in-crop-weather


State
Indiana Crop Weather

Week Ending Date  
April 13, 2003

Issue
IN-CW1503


Agricultural Summary 

Rain and wet soil conditions kept most farmers out of their fields
during the week. This allowed farmers time to move grain to market and
prepare equipment for spring planting, according to the Indiana
Agricultural Statistics Service. Cold temperatures prevailed early in
the week, but soils became progressively drier in many areas allowing
farmers to resume field activities later in the week. Scattered fields
of corn were planted and by the weekend several fields were tilled and
ready for planting. 

Field Crops Report 

There were 2.9 days suitable for fieldwork. The best progress for field
activities was made in the west central area of the state. One percent
of the intended corn acreage is planted compared with 2 percent for the
5-year average. Most farmers are waiting for soils to dry out and warm
up to continue field activities. Soils remain cool in most areas of the
state. Farmers welcomed the recent precipitation as concern of dry soil
conditions existed in some portions of the state. Anhydrous ammonia was
being applied on many fields last week. 

Twenty-six percent of the winter wheat acreage is jointed compared with
23 percent last year and 36 percent for the 5-year average. Winter wheat
condition is rated 76 percent good to excellent compared with 57 percent
last year at this time. Wheat growth and development is improving. 

Major activities during the week were tillage of soils, spreading dry
fertilizer, spraying chemicals, repairing equipment, hauling manure,
cleaning fence rows, field tile maintenance, purchasing supplies, along
with taking care of livestock. 

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report 

Pasture condition is rated 3 percent excellent, 38 percent good, 41
percent fair, 15 percent poor and 3 percent very poor. Pastures continue
to improve and green up, lowering the demand for hay. Hay supplies are
rated 23 percent very short, 43 percent short, 32 percent adequate and 2
percent surplus. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Cows are thin
on some farms. Lambing and calving remain active. 


                    Crop Progress Table
--------------------------------------------------------
                          : This : Last : Last : 5-Year
     Crop                 : Week : Week : Year :  Avg
--------------------------------------------------------
                                     Percent
Corn Planted                  1      0      0       2
Winter Wheat Jointed         26      7     23      36


                    Crop Condition Table
--------------------------------------------------------
                   : Very :      :      :      : Excel-
     Crop          : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent
--------------------------------------------------------
                                  Percent
Pasture                3     15     41     38      3
Winter Wheat 2003      0      3     21     60     16
Winter Wheat 2002      1      7     35     49      8


   Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table
-------------------------------------------------------
                   : This  : Last  :  Last
                   : Week  : Week  :  Year
-------------------------------------------------------
                           Percent
Topsoil
  Very Short           2       3       0
  Short                6       8       0
  Adequate            73      66      40
  Surplus             19      23      60
Subsoil
  Very Short           7       9       0
  Short               17      13       3
  Adequate            66      67      62
  Surplus             10      11      35
Days Suitable        2.9     3.7     1.5
Contact information
--Greg Preston, State Statistician
--Bud Bever, Agricultural Statistician
  E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov
  http://www.nass.usda.gov/in/index.htm                     



Other Agricultural Comments And News


                   BURNDOWN HERBICIDE DECISIONS 

We have been able to get out of the office and observe some of our fall
applied research plots and travel across the state. We have observed a
number of fields starting to turn green, planters in the barnyard, and
fertilizer applications. It must be time to think about early season
weed control and crop planting! Here are a few items to consider. 

I have noticed my fields starting to turn green. Do I need to be
controlling these weeds if I won't be planting until late April or
early May? 

Although we have had a cold winter and a relatively dry spring, warm
weather between now and the beginning of planting season will result in
robust winter weed growth that is difficult to control and utilizing
valuable soil moisture. Since we are about 3 to 4 weeks before planting
season, one should consider making a herbicide application to control
vegetation in no-till fields if winter weed growth is 6 inches tall and
likely to be 12 inches or taller by late April. If there are primarily
broadleaf weeds present, economical products to use for an early April
burndown include 2,4-D, glyphosate, and Gramoxone. If marestail/horseweed
and/or dandelion is present, 2,4-D should be used as a component of the 
burndown program. 

Early season burndown (without residual herbicides) should be considered
if: 

1. winter weed growth will require tillage and/or excessive herbicides
   rates for control prior to planting 

2. soil moisture is limited and weed growth will further deplete
   moisture reserves 

3. weed growth and plant residue will interfere with planting operations
   and seed placement 

Should you include a residual herbicide with the burndown treatment in
early April? 

