Georgia Crop Weather Week Ending Date April 10, 2005 RAIN AND MORE RAIN Widespread rain fell late in the week, bringing one to three inches or more throughout the State, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistic Service. Temperatures were relatively mild. Drier weather, early in the week, allowed some producers to resume land preparation and planting. The rains that has occurred over the last month has greatly increased soil moisture levels. Soil moisture levels were rated 33 percent adequate and 67 percent surplus. Crops continued to be rated in mostly good to fair condition. However, planting lagged significantly behind normal. Wet field conditions prevented primary tillage of corn in some areas. Rain slowed applications of growth regulators, fungicides and herbicides. Disease pressure began to increase on wheat. Small grains and pastures have benefitted from the recent rains. Excessive rains caused leaching of fertilizers. Producers are having to apply more fertilizers to replace the fertilizers that has been washed away. County Extension Agents reported an average of 2.4 days suitable for fieldwork. Tobacco and vegetable transplants made virtually no progress as fields were saturated. Other activities included routine care of livestock and poultry and applying herbicides as weather permitted. Crop Progress Table Corn, Planted Corn, Emerged Cotton, Planted Sorghum, Planted Tobacco, Transplanted Wheat, Jointing Wheat, Boot Wheat, Heading Onions, Harvested Watermelons, Planted Apples, Blooming Peaches, Blooming Apr 10, 2005 45 36 1 3 8 87 47 22 0 37 22 88 Prev Week 42 33 0 1 4 80 27 6 0 28 5 76 Prev Year 79 60 1 4 42 93 65 37 5 61 42 94 5 Year Avg 71 55 2 4 43 91 70 38 2 58 35 93 Crop Condition Table April 10, 2005 Crop Very Poor Corn 6 Hay 1 Tobacco 1 Wheat 0 Onions 8 Watermelons 3 Apples 0 Peaches 0 Pasture 1 Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- 13 41 38 13 39 44 10 65 24 5 25 61 8 19 42 26 45 26 0 0 78 0 3 97 8 32 52 Pasture Condition Table - District* Level April 10, 2005 Very Poor Poor Fair Good --Percentage-- Dist 1(NW) 16 16 43 25 Dist 2(NC) 0 1 11 60 Dist 3(NE) 0 6 24 62 Excellent 2 3 0 9 23 0 22 0 7 Excellent 0 28 8 Dist 4(WC) 1 17 30 48 4 Dist 5(C) 1 4 27 59 9 Dist 6(EC) 0 17 32 51 0 Dist 7(SW) 0 4 35 56 5 Dist 8(SC) 1 7 56 34 2 Dist 9(SE) 0 8 16 73 3 *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 10, 2005 Prev Year --Percentages-- Very Short 0 20 Short 0 53 Adequate 33 27 Surplus 67 0 5 Year Avg 6 20 57 17 Soil Moisture Table - District Level April 10, 2005 Very Short Short Adequate --Percentages-- Dist 1(NW) 0 0 58 Dist 2(NC) 0 0 41 Dist 3(NE) 0 0 59 Dist 4(WC) 0 4 50 Dist 5(C) 0 0 25 Dist 6(EC) 0 0 34 Dist 7(SW) 0 0 18 Dist 8(SC) 0 0 24 Dist 9(SE) 0 0 18 Surplus 42 59 41 46 75 66 82 76 82 Weather Information Table GEORGIA WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2005 1/ 2005 Air Temperature Precipitation Totals Extreme Weekly Rain 30 60 Soil Location Max Min AvG Weekly Day Day Day Season Temp ALMA 83 46 64 1.32 2 8.11 10.72 13.13 65 ALPHARETTA 81 38 61 0.87 5 7.33 14.26 18.49 59 ARLINGTON 82 48 64 1.97 2 11.83 13.60 17.39 67 ATTAPULGUS 82 45 64 2.78 1 15.96 19.47 22.00 66 BLAIRSVILLE 78 31 59 1.00 3 6.34 12.17 15.49 57 BOWEN 82 46 64 1.70 1 13.66 16.41 19.16 67 BRUNSWICK 78 52 65 1.67 1 8.73 14.29 16.73 68 BYRON 79 45 63 0.99 1 8.05 11.14 14.87 63 CAIRO 81 45 65 1.91 1 14.45 17.65 19.78 65 CALHOUN 82 36 62 1.48 3 8.00 13.52 16.08 62 CAMILLA 82 44 65 1.61 1 13.28 15.73 18.28 67 CLARKS HILL 85 41 62 0.94 2 6.11 10.67 15.08 64 CORDELE 81 46 65 1.47 2 13.34 14.75 18.82 65 COVINGTON 80 42 62 0.82 2 5.70 9.46 12.26 60 DAHLONEGA 78 39 60 1.42 3 8.07 14.39 17.86 56 DALLAS 79 41 62 0.92 3 