Michigan
Rain is keeping Michigan’s farmers out of the fields. According to the summary from the Michigan NASS field office for the week ending April 24, cold temperatures linked with heavy snow in northern counties and rain throughout the state dominated weather conditions and “little to no progress was made for field crops.”
Temperatures ranged from 6-8 degrees below normal in the Upper Peninsula and 7-9 degrees below normal in the Lower Peninsula.
“We’ve just had so much rain that guys aren’t able to get on their fields and do any fieldwork,” said State Agricultural Statistician Jim Collom. “Basically, everything has been a wash. Hopefully, things will start drying out. Really, after May 1 or 2, farmers start to get nervous.”
Collom said farmers in Michigan’s Thumb region planted a few sugar beets during the week of April 17. According to the report, only 13 percent of the state’s crop is in the ground. At this time last year, 100 percent of the crop was planted.
Corn planting has not pro
gressed at all, with no reports of corn yet planted. At this time in 2010, 32 percent of the state’s crop was planted. The five-year average is about 12 percent.
Oat planting is far behind schedule, too, with only 14 percent planted, compared to 81 percent last year and a five-year average of 51 percent. Planting of vegetables and fruits also is behind schedule, and asparagus harvest has been delayed by field conditions.
By Shelly Strautz-Springborn
Michigan Correspondent
Iowa
While Iowa farmers have anxiously waited to begin planting – with fieldwork virtually suspended through the week because of wet and cold conditions – a few producers are already concerned about having to replant fields if corn doesn’t germinate and develop.
“It has been a real challenge getting the crop in the ground this year due to the weather and as a result, farmers are well behind where they normally are at this point,” said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey of the April 25 Iowa Crop & Weather report.
“With only 3 percent of the corn crop planted, this is on par with the slowest pace for corn planting in the last ten years.”
The report said only 3 percent of Iowa’s corn has been planted, compared with 61 percent at this time last year and the five-year average of 28 percent. But Roger Elmore, Iowa State University extension field agronomist, said farmers still have time to plant corn without sacrificing significant yield potential.
“Regardless of the exact calendar date, maximizing harvestable yield depends upon soil conditions at planting and subsequent weather during the remaining growing season,” he said. “In some rare situations, later planting dates produce more yield than early planting dates.”
The report added that oat planting was 72 percent complete, behind last year’s 93 percent but slightly ahead of the average of 70 percent, with 25 percent emerging.
By Doug Schmitz
Iowa Correspondent
Kentucky State producers have fallen behind because of excessive rains causing flooding problems in many areas. Western Kentucky seems to be the hardest hit; unfortunately, it is also where the lion’s share of the state’s crop production is located.
The NASS Kentucky field office reports that some areas are more than five inches above normal rainfall amounts. Information from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture places this spring as the wettest ever.
David Case, a farmer in Shelby County, said the rain has put him at least three weeks behind in his planting endeavors. The latest NASS crop report notes corn planting stands at 17 percent, far behind the 68 percent planted at this time last year and off from the five-year average of 45 percent.
Corn emergence, at only 5 percent, is also well behind the 2010 level of 37 percent for the same time.
The strawberry crop was listed 1 one percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 36 percent fair, 50 percent good and 9 percent excellent, according to the crop report. Most of the state’s tobacco plants (52 percent) last week were under two inches tall and the first cutting of alfalfa hay is expected to take place by May 9 – but unless the weather dries significantly, that will be behind schedule, as well.
By Tim Thornberry
Kentucky Correspondent
Tennessee April showers bring May flowers, but for farmers in Tennessee they’ve brought delays in planting corn, according to NASS. Crop progress is about the same for most crops this week compared with a year ago, with the exception of corn and winter wheat (headed).
While corn, planted and emerged, isn’t doing as well as this time last year, winter wheat is doing considerably better. For the week ending April 24, corn was behind schedule, with only 34 percent of the crop planted. Last year at this time 60 percent had been planted.
The amount of headed winter wheat was ahead 25 percent over last year at this time. Thirty-five percent of winter wheat was headed by the end of the third week in April, whereas in 2010, only 10 percent of the crop had been headed, according to statistics from NASS and the Tenn. Department of Agriculture.
Other crops, such as apples and strawberries, are rated as being in mostly good condition. Only 1 percent of pastures rated in very poor condition, and 1 percent of winter wheat was listed as poor. Nine percent of apples, 13 percent of strawberries and pastures and 29 percent of winter wheat were listed in excellent condition.
According to the NWS, there was an average of three days suitable for fieldwork across the state the week of April 24. Topsoil moisture levels were rated 1 percent short, 61 percent adequate and 38 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels were rated 1 percent short, 70 percent adequate and 29 percent surplus.
Temperatures averaged about nine degrees above normal statewide. Precipitation levels were below normal across the state, but only slightly below normal in West Tennessee, according to the NWS.
By Tesa Nauman
Tennessee Correspondent |
