LANSING, Mich. — Agricultural stakeholders are keeping a close eye on possible frosty weather this year because of the lateness of this year’s row crops.

According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Crop Progress and Condition report for the week ending Sept. 18, corn is mature at only 17 percent, versus a five-year average of 41 percent. This report also documents temperatures well below normal for this time of year, in every region of Michigan.

Enviroweather, an online weather-based tool of Michigan State University, reported especially cold temperatures through the nights from Sept. 15-17. Several Enviroweather stations in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) and northern Lower Peninsula (L.P.) reported temperatures as low as 28 degrees.

The Hawk station in the northeastern L.P. reported four hours of freezing temperatures, with the coldest reading of 29.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The Bath station north of Lansing reported several hours of freezing temperatures, with a low of 29.8 degrees. Several other stations reported near-freezing temperatures.

Ken Nye, the Michigan Farm Bureau’s (MFB) horticultural and forestry specialist, said the U.P. was the hardest hit. “Actually, there was some frost around the week before that in some areas,” he pointed out.

“It got cold up north around Labor Day weekend. I know there was some (crop) damage in the Upper Peninsula. There is some corn there. Frost has pretty well ended the corn-growing season up there. Of course, the crop is important to the people growing them, but it isn’t significant on a national scale. Most of it’s grown for local feed.

“The southern part of the Lower Peninsula, where most of the corn is grown, squeaked through this thing in pretty good shape. I do think we’re vulnerable down here. Hopefully we can get another 10 days in on this crop,” Nye added.

Jay Johnson, director of the Michigan NASS office, said things turned out not to be as bad as was feared.

“What was supposed to be a heavier frost turned out not to be as bad as was expected and the areas that did get freezing weather are not big agricultural areas,” he said. “The crop is still susceptible, so it’s something the agricultural community is watching pretty closely. I’ve heard the 10- to 15-day outlook is favorable, according to the meteorologist.”

According to the NASS report, it was 4 degrees below normal in the western U.P for the week ending Sept. 18, and 3 degrees below normal in the eastern U.P. In the remaining areas of the state, it was anywhere between 4-6 degrees below normal.

In the southwestern part of the state, which includes Fennville, Grand Rapids, Holland, Watervliet and South Bend, Ind., it was 6 degrees below normal.

Jeff Andresen, Michigan’s state climatologist, said this year the state’s farmers “dodged a bit of a bullet” because of a last-minute, unanticipated event.

“Unexpectedly, we had some high clouds on the night of the 15th, otherwise there would have been a much larger area with a killing frost,” he said. “It was just one of those last-minute changes. They keep the ground from cooling off as much as it would have otherwise.

“Right now there is no hint of frost or freezing temperatures. There’s a high likelihood that temperatures will be above normal and precip, below normal.”

Andresen said while the fall will likely be warmer and drier than usual, the winter will likely be colder and more snowy than usual, because this will be a La Nina winter. A La Nina occurs when exceptionally cool water lies off the coast of South America.