Research results indicate that weed control costs can become excessive
if residual herbicides are used more than 15 days before planting. If
wet weather delays planting, supplemental postemergence practices are
usually needed to control escapes. Due to weather uncertainties, we
recommend applying residual herbicides no more than 2 weeks prior to the
planned date planting. Applying the residual products as close as
possible to planting time will provide more weed control activity to the
crop growing in the field. 

For corn production, if an early April burndown is not needed and
emerged weeds are present when burndown applications are made in late
April and May, adding crop oil to an atrazine premix will control
broadleaf weeds that are 4 inches tall or less and grass weeds are 1
inch tall or less. Other herbicides can be added to the atrazine premix
to control larger weeds. If the emerged weeds are strictly broadleaf
weeds 2,4-D is a very cost effective tankmix partner. For mixed grass
and broadleaf species, use Roundup/Touchdown (or other glyphosate
formulations) on large weeds and Roundup/Touchdown or Gramoxone Extra on
small weeds. The addition of 2,4-D to Roundup is recommended to improve
control of dandelions, and marestail/horseweed. Banvel/Clarity will
improve control of alfalfa, clover or chickweed. The performance of
Gramoxone Extra is enhanced when applied with atrazine,Extrazine,
Bladex, and Sencor. 

In soybean, University research has also shown that herbicide
applications made prior to 15 days before planting without a split or
sequential application at planting will usually provide poor control
and are not recommended. The burndown herbicides Gramoxone Extra,
Roundup/Touchdown and 2,4-D can be tankmixed with many residual
herbicides. Gramoxone Extra and Roundup may be applied early preplant
through planting. 

Conversely, 2,4-D applications must be made at least 7 days (ester) or
15 days (amine) prior to planting soybean for application rates up to 1
pt/A, or at least 30 days (ester and amine) prior to planting if applied
at 1-2 pt/A. When using 2,4-D in your burndown program for soybean,
remember to plant seeds at least 1.5 to 2 inches deep to avoid crop
injury from 2,4-D. 

Authority, Canopy, Canopy XL, Sencor, Domain, Boundary, Steel, Squadron,
and Gauntlet also provide residual and some burndown activity since they
contain either a triazine (Sencor/Lexone, Domain, Boundary), a
aryltrialzolinone (Authority, Canopy XL, Gauntlet), sulfonylurea
(Canopy, Canopy XL), imidazolinone (Steel, Squadron), or
triazolopyrimidine sulfonanilide (Gauntlet) herbicide. Adding a spray
additive is usually needed to maximize foliar activity. Consult the
label for more specific information on weeds controlled and spray
additives when utilizing these herbicides for burndown. 

Other non-residual herbicides for preplant weed control in soybeans
include: Assure II, Fusion, Poast Plus and Select. These herbicides
control annual and perennial grass weeds. 

Bill Johnson, Glenn Nice, and Tom Bauman, Dept. of Botany and Plant
Pathology, Purdue University. 



                    Weather Information Table
     
               Week Ending Sunday April 13, 2003
---------------------------------------------------------------
                | Past Week Weather Summary Data   
                |---------------------------------
 Station        |      Air      |           | Avg  
                |  Temperature  |  Precip.  |4 in.  
                |---------------|-----------|Soil 
                |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days|Temp 
------------------------------------------------------------- 
Northwest (1)   |                                
Chalmers_5W     |70  27  40  -11  0.43     2   42
Valparaiso_AP_I |67  26  38  -10  0.24     2     
Wanatah         |69  25  38   -9  0.24     1   45
Wheatfield      |72  24  39   -8  0.43     1     
Winamac         |69  27  39   -9  0.50     1   44
North Central(2)|                                
Plymouth        |68  26  39  -11  0.30     2     
South_Bend      |66  25  39   -9  0.25     2     
Young_America   |68  29  41   -7  0.30     2     
Northeast (3)   |                                
Columbia_City   |67  28  39   -7  0.44     3   43
Fort_Wayne      |68  29  40   -8  0.33     2     
West Central (4)|                                
Greencastle     |69  28  42   -9  0.12     2     
Perrysville     |71  25  42   -8  0.21     1   46
Spencer_Ag      |69  31  44   -7  0.25     1     
Terre_Haute_AFB |70  31  45   -6  0.08     1     
W_Lafayette_6NW |69  26  40   -8  0.38     1   45
Central (5)     |                                
Eagle_Creek_AP  |67  31  44   -7  0.17     2     
Greenfield      |66  29  42   -8  0.28     2     
Indianapolis_AP |68  32  45   -6  0.13     2     
Indianapolis_SE |66  28  42   -9  0.15     1     
Tipton_Ag       |67  26  40   -7  0.35     2   48
East Central (6)|                                
Farmland        |67  28  40   -7  0.41     3   39
New_Castle      |64  26  40   -8  0.18     2     
Southwest (7)   |                                
Evansville      |73  36  49   -6  1.08     2     
Freelandville   |71  33  47   -6  0.26     2     
Shoals          |74  33  46   -6  0.41     1     
Stendal         |73  33  48   -6  0.79     3     
Vincennes_5NE   |73  33  47   -5  0.28     2   48
South Central(8)|                                
Leavenworth     |72  35  47   -6  0.97     4     
Oolitic         |70  33  46   -6  0.51     2   45
Tell_City       |75  35  51   -3  1.31     2     
Southeast (9)   |                                
Brookville      |70  30  45   -5  0.61     3     
Milan_5NE       |67  31  44   -6  0.55     3     
Scottsburg      |68  33  45   -8  0.57     3     
------------------------------------------------------------- 

