in-crop-weather


State
Indiana Crop Weather

Week Ending Date  
April 25, 2004

Issue
IN-CW1704


Agricultural Summary
     
Much needed precipitation during the week helped relieve dry soil
conditions around most of the state, according to the Indiana
Agricultural Statistics Service. Major field activities were 
temporarily delayed in some areas, but farmers welcomed the rain. 
Planting of corn and soybeans continued to make excellent progress
for this time of the season. Corn planting is 4 days ahead of the 
previous record pace established in 2001 and 10 days ahead of the
average pace. 


Field Crops Report
     
There were 4.1 days suitable for fieldwork. Forty-two percent of the
intended corn acreage is planted compared with 21 percent for last 
year and 14 percent for the 5-year average. Five percent of the corn
acreage has emerged compared with 1 percent last year and 1 percent 
for the average. By area, 34 percent of the corn is planted in the 
north, 45 percent in the central region and 54 percent in the south. 
Eight percent of the intended soybean acreage is planted compared 
with 3 percent last year and 3 percent for the average. 

Sixty-nine percent of the winter wheat acreage is jointed compared
with 70 percent last year and 73 percent for the 5-year average. One
percent of the winter wheat is headed compared with 1 percent last 
year and 2 percent for the average. Winter wheat condition is rated 
86 percent good to excellent compared with 82 percent last year at 
this time. 

Major activities during the week were tillage of soils, nitrogen
application, spreading lime and fertilizer, spraying chemicals,
repairing equipment, moving grain to market, hauling manure and
taking care of livestock. 


Livestock, Pasture and Range Report

Pasture condition is rated 9 percent excellent, 63 percent good, 23
percent fair, 4 percent poor and 1 percent very poor. Livestock are
in mostly good condition. Hay supplies are mostly adequate, but in 
short supply in a few areas of the state. Hay is still being fed on
some livestock farms. Lambing is nearing completion. Spring calving
continued on cattle operations. 

                    Crop Progress Table
-----------------------------------------------------
                     : This :  Last :  Last : 5-Year
     Crop            : Week :  Week :  Year :  Avg
-----------------------------------------------------
                                     Percent
Corn Planted             42      15      21      14
Corn Emerged              5      NA       1       1
Soybean Planted           8      NA       3       3
Winter Wheat Jointed     69      46      70      73
Winter Wheat Headed       1       0       1       2


                    Crop Condition Table
-------------------------------------------------------------
                     : Very :      :      :      : Excel-
     Crop            : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good :  lent
-------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Percent
Pasture                  1      4     23     63      9
Winter Wheat 2004        1      1     12     66     20
Winter Wheat 2003        0      2     16     62     20

                                     
   Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table
-------------------------------------------------------
                     : This  : Last  :  Last :
                     : Week  : Week  :  Year :
-------------------------------------------------------
                            Percent
Topsoil
  Very Short              4       8       3
  Short                  14      23      15
  Adequate               64      60      59
  Surplus                18       9      23
Subsoil
  Very Short              4       6       6
  Short                  19      17      19
  Adequate               68      70      65
  Surplus                 9       7      10
Days Suitable           4.1     5.9     4.1

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                                     

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              Other Agricultural Comments And News


             DRY TOPSOIL CONCERNS SOME CORN GROWERS 

Corn planting in the Hoosier (crossed out in honor of Purdue) 
Boilermaker state is off to the races with 15 % of the state's crop
acreage already in the ground, well ahead of the five-year average
of 5 % (Indiana Ag. Stats. Service, 4/19/04) and ahead of the 
previous record pace (8 %) set in 1976. Three reasons for the early
rapid rate of corn planting are dry soils, warm soil temperatures 
(relative to early April), and short-term memories of last year's
wet May that delayed some corn planting until early June. 

Some of the regulars at the Chat 'n Chew Cafe are beginning to fuss
about the dryness of the soil, especially topsoil moisture. As of 18
April, 31 % of the state's topsoil moisture was in fact rated as
short to very short (Indiana Ag. Stats. Service, 4/19/04).
Thunderstorms  rolling through Indiana this week are replenishing 
soil moisture in  some, but not all, areas of the state.

