State NEW ENGLAND WEEKLY CROP WEATHER Week ending date 06/06/04 Issue NH-CW2304 Volume 24, Number 7 (issued weekly on the Internet, May - October) June 7, 2004 - 4 pm -- Agricultural Summary HOT, DRY WEATHER NEEDED For the week ending June 6, 2004, there were 4.3 days available for field work across New England. Topsoil moisture was rated one percent short, 57% adequate, 42% surplus. Subsoil moisture was rated two percent short, 70% adequate, 28% surplus. Pasture condition was rated as two percent poor,10 percent fair, 63% good, 25% excellent. Another week of cool, wet weather slowed planting progress in most locations across New England. Though conditions were dry over the weekend, soils were too wet in some areas to allow farmers to plant, while other growers were able to continue planting of some crops. Hot, dry weather is needed to aid in crop growth and development. Major farm activities included: planting vegetables, sweet corn, field corn, tobacco, potatoes, small grains; harvesting spinach, radishes, asparagus, rhubarb; applying fertilizer, herbicides and fungicides. SOIL MOISTURE ACROSS NEW ENGLAND --------------------------------------------- -- Percent -- Soil Rating This Week Last Week Last Year --------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture Very Short 0 0 2 Short 1 1 7 Adequate 57 67 62 Surplus 42 32 29 Subsoil Moisture Very Short 0 0 2 Short 2 2 8 Adequate 70 80 73 Surplus 28 18 17 --------------------------------------------- -- Field Crops Report The cool, damp weather has taken a toll on crops. The wet conditons made it difficult for farmers to harvest hay or plant crops. Corn growth is slow due to the lack of sun and in some areas the plant has yellowed. In spite of all the rain, first cut hay progressed to15 percent. Potato producers in Maine and Massachusetts are nearing completion with 99% of their crop planted. Growers finished transplanting Shade tobacco during the week while Broadleaf tobacco growers had half of their crop transplanted. -- Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report FRUIT: Orchardists were busy applying protective fungicides and insecticides as they continued scouting for disease and insect pest. Peaches incurred some damage from weather, disease and insects; the full extent is not yet known. Mummyberry disease was reported as severe in Wild Blueberry fields not protected by fungicides. Cranberry growers continued to watch for insects and disease, and applied pesticides as needed. Growers were still concerned with outbreaks of weevil, fireworm and other caterpillar pests. Strawberries were ready for picking in some southern areas. VEGETABLES: Farmers were able to continue with vegetable planting at week's end. Operators havested asparagus, rhubard, lettuce, radish and spinach during the week. -- Crop Progress Tables FIELD CROP PROGRESS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ---------------------------------------------------- Crop 2004 2003 5-yr Avg Percent Condition Emerged ---------------------------------------------------- -- Percent Planted -- Barley, ME 99 90 95 75 Good/Excel Oats, ME 99 95 99 75 Good/Excel Potatoes Maine 99 95 95 5 Good/Excel Mass 99 99 99 70 Good Rhode Isl 90 100 100 70 Good/Excel Silage Corn 75 70 80 55 Good/Excel Sweet Corn 75 65 70 55 Good/Fair Tobacco Shade 100 100 90 -- Good Broadleaf 50 25 40 -- Good Dry Hay First Cut 15 10 25 -- Good/Fair ----------------------------------------------------- FRUIT CROP DEVELOPMENT ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ----------------------------------------------------- Fruit Crop Stage Set Condition ----------------------------------------------------- Apples PF Avg Fair/Good Peaches PF B.Avg/Avg Fair/Good Pears PF Avg/B.Avg Good/Fair Blueberries Highbush EB/PF Avg Fair/Good Wild FB/PF Avg Good/Fair Cranberries,MA Bud Avg Fair/Good Strawberries FB/PF Avg Fair/Good ----------------------------------------------------- FB - Full Bloom, PF - Petal Fall -- Weather Summary For the week ending Sunday, June 6, 2004 ---------------------------------------------- AIR TEMPERATURES PRECIPITATION STATE LO HI AVG DFN LO HI ---- --- --- --- --- ---- ---- ME 30 74 49 -8 0.43 2.42 NH 19 80 51 -7 1.44 3.05 VT 24 79 54 -4 1.70 2.86 MA 36 82 56 -5 1.20 3.35 RI 38 75 57 -4 1.18 1.87 CT 34 89 59 -2 1.09 2.97 ---------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -- Weather Information Table Weather Summary For New England Agricultural Statistics Service - Prepared By AWIS, Inc. For the Period: Monday May 31, 2004 To: Sunday June 6, 2004 AIR CUM SINCE MAR 1 TEMPERATURE GROWING DEGREE DAYS ----------- BASE-50F BASE-60F STATION LO HI AVG DFN TOT DFN TOT DFN ------- -- -- -- -- --- ---- --- ---- MAINE Albion 31 74 52 -11 214 -70 35 -8 Allagash 30 73 47 -11 96 -32 9 +6 Augusta_State_A 40 71 54 -8 251 -4 36 +2 Bangor_Intl_Arp 37 72 53 -8 209 +3 26 +5 Barnard 34 71 50 -9 162 +0 24 +11 Bath 32 71 52 -8 168 -32 17 -2 Bethel 32 76 53 -8 247 +27 45 +19 Brassua_Dam 31 72 48 -9 109 +3 8 +8 Brunswick_ME 39 74 55 -5 284 +84 47 +28 Caribou_Municip 36 69 50 -8 142 -15 27 +13 Corinna 35 73 52 -8 217 +10 39 +18 Danforth 35 70 50 -10 138 -32 15 +1 Dover-Foxcroft 34 63 47 -11 124 -38 16 +3 Durham 33 71 52 -11 214 -53 30 -5 East_Hiram 32 72 52 -9 233 +14 47 +22 Eustis 29 70 47 -9 124 +11 21 +21 Frenchville 38 67 49 -9 121 -7 19 +16 Gray 42 72 54 -6 279 +87 51 +39 Greenville_ME 39 73 52 -7 225 +52 41 +25 Guilford 32 67 48 -11 98 -64 7 -6 Hollis 33 72 53 -8 245 +58 52 +40 Houlton 30 70 49 -10 144 -17 22 +7 Kennebunkport 37 68 53 -10 159 -144 5 -38 Livermore_Falls 30 77 52 -7 242 +78 44 +31 Moosehead 32 71 48 -8 123 +17 16 +16 New_Sharon 32 71 52 -7 208 +44 29 +16 Patten 35 71 49 -9 132 -29 21 +6 Portage 38 70 50 -9 127 -30 25 +11 Portland_ME 38 67 54 -6 233 +41 36 +24 Rangeley 30 73 48 -8 130 +23 14 +14 Sebec_Lake 32 73 50 -9 163 -10 24 +8 Vanceboro 36 70 50 -9 127 -25 14 +6 Waterville 36 73 53 -10 205 -79 23 -20 NEW_HAMPSHIRE Barnstead 30 74 53 -9 271 -8 59 +13 Benton 35 71 52 -8 264 +27 54 +23 Berlin_AG 32 71 51 -9 249 +34 52 +25 Bethlehem 30 74 51 -10 233 -2 44 +12 Concord 34 75 57 -6 432 +153 121 +75 Diamond_Pond 29 70 47 -8 138 +34 15 +15 First_Conn_Lake 27 71 47 -9 108 +4 6 +6 Greenville 43 78 58 -3 405 +149 101 +65 Keene_AP 40 72 57 -7 416 +55 96 +18 Lakeport 39 73 56 -5 335 +92 72 +37 Marlow 32 74 53 -10 240 -73 37 -20 Mount_Washingto 26 50 35 -6 12 +12 0 +0 North_Conway 39 72 54 -7 306 +59 77 +42 Otter_Brook_Lk 37 74 56 -8 352 -9 76 -2 Plymouth 34 71 53 -6 249 +50 45 +23 Rochester 38 71 55 -8 302 -15 70 +11 Weare 38 72 55 -8 312 -1 60 +3 VERMONT Ball_Mt_Lake 37 72 55 -5 317 +79 59 +26 Bethel 30 75 54 -6 309 +94 68 +40 Burlington_Intl 39 77 57 -6 431 +100 132 +63 East_Haven 28 72 52 -6 233 +77 46 +30 Island_Pond 29 73 51 -7 209 +51 36 +20 Montpelier 33 73 53 -6 317 +86 79 +47 Morrisville_AG 30 74 50 -10 208 -8 39 +10 Mount_Mansfield 34 63 46 -6 97 +43 11 +11 Northfield 32 73 53 -6 258 +70 51 +31 Pownal 39 70 56 -4 384 +140 83 +46 Rochester 33 76 54 -6 301 +86 66 +38 Rutland_AG 40 73 56 -8 339 -35 62 -25 Sunderland 35 71 54 -9 338 -14 64 -10 Sutton 33 73 51 -7 196 +40 36 +20 Townshend_Lake 38 74 56 -6 359 +51 77 +18 Union_Vill_Dam 33 75 54 -9 286 -34 62 -1 MASSACHUSETTS Ashburnham 40 73 57 -4 368 +135 75 +47 Boston/Logan_In 49 75 60 -5 471 +75 133 +62 Greenfield 42 75 58 -7 445 +47 111 +27 New_Bedford 41 75 58 -6 387 -6 66 -1 Otis_AFB 43 73 58 -3 331 +86 54 +27 Plymouth 42 77 58 -4 361 +91 73 +38 Walpole 42 75 59 -4 438 +120 96 +43 West_Medway 41 76 59 -4 471 +153 124 +71 Chicopee/Westov 46 75 60 -7 564 +66 173 +50 Worcester 46 72 58 -4 439 +158 113 +73 Worthington 36 72 55 -6 337 +96 63 +30 RHODE_ISLAND Providence 47 78 60 -4 479 +124 107 +47 Woonsocket 40 74 58 -5 440 +126 107 +63 CONNECTICUT Bakersville 37 73 56 -10 409 -62 91 -27 Bridgeport/Siko 51 77 62 -3 508 +97 112 +20 Hartford/Bradle 43 78 61 -5 576 +112 175 +60 Norfolk 41 69 56 -5 388 +152 87 +57 Norwich 45 79 61 -4 497 +87 118 +30 Thomaston_Dam 41 81 61 -2 559 +225 168 +108 Willimantic 41 72 59 -4 510 +174 137 +78 Summary based on NWS data. DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period). Precipitation (rain or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of 0.01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2004: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. -- Other Agricultural Comments and News CONNECTICUT - Howard Rood (FSA), Fairfield/Litchfield: Hail fell Wednesday and Thursday and damaged fruit crops and early planted vegetable crops. Ross Eddy (FSA), Hartford/Tolland: Off and on showers during the week slowed progress on wet fields. Planting more sweet corn, tomatoes and other vegetable crops. Cultivating shade tobacco and potatoes. Pulling row cover off of sweet corn to find tassels in the whorl. Picking strawberries locally. Grass chopping continues, no dry hay made to speak of. Dawn Pindell (FSA), Windham: Cooler temperatures, showers every other day with some light hail, kept crop conditions less than optimum, work continues in all areas with pruning, mowing, spraying, spreading, planting, cutting asparagus and haylage, fruit set looks good, vegetables going in. Karen Vozarik (FSA), New Haven: Showers at night are making it hard to cut hay and get in fields. Some strawberries are ready for picking. Problems have been reported with pears. On 6/2 severe thunder storms rolled through. Reports of hail damage to peach crop. Rains were heavy. MAINE - Marvin Hedstrom, Northern Aroostook: Potatoes and small grains: Planting just about completed. It has been a struggle to get the last of the crops in the ground due to the rain. Weather improved by the week-end so growers were back in the fields. Herbicides are being applied. A few potatoes have emerged, warm temperatures will bring more out. Pam Hickey (Ext), Central Aroostook: Most farmers have all of their crops planted. Now, we just need the warm temperatures and the "orbit" in the sky to shine to help crops emerge and grow. Some farmers are applying herbicides. Steve London, Southern Aroostook: Potatoes and small grains: Potatoes have been emerging a little slow because of the cooler temperatures, but with the warmer temperatures at the end of the week they have been coming in good. Albert Dow (NRCS), Piscataquis: Rain slowed field work. Planting and tilling still going on. Janet King (FSA), Somerset: Haying has started over the nice dry weekend. Corn and many crops are being planted. What we need is some warm days. Rick Kersbergen (Ext), Waldo: Dry weather allowed for more field work, but cold weather and soils continue to cause the corn crop to make slow progress. Some first cutting is finally in the silo. Wet, cold and windy conditions may have caused poor pollination conditions. Wet fields have caused farmers to pick and choose where they can harvest first cutting. Trudy Soucy (FSA), Knox/Lincoln: Silage corn still being planted, probably finished this week. Some row crops still not planted yet, the ground is still too wet. Haying not started yet, waiting for the weather to break. A beautiful week-end brought people out to greenhouses and farm stands. Monilinia blight showing up on blueberry fields due to the cold wet spring. Dr. David Yarborough (Ext), Washington: Wild blueberries: Cool wet weather delaying bloom and reducing pollination. Mummyberry disease severe on fields not protected by fungicides. June 7Michael Tardy (FSA), Androscoggin: The weather warmed up and dried up at the end of the week but most producers found it still difficult to get on the ground. Corn has emerged but much of it is yellow because of the lack of heat. Apple folks are concerned about dying trees. The unusual weather this past winter caused many trees to be damaged and each week orchardists are finding trees that are dying. They expect this trend to continue throughout the season. The coming week has good possibilities. Hang in there. Jill Littlefield (FSA), Cumberland/York: Farmers are worried about what mother nature has in store. This cold and damp weather is really taking a toll on the crops. Sweet corn under plastic is holding its own, but the crop without plastic is not growing. Rain