-------------------------------------------------------------                                                            
                |        Accumulation           
                |      April 1, 2003 thru       
 Station        |       April 13, 2003         
                | Precipitation   |GDD Base 50oF 
                |      |     |    |     |
                |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN  
-------------------------------------------------------------
Northwest (1)   |
Chalmers_5W     | 2.26  +0.76   5    51   +20
Valparaiso_AP_I | 1.85  +0.19   5    41   +23
Wanatah         | 1.94  +0.32   4    38   +25
Wheatfield      | 1.98  +0.36   4    53   +40
Winamac         | 1.83  +0.28   4    51   +32
North Central(2)|
Plymouth        | 1.78  +0.14   5    43   +22
South_Bend      | 2.42  +0.74   5    39   +24
Young_America   | 1.13  -0.30   5    51   +33
Northeast (3)   |
Columbia_City   | 1.74  +0.18   6    31   +20
Fort_Wayne      | 2.01  +0.58   5    33   +17
West Central (4)|
Greencastle     | 0.41  -1.15   3    53   +18
Perrysville     | 0.76  -0.90   2    62   +35
Spencer_Ag      | 0.65  -1.05   2    55   +25
Terre_Haute_AFB | 0.41  -1.21   2    64   +27
W_Lafayette_6NW | 1.56  +0.04   4    60   +41
Central (5)     |
Eagle_Creek_AP  | 0.32  -1.27   3    65   +33
Greenfield      | 0.96  -0.72   3    55   +32
Indianapolis_AP | 0.45  -1.14   3    66   +34
Indianapolis_SE | 0.84  -0.71   2    57   +28
Tipton_Ag       | 0.71  -0.95   3    45   +31
East Central (6)|
Farmland        | 0.79  -0.74   4    48   +35
New_Castle      | 0.86  -0.83   4    34   +20
Southwest (7)   |
Evansville      | 1.16  -0.58   3    80   +14
Freelandville   | 0.69  -0.92   3    60   +16
Shoals          | 0.63  -1.13   2    64   +21
Stendal         | 0.85  -1.07   4    70   +17
Vincennes_5NE   | 0.49  -1.12   3    64   +20
South Central(8)|
Leavenworth     | 1.20  -0.83   5    66   +21
Oolitic         | 1.23  -0.49   3    62   +27
Tell_City       | 1.76  -0.33   3    91   +33
Southeast (9)   |
Brookville      | 1.01  -0.61   4    62   +40
Milan_5NE       | 1.01  -0.61   4    56   +34
Scottsburg      | 0.82  -1.01   4    61   +17
------------------------------------------------------------- 
DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period).
GDD = Growing Degree Days.
Precipitation (Rainfall or melted snow/ice) in inches.
Precipitation Days = Days with precip of .01 inch or more.
Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit.

Copyright 2003:  AWIS, Inc.  All rights reserved.

       The above weather information is provided by AWIS, Inc.
For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS home page at
          www.awis.com or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955.

The INDIANA CROP WEATHER REPORT (USPS 675-770), (ISSN 0442-817X) is
issued weekly April through November by the Indiana Agricultural 
Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, 
West Lafayette  IN 47906-4145.  Second Class postage paid at 
Lafayette IN.  For information on subscribing, send request to above
address.  POSTMASTER:   Send address change to the Indiana Agricultural
Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105,  
West Lafayette IN  47906-4145.                           

Source: Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service