One of the concerns when surface soils are dry is the increased risk
of injury to corn germination or to young corn seedlings from 
pre-plant anhydrous ammonia applications. Such injury is caused by 
desiccation of below ground plant parts that come into contact with
the ammonia zone.  Symptoms of anhydrous injury include poor or weak
germination, discolored kernels, wilted seedlings, and brown 
stubbed-off roots. Shallow injection depths (less than 7 - 8 inches),
coarse-textured soils, and dry surface soils (especially cloddy soils)
all increase the risk of ammonia movement farther than normal from 
the point of injection (Sawyer, 2000) and thus the risk of injury to
corn germination and young corn seedlings. 

Another concern related to dry surface soils is whether soil moisture
at the seed zone is uniformly adequate for germination. Uneven soil
moisture in the seed zone is the primary cause of uneven emergence, 
the results of can easily reduce yield potential by 6 to 9 percent 
(Carter et al., 2002). Under normal conditions, seeding depths of 
1  to 2 inches are usually sufficient to achieve uniform soil 
moisture in the seed zone. Seeding depth decisions when surface soils
are on the dry side may require planting as deep as 2  to 3 inches 
if necessary to achieve uniformly moist seedbed conditions, 
especially when the short-term weather forecast is not promising any
significant rainfall. The key factor when faced with dry surface 
soils is taking the time DURING planting to visually inspect the 
soil moisture levels at the seed zone and change planter depth 
settings accordingly to best ensure placement of seeds into a 
uniformly moist seedbed. 

References: 

Carter, Paul, Emerson Nafziger, and Joe Lauer. 2002. Uneven Emergence
in Corn. North Central Regional Extension Publication No. 344.
Available online at http://cecommerce.uwex.edu/pdfs/NCR344.PDF.
(Verified 4/21/04). 

Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2002. Requirements for Uniform Germination and
Emergence of Corn. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. Available online
at http://www.kingcorn.org/news/articles.02/Germ&Emerg_Req-0520.html.
(Verified 4/20/04). 

Sawyer, John. 2000. Anhydrous application and dry soils. Integrated
Crop Mgmt. Newsletter, Iowa State Univ. Available online at
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2000/10-23-2000/anhydrous.html
(Verified 4/19/04). 

For other Corny News Network articles, browse through the CNN 
Archives at http://www.kingcorn.org/news/index-cnn.html. 

For other information about corn, take a look at the Corn Growers'
Guidebook at http://www.kingcorn.org. 

R.L. (Bob) Nielsen Agronomy Dept., Purdue Univ. West Lafayette, IN
47907-2054. Email address:rnielsen@purdue.edu 


                 
                    Weather Information Table
     
               Week Ending Sunday April 25, 2004
---------------------------------------------------------------
                | Past Week Weather Summary Data   
                |---------------------------------
 Station        |      Air      |            | Avg  
                |  Temperature  |  Precip.   |4 in.  
                |---------------|------------|Soil 
                |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days |Temp 
------------------------------------------------------------- 
Northwest (1)   |                                
Chalmers_5W     |89  41   58  +5   1.06    3   61
Valparaiso_AP_I |87  37   58  +7   0.71    2     
Wanatah         |88  32   55  +5   0.80    2   60
Wheatfield      |86  39   57  +7   1.04    3     
Winamac         |86  38   58  +6   1.01    4     
North Central(2)|                                
Plymouth        |86  37   57  +4   0.49    3     
South_Bend      |87  37   59  +9   0.40    2     
Young_America   |86  43   60  +8   0.86    4     
Northeast (3)   |                                
Columbia_City   |86  39   58  +8   0.69    4     
Fort_Wayne      |86  37   60  +8   0.79    4     
West Central (4)|                                
Greencastle     |83  43   61  +6   0.97    5     
Perrysville     |86  42   61  +8   1.54    4   60
Spencer_Ag      |85  48   62  +8   1.11    6     
Terre_Haute_AFB |85  49   65 +10   1.13    3     
W_Lafayette_6NW |87  41   60  +8   1.33    3   62
Central (5)     |                                
Eagle_Creek_AP  |83  44   62  +8   1.42    4     
Greenfield      |85  44   60  +7   1.10    3     
Indianapolis_AP |85  48   63  +9   1.40    4     
Indianapolis_SE |85  44   60  +6   1.37    4     
Tipton_Ag       |86  42   59  +8   1.59    4   62
East Central (6)|                                
Farmland        |84  40   59  +8   1.35    4     
New_Castle      |82  42   57  +6   1.20    3     
Southwest (7)   |                                
Evansville      |83  52   67  +9   1.27    2     
Freelandville   |83  51   63  +8   0.94    4     
Shoals          |84  50   64  +9   1.73    6     
Stendal         |83  52   65  +8   1.17    3     
Vincennes_5NE   |85  50   65 +10   1.37    5   61
South Central(8)|                                
Leavenworth     |82  52   63  +8   2.38    5     
Oolitic         |82  48   63  +9   1.95    5   63
Tell_City       |82  53   66  +9   1.84    4     
Southeast (9)   |                                
Brookville      |86  46   60  +8   0.93    2     
Milan_5NE       |84  44   61  +8   1.71    6     
Scottsburg      |84  44   63  +7   2.16    6     
---------------------------------------------------