has caused the nitrogen to leach off, forcing reapplication. Transplants are even looking poor due to the lack of sun. Strawberries are past bloom but not in color. Look to be about 2 weeks behind. Crows are reported to be problems, too. What we need is an extended period of sunshine and warm weather. Gary Raymond (FSA), Franklin: The hay is growing with plenty of moisture. Hot weather this week should really make it take off. The large wrapped bales have revolutionized the ability to make hay during rainy June weather!!! Laura Rand (FSA), Oxford: Producers are busy trying to get the final plantings of corn in the ground. Plants that have emerged are turning yellow due to too much rain and not enough sun. Greenhouses are reporting steady sales in spite of poor weather. Come on heat!!!! MASSACHUSETTS - Arthur Williams (FSA), Berkshire: Despite rainy weather, some operators happy the corn planting was done. Ground too wet for spraying. Farmers have cut first cutting of hay. Chopping or covering the hay with plastic in round bales. The peach crop is a total loss this year. Tent caterpillars still working hard and setting back the trees. Wet weather has held up weed control spraying. Veggie growers are hard at work planting and some covering the ground with plastic. Paul Russell (FSA), Southeast Massachusetts: Cool wet weather continues, making it very difficult to make hay, plant crops etc. Planted crops are a little behind schedule in their development but are emerging. Cranberries development has been slowed by the cool weather but the vines appear to be in good shape. Frank Caruso (Ext), Plymouth: Cranberries: Wet and cool week that slowed activities down. Sanded beds are showing hook; will have open blooms this coming week. Growers are still dealing with insect outbreaks, particularly weevil, fireworm and various caterpillar pests. Beds are looking better, although winter-injured vines will not bear fruit. David Rose (FSA), Bristol: Rate of growth is slow now due to lack sun. Everyone continues to plant. Strawberries being harvested. Crops being sprayed with fungicides. Some haylage being made. John Devine (FSA), Franklin: Variable weather conditions continue to effect many of the early season crops in the Pioneer Valley. Strawberries are very close to picking, but need sun and heat to finish ripening. Cool wet weather has also effected harvest dates on sweet corn, summer squash, cucumbers and beans. Farmers are concerned that we're in the same type of weather pattern as last year. Ted Smiarowski, Jr. (FSA), Hampshire/Hampden: Another week of very cool rainy weather. Crops are growing very slowly and lots of heat and sunshine is needed. Only hay and potatoes are growing well. The hay crop is getting over-ripe and early potatoes are being hilled up. Early sweet corn under plastic is in tassel stage. The strawberry crop is starting to ripen and disease pressure is high due to the wet weather conditions. Growers are harvesting radishes, spinach, lettuce, asparagus and rhubarb. Gary Guida, Worcester: You gotta love this weather! Yeah, right! Tough week for field work as cool, wet weather slowed or stopped transplanting of crops. Contact herbicide working well on perennial weeds despite weather conditions. Farm stands doing good with plant sales as consumers also fighting the elements. Perennials still strong sales leader. Quality sells. NEW HAMPSHIRE - Amy Ouellette (Ext), Belknap: Plenty of rain made field planting challenging. Apple fruit set looks good. Many are waiting for warm dry days for first cutting of hay. Garden centers have been busy selling bedding plants and soil amendments. Tina Savage (Ext), Carroll: Cold and wet conditions continue to make field work difficult. First cutting delayed by wet weather, corn planting halted because of wet conditions. Many reports of leaf eating caterpillars coming in from orchards, homeowners. Carl Majewski (Ext), Cheshire: Field corn is all planted and most of it is up, but looks unthrifty due to cool rainy weather. Wet fields have hampered grass