8.77 13.53 16.92 60 DAWSON 80 42 64 0.88 2 9.19 10.18 13.84 65 DEARING 83 47 65 1.04 2 7.39 10.62 14.73 61 DEMPSEY 79 42 62 1.30 2 8.22 11.21 15.70 62 DIXIE 83 45 65 2.21 1 12.38 16.79 19.09 65 DUBLIN 82 44 63 1.29 2 11.43 13.05 16.05 65 DULUTH 81 38 61 0.83 2 7.38 13.16 16.65 61 DUNWOODY 80 41 63 0.75 3 7.12 13.97 17.68 61 EATONTON 80 37 61 0.70 2 6.36 9.17 14.12 63 ELLIJAY 79 35 60 0.93 4 7.49 13.26 16.06 58 GAINESVILLE 79 45 61 1.16 2 7.16 12.93 16.34 62 GEORGETOWN 80 40 64 2.05 2 17.22 18.57 24.29 67 GRIFFIN 79 44 63 1.20 4 8.35 11.39 16.54 61 HOMERVILLE 83 47 64 1.45 1 8.94 12.68 14.62 68 JACKSONVILLE 81 41 63 1.24 2 9.08 11.26 15.62 63 JONESBORO 81 41 62 0.76 2 7.15 11.85 17.39 60 LAFAYETTE 80 44 62 0.54 3 3.70 8.02 10.45 59 MCRAE 82 41 62 1.56 2 10.37 12.37 14.69 65 MIDVILLE 82 43 64 1.31 2 8.11 11.73 15.74 70 NAHUNTA 83 41 62 1.56 3 7.39 12.21 14.57 67 NEWTON 81 44 66 3.55 2 14.94 17.26 20.57 67 PINE MOUNTAIN 80 40 63 1.21 2 10.75 15.04 18.95 61 PLAINS 79 47 64 1.18 2 11.86 13.35 18.15 64 ROME 81 39 62 0.98 3 4.54 7.83 10.16 61 SASSER 79 44 64 1.25 2 11.51 13.13 18.04 65 SAVANNAH 82 42 59 1.33 1 8.79 11.25 13.42 66 SHELLMAN 81 40 61 2.42 3 9.61 11.83 14.95 65 SKIDAWAY 79 48 63 1.12 1 9.92 12.70 14.40 62 STATESBORO 83 47 63 1.03 1 11.11 13.22 16.33 66 TIFTON 79 46 65 1.34 1 8.57 10.68 13.74 64 TIGER 77 38 58 1.50 2 7.80 12.86 16.03 58 VALDOSTA 84 47 67 1.55 2 11.83 16.41 18.55 65 VIDALIA 82 46 64 1.04 1 6.57 7.70 9.95 64 WATKINSVILLE 79 42 62 2.51 2 9.38 13.72 19.72 60 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 April 10, 2005 DISTRICT 1 - NORTHWEST No comments available. DISTRICT 2 - NORTH CENTRAL Wet field conditions this week prevent tillage - routine care of livestock and poultry. DISTRICT 3 - NORTHEAST No comments available. DISTRICT 4 - WEST CENTRAL Producers are spraying fungicide on wheat this past week. We still have some grain corn and silage corn that needs to be planted. Cropland progress is still behind due to excess soil moisture. Heavy rains have delayed corn planting. DISTRICT 5 - CENTRAL Some rain in the latter part of the week. Soil conditions still wet and slowing preparations for spring planting. Some corn planted this week. Pastures and hayfields beginning to start greening up some. Small grains looking good. We have gotten a tremendous amount of rainfall. Planting has been slowed. Received about 5 inches of rain; folks are having a hard time getting into the fields to do anything. Still wet! Everyone is eager to get in the fields, but too wet. Wet soils continue to hold up planting and land preparation for planting. DISTRICT 6 - EAST CENTRAL Ground saturated. Some disease pressure on wheat. Several rain events have stopped all field activities. Wheat beginning to head and looks very good. Still very wet. Too boggy for field work. Some more rain came this week but starting to get some field work done on high places. DISTRICT 7 - SOUTHWEST Heavy rains followed by wind/sand damaged corn and transplanted vegetables. Soils are waterlogged. It will be days before work can be done in the fields. Corn planting continues to be delayed. Rain, rain go away. We received 1.08" of rainfall. DISTRICT 8 - SOUTH CENTRAL Three to six inches of rain fell in the county last week. No field work has been completed. Tobacco transplants ready to be planted but land is not prepared due to wet soils. Rain delays field work. Wet soils and erosion have delayed watermelon transplanting two weeks or more. Fertilizers have leached and farmers are spending extra money to repair the ground to get ready to plant. DISTRICT 9 - SOUTHEAST The Vidalia onion harvest is expected to begin this week. 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