                     Weather Information Table

                 Week ending Sunday April 25, 2004
----------------|--------------------------------
                |        Accumulation           
                |--------------------------------
                |      April 1, 2004 thru       
 Station        |        April 25, 2004         
                |--------------------------------
                | Precipitation   |GDD Base 50oF
                |--------------------------------
                |      |     |    |     |
                |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN   
-------------------------------------------------
Northwest (1)   |
Chalmers_5W     | 1.06  -1.94    3   118   +31
Valparaiso_AP_I | 0.85  -2.47    3   124   +64
Wanatah         | 0.98  -2.21    3    99   +54
Wheatfield      | 2.74  -0.44    9   107   +59
Winamac         | 1.11  -1.98    6   119   +55
North Central(2)|
Plymouth        | 0.68  -2.55    5   104   +33
South_Bend      | 0.44  -2.79    4   132   +80
Young_America   | 0.86  -2.02    4   129   +67
Northeast (3)   |
Columbia_City   | 0.70  -2.32    5   105   +62
Fort_Wayne      | 0.83  -2.00    6   121   +64
West Central (4)|
Greencastle     | 1.00  -2.05    6   127   +26
Perrysville     | 1.54  -1.69    4   159   +78
Spencer_Ag      | 1.88  -1.42   10   133   +47
Terre_Haute_AFB | 1.23  -1.97    5   176   +74
W_Lafayette_6NW | 1.33  -1.75    3   144   +79
Central (5)     |
Eagle_Creek_AP  | 1.53  -1.52    6   157   +64
Greenfield      | 1.28  -2.06    9   127   +53
Indianapolis_AP | 1.60  -1.45    6   176   +83
Indianapolis_SE | 1.52  -1.56    6   139   +55
Tipton_Ag       | 1.61  -1.64    5   113   +63
East Central (6)| 
Farmland        | 2.06  -0.92    9   111   +65
New_Castle      | 1.36  -2.03    7    84   +34
Southwest (7)   |
Evansville      | 1.90  -1.41    5   218   +55
Freelandville   | 1.13  -2.03    8   170   +55
Shoals          | 2.38  -0.97    9   172   +58
Stendal         | 1.76  -1.91    6   193   +57
Vincennes_5NE   | 2.03  -1.13    9   187   +72
South Central(8)| 
Leavenworth     | 3.79  -0.03    9   165   +47
Oolitic         | 2.64  -0.66   10   143   +46
Tell_City       | 4.24  +0.24    9   219   +74
Southeast (9)   |
Brookville      | 2.30  -0.84    8   126   +55
Milan_5NE       | 3.20  +0.06   12   131   +60
Scottsburg      | 3.14  -0.33   11   156   +41     
------------------------------------------------------------- 
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 2004:  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.

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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