weekly weather and crop bulletin - The World AgroMeteorological ...

28 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin October 5, 2010harvested 94%; 89% 2009; 90% 5-yr avg. Dark Fire-curedtobacco harvested 99%; 100% 2009; 100% 5-yr avg. Peanutsdug 18%; 18% 2009; 24% 5-yr avg. Peanuts combined 6%; 8%2009; 15% 5-yr avg.; 38% very poor, 37% poor, 19% fair, 6%good. Cotton Bolls opening 84%; 77% 2009; 92% 5-yr avg.; 20%harvested; 6% 2009; 11% 5-yr avg.; 20% very poor, 30% poor,34% fair, 16% good. Fall Apples 60% harvested; 64% 2009; 72%5-yr avg. Winter Apples 60%; 35% 2009; 28% 5-yr avg. AllApples 37% poor, 43% fair, 13% good, 7% excellent. Grapes 1%very poor, 1% poor, 19% fair, 57% good, 22% excellent. Oats forGrain Seeded 30%; 24% 2009; 10% 5-yr avg. Much neededrainfall soaked the state and restored soil moisture. Most of therain fell steady without heavy downpours. In some areas the rainswere too late to help summer crops, but soil conditions will beready for planting small grains and cover crops. Soybean harvestand burley tobacco harvest will resume next week in mostcounties. Some peanuts were dug but not combined and cottonharvest is in full swing. Some cotton was dropped from bolls dueto the heavy rains in some areas. Vegetable harvest slowedconsiderably. Pastures and hayfields should respond well to themuch needed drought relief. Majority of the work was done in thefarmstead due to the wet conditions.WASHINGTON: Days suitable for fieldwork 6.5. Topsoilmoisture conditions 5% very short, 12% short, and 68% adequateand 15% surplus. Fall activities continued with clean up, repairs,hay hauling and the urgent fieldwork of seedbed prep and winterwheat seeding. Planting of winter wheat went especially well thisweek due to dry warm weather. Despite a small amount of wheatreplanting the winter wheat stands have appeared quickly and inexcellent condition. Rain will be needed over the next week tocontinue these early excellent conditions. Spring cereal grainharvest was completed in Lincoln County. Potato harvest wasbetween the early and late variety harvest. Field corn producersneed a couple more weeks of dry and warm weather in order forthe crop to fully mature for grain. Christmas tree growers werefinishing up on shearing of Douglas and Fraser fir in ThurstonCounty. In the Yakima Valley, vegetable growers were stillbringing in tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and squashes. Appleproducers in the lower Valley were bringing in Granny Smiths,Jonagolds and early Red Delicious. Apple producers in the coolerregions of the Yakima Valley were still harvesting Galas, GoldenDelicious, Jonagolds and were placing harvest bins in the RedDelicious blocks. As apple harvest continued to be successful formost areas, the Snohomish County crop was hurt by the rainyspring which prompted a less than desirable pollination and scabproblems. In Pacific County, cranberry growers initiated harvestoperations, with production at below average levels. Raspberrygrowers continued to prune and tie in Whatcom County.Pumpkins have colored enough for most U-Pick pumpkin farms toopen for business. Range and pasture conditions 10% very poor,11% poor, 31% fair, 45% good and 3% excellent. Pasturecontinued to recover well from the midsummer dry-spell. Dairyproducers continued applying liquid manure to forage fields inGray’s Harbor County. Corn harvested for silage was halfwaycompleted, with the eastern part of the State slightly ahead.Cattle were being moved to market throughout the State asneeded.WEST VIRGINIA: Days suitable for field work 5. Topsoilmoisture 12% very short, 44% short and 44% adequatecompared with 6% very short, 35% short, 53% adequate and 6%surplus last year. Corn conditions 41% very poor, 11% poor, 17%fair and 31% good, 81% mature, 42% 2009, 56% 5-yr