 9.45 34.02 76 ROOPVILLE 91 59 73 0.93 2 6.28 10.43 27.98 80 SAVANNAH 94 66 78 0.87 4 4.92 9.53 34.17 82 SNEADS 91 71 80 0.29 6 2.97 9.69 29.01 85 STATESBORO 92 67 78 0.46 5 3.66 6.62 21.26 83 TIFTON 92 71 79 0.20 2 1.27 5.31 32.75 80 VALDOSTA 93 70 80 0.60 3 5.81 10.94 27.25 83 VIDALIA 92 66 77 2.13 4 5.95 11.82 29.66 82 WATKINSVILLE 90 64 76 0.55 1 5.39 9.07 26.99 80 WILLIAMSON 89 62 75 0.50 2 4.85 8.12 28.45 78 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 22, 2004 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST Clipped and bushogged pastures, routine livestock care - some weaning calves. Corn harvested began this week with excellent weather. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Scattered showers across the county - some areas receiving 2+ inches while others getting none. Hay cutting continued, vegetable harvest has slowed. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Scattered showers, corn harvest was in beginning stages, insect pressure in soybeans. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL No rain this week! Getting really dry again. Corn and grain sorghum harvest will begin soon. Pasture and hayfield conditions declined due to lack of rain. Some hay producers harvested hay. Some armyworms showed up in pastures and hayfields this week. Stream and pond levels continue to decline. We only received two days of rainfall. Hay producers were hoping for more rainfall. Welcome rains continued. Rains were scattered around the county. Cotton began to open up. We need rain desperately. All storms and fronts have missed or bypassed our county. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Dryland cotton, peanuts, and late planted soybeans have taken a big "hit." Rain showers too little, too late. Some scattered showers in parts of the county. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Corn harvesting. Fall vegetable planting. Scattered showers, dry in some areas, some peanut disease problems, soybean insect pressure, corn harvest in beginning stages, and cotton bolls started to open up. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Pecans were aborting due to excess rainfall. Late season TSWV symptoms showing up in peanuts. Cutting and baling hay. Combining some corn. Stripping tobacco fields. Fall armyworms appeared in pastures and hay fields. Cotton aborted or shedded a lot of bolls in fields; some kind of environmental stress. Applied fungicides in peanuts for leafspot and soil disease prevention. Some scattered rain this week, but needed almost everywhere in the county. Large areas of county crops hurt by lack of rainfall - it has taken its toll especially on dryland fields of cotton and to a lesser degree on peanuts. However, corn is the bright spot with harvest going strong with good yields. Good rain last week have helped crops overall. Thunderstorms caused some damage to tobacco. Peanuts experienced more white mold and some peanut seed split damage after hot dry weather then moderate rains. Pecans were experiencing nut fall, scorch mite damage, and scab increase. Cotton began to open. Some boll rot damage reported. We need some nice sunny days now that we have some moisture in the soil. This has been a great improvement over the hot dry weather. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST Frogeye Leafspot widespread in certain soybean varieties. Some heavy rains up to 4.5 inches on Wednesday p.m. More rain on Saturday. Hay harvest and some fungicide spays hindered by rain and wet soil conditions. 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