harvest; orchard grass is long overdue for mowing, and brome, timothy, and reed canary grass is starting to head out. Alfalfa/grass harvested as haylage is in full swing. Vegetable crops lack growth due to weather, though normal field operations are more or less on time. Some orchards are reporting difficulty keeping up with spraying due to wet conditions. Steve Turaj (Ext), Coos: Another fairly cool rain- filled week delays first cut haylage although some fields mange to get started. Looks like a good crop if we can get it in. Field corn now at last finally all in, more early planted corn spiking. Could now use some hot dry weather. Vegetables plantings continue, plastic mulch being laid as field conditions permit. Reports coming in on hard freeze last week, some receiving temps in low to mid 20's, apparent in Japanese Knotweed burned down along sides of the road. Scouting for Armyworm moth larva on new mown hay land. Garden centers doing a brisk business. George Hamilton (Ext), Hillsborough: Transplanting tomato and pepper plants, and making successive planting vegetable crops. Harvesting spinach, greens, radish, asparagus and rhubarb. Flea beetle and seed maggot damage seen, striped cucumber beetles can be found in vine crops and hornworms seen in greenhouse tomatoes. With all the cool rainy cloudy weather, sweet corn plantings and many other crops are yellow and not growing very well. The SUN is needed with some warmer temperatures. Fruit growers monitoring pest and crop development and applying cover sprays for pest control. Orchardists applying thinning sprays to apple orchards, however, fruit have developed very quickly, past size that some thinner are recommended. Mowing orchard floor and weed spraying under trees. Blueberries and most strawberries are beyond petal fall. Some winter damage is still show on many fruit crops. Field Crops Planting and weed spraying corn fields. Farmers are continuing trying to make haylage and trying to start baled hay between rain showers. John Porter (Ext), Merrimack: Farmers continuing to try to finish up corn planting and harvesting hay crop silage despite the wet weather. A few producers found a window of opportunity to harvest some dry hay. Strawberries are late due to the cold weather. Transplants are standing still waiting for heat units. Nada Haddad (Ext), Rockingham: This week was highlighted with scattered showers and thundershowers with some cold nights. Planting vegetables. Spraying protective fungicide sprays in fruit orchards and small fruit sprays as well as insecticides. Cranberries fruit worms and cherry fruit worms have been captured in blueberry fields. Harvesting strawberries grown under plastics, spinach, swisschard, lettuce, green garlic. Geoffrey Njue (Ext), Strafford: Rain continued through the week with a welcome break in the weekend. Grass in pastures and hay fields continue to grow nicely. Most of the corn has germinated. However some fields have been too wet for planting. Because of very wet soils it's not been possible to do serious field work. Fruit growers continued to scout for diseases and insect pests and spraying when necessary. Vegetable growers continue to plant vegetables in the fields. Greenhouse and high tunnel tomatoes growing very well. Greenhouses and garden centers continued to experience poor plant sales due to bad weather. RHODE ISLAND - Karen Menezes (Ext), Newport: Some sunshine was welcome this week, but still waiting for some heat to help strawberries. Spraying potatoes, field work continues, planting sweet corn and summer vegetables. The cool weather continues along with the rain. Marilu Soileau (FSA), All Counties: Farmers have been wrapping up plantings of corn, vegetables and starting some haying. Temperatures are still a little cool. VERMONT - John St. Onge/Kim Peterson (FSA), Lamoille: Lowery weather prevented serious haying activity until late in the week. Warm weather crops have been more or less at a standstill waiting for sunshine. Have observed some significant weed problems in cornfields. Manure