avg.;harvested for grain 37%, 8% 2009, 14% 5-yr avg. Soybeanconditions 43% very poor, 13% poor, 16% fair and 28% good,dropping leaves 95%, 60% 2009, 76% 5-yr avg.; 17% harvested,10% 2009, 11% 5-yr avg. Winter Wheat 8% planted, 40% 2009,25% 5-yr avg. Hay 14% very poor, 12% poor, 39% fair, 33% goodand 2% excellent. Hay third cutting was 61% complete, 66% in2009, and 58% 5-year avg. Apple conditions 50% very poor, 36%poor, 3% fair, 9% good and 2% excellent; 58% harvested, 62%2009, 54% 5-yr avg. Cattle and calves were 3% very poor, 12%poor, 21% fair, 59% good and 5% excellent. Sheep and lambswere 13% poor, 33% fair, 51% good and 3% excellent. Muchneeded rainfall helped fall pasture regrowth. Farming activitiesincluded brush hogging, feeding hay, marketing calves, balinghay, harvesting field crops and apples.WISCONSIN: Days suitable for fieldwork 6.0. Topsoil moisture1% very short, 3% short, 70% adequate, and 26% surplus.Average temperatures last week ranged from 2 to 3 degreesbelow normal. Average high temperatures ranged from 64 to 68degrees, while average low temperatures ranged from 39 to 48degrees. Precipitation totals ranged from 0.00 inches in LaCrosse to 0.27 inches in Green Bay. Eighty-three percent of cornacross the state was mature with 19 percent of corn for grainharvested. Corn for silage was reported at 87 percent harvestedstatewide. Soybean leaves turning were 99 percent complete and88 percent of soybeans leaves were dropped around the state.Combines began rolling in soybean fields as 23 percent ofsoybeans were reported harvested. Fourth cutting hay wasreported at 75 percent complete. Fall tillage was 16 percentcomplete statewide. A week of sunshine and a light breeze lastweek aided many fields to dry out. For some growers, fields driedout enough to allow heavy machinery to enter, however, othersreported fields were still too saturated. Across the northern part ofthe state, reports indicated that floods have receded, but manyare still waiting to assess the resulting damage. Hard frosts werereported across the Northwestern and North Central districtswhile light frosts were reported across the southern and easternparts of the state. Many reported leaves changing color, cornmazes opening, and pumpkins being harvested throughout thestate.WYOMING: Days suitable for field work 7.0. Topsoil moisture15% very short, 46% short, 39% adequate. Subsoil moisture 14%very short, 47% short, 39% adequate. Winter wheat progress81% planted, 70% emerged. Dry beans progress 92%windrowed, 65% combined. Corn progress 94% dented, 58%mature, 26% harvested. Corn for silage 74% harvested.Sugarbeets 18% harvested. Alfalfa harvested 64% third cutting.Winter wheat condition 42% fair, 58% good. Corn condition 1%very poor, 3% poor, 20% fair, 76% good. Sugar beet condition1% poor, 9% fair, 90% good. Alfalfa condition 23% fair, 64%good, 13% excellent. Crop insect infestation 42% none, 37%light, 17% moderate, 4% severe. Cattle moved from summerpastures 28%.Sheep moved from summer pastures 32%.Rangeand pasture condition 1% very poor, 13% poor, 37% fair, 41%good, 8% excellent. Irrigation water supplies 10% very short, 5%short, 79% adequate, 6% surplus. Conditions across much of thestate continue to be very dry and unseasonable warm for thistime of the year. Counties such as Albany, Converse, Laramie,Platte, Sweetwater, Uinta and Weston are all reporting somevariation of extremely dry fall condition. Uinta County reportedtinder dry range grasses while Albany County reported low waterlevels in rivers and streams, making stock water supplies agrowing concern. Current weather conditions have also madeworking livestock a very dusty occasion and many cattle cattleare now being shipped or moved. Activities harvesting row crops,weaning and shipping calves, moving livestock from summerpastures.