being spread on first cut hayfields. Perley Sparrow (FSA), Windham: Another wet week with off and on showers no time to dry hay. Second time for herbicide on some corn ground trying to fight prickly cucumber, a real serious problem in Windham County. June 7Jeff Carter (Ext), Addison: No corn planting with tilled fields too wet. Corn emergence good and mostly uniform. A few wet corners under water. Early corn to 12 inches height. Herbicide applications difficult with wet soils. Spreading liquid manure on hay crop stubble after early harvest. Mowing and chopping hay crop as haylage later in week. Pastures showing slower growth, weeds escaping to maturity. Heather Darby (Ext), Franklin: Another rainy cool week. Some farmers managed to harvest first cut haylage last weekend. However, most fields have tire ruts because the ground is too soft. Manure is being spread on harvested hay fields. Corn continues to pop out of the ground. However, cool conditions allowed for little growth of corn last week. Corn is anywhere between spike and third leaf. Standing water in fields over the last few weeks have led many farmers to consider replanting. Warm sunny weather projected for this week will be welcomed. Sherwin Williams, Rutland: Spraying corn and potatoes for weeds. Finished planting mid season corn. Small vegetables gemination good but growth slow. Rain for week was 0.566, three mornings very near frost. One cold enough to freeze cucumbers that were up. A cold week for most crops, except peas which are starting to blossom. A real warm week would help out a lot. Reporters are from: Extension Service (Ext), Farm Service Agency(FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), or other knowledgeable individuals. May 2004 Summary: May began with warm temperatures, which helped fields to dry out from all the precipation received during April. The warm temperatures soon gave way to cool, breezy, damp conditons, which prevailed the rest of the month. Soil moisture levels were rated adequate to surplus all month long. The frequent rains had many farmers scrambling to plant when they could between showers. Similar to last year, hay growers were optimistic about this year's crop due to the cool, wet conditions in spring providing optimal growing conditions. Potato growers in Maine patiently waited for soils to warm up to begin their planting season. Once they were able to get into the fields, the growers made up for loss time. As of June 1, potato planting progress in Maine was ahead of the five-year average by 15 percentage points. Likewise potato growers in Massachusetts made great advancements in plantings. Potato planting progress was in line with the five-year average at 95 percent. Rhode Island potato growers had planted 85 percent of their crop by this same date. Shade tobacco transplanting reached 90 percent complete by the end of the month, as broadleaf growers prepared to set out seedlings. Field and sweet corn plantings were ahead of normal schedules, at 75 and 65 percent planted respectively. Most tree fruit crops had reached petal fall stage and were rated in fair to good condition. Maine wild blueberry growers were kept active during the month as they sprayed fungicides to protect against Mummyberry disease. Cranberries in Massachusetts were in bud stage by month's end, and growers applied insecticides for fireworm and cranberry weevil. -- Contact Information To receive this report every Monday evening, send an e-mail message to listserv@newsbox.usda.gov and in the body, type subscribe usda-new-eng-crop-weather Statisticians: Dianne Johnson Stat Assistant: Lynne Arsenault Deputy: Joe Sampson New England Agricultural Statistics Service National Agricultural Statistics Service United States Department of Agriculture Aubrey R. Davis, Director 22 Bridge St, 3rd Floor PO Box 1444 Concord, NH 03302-1444 Phone: (603) 224-9639 Fax: (603) 225-1434 Internet: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ E-Mail: nass.nh@nass.usda.gov ****************** end of report ***********************