Maryland & Delaware
Weekly Crop and Weather Report

CW24-08										            09/15/2008

Maryland crops improving, Delaware still dry

Western and Central portions of Maryland as well as the lower Eastern Shore reported improved field conditions and good crop development following several rain showers over the last week.  Delaware, however, reported continued dry conditions even with rainfall received last Tuesday.  Days suitable for fieldwork were 5.2 in Delaware and 5.8 in Maryland for the week ending September 14, 2008.  Soil moisture was rated short to adequate in Delaware with some still rated very short.  Soil moisture was mostly adequate in Maryland.  Pasture conditions in Maryland were rated fair to good while Delaware was rated very poor to poor.

Alfalfa hay harvest continued in both States.  The third cutting was nearly complete and the fourth cutting was still progressing with 52 percent complete in Maryland and 28 percent complete in Delaware.  Harvest of other hay continued.  The corn harvest was under way in Delaware.  Corn condition in Maryland was fair to good, in Delaware, mostly fair.  Corn progress improved for all stages over the previous week.  Crop weather reporters in Delaware said that early soybeans were hurt by the continued dry spell over the summer.  Early planted soybeans had no pods or poorly filled pods.  Growers also expressed concern about pod worms and whether the benefit of aerial spraying would outweigh the high cost of application.  Maryland soybean quality ranged pretty evenly from very poor to good, though the highest percentage was rated as good.  In Delaware, soybeans quality was mostly fair.

No problems were reported with the vegetable or fruit harvest.  The apple harvest was 20 percent complete in Delaware and 59 percent complete in Maryland with good quality.  Peach harvest was nearly complete and was a little ahead of the same time last year.  Harvest of all the major fruit and vegetable crops continued as the season was winding down.

CROP PROGRESS FOR WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 14, 2008
Item	Maryland	Delaware	
	This	Last	Last	5 Year	This	Last	Last	5 Year	
	Week	Week	Year	Average	Week	Week	Year	Average	
  Alfalfa Hay, 3rd  cutting	99	98	95	93	98	93	100	97	
  Alfalfa Hay, 4th cutting	52	36	68	46	28	23	35	40	
  Apples, harvested	59	56	63	50	20	18	41	36	
  Cantaloups, harvested	93	90	95	93	96	94	90	92	
  Corn, dough	99	95	0	17	100	100	71	91	
  Corn, dent	88	80	94	86	95	91	98	94	
  Corn, mature	68	47	67	57	75	59	77	72	
  Corn, harvested for grain	27	23	19	12	15	10	18	22	
  Corn, harvested for silage	65	45	0	48	50	10	0	58	
  Cucumbers, harvested	91	89	91	88	90	87	85	88	
  Lima Beans, harvested	61	58	63	68	58	49	53	63	
  Other Hay, 3rd cutting	76	71	54	62	61	56	71	87	
  Other Hay, 4th cutting	10	8	7	7	1	1	0	10	
  Peaches, harvested	98	90	96	95	98	94	94	93	
  Potatoes, harvested	100	99	99	94	98	94	78	91	
  Snap Beans, harvested	90	89	91	93	89	86	95	95	
  Soybeans, setting pods	95	86	86	86	92	86	87	92	
  Soybeans, turning color	48	33	44	32	26	18	40	29	
  Soybeans, dropping leaves	28	18	15	12	19	13	21	16	
  Sweet Corn, harvested	92	89	92	92	93	88	93	89	
  Tomatoes, harvested	91	87	91	89	89	83	90	88	
  Watermelons, harvested	94	93	96	92	95	92	90	93	

CROP CONDITION FOR WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 14, 2008
 
Item
 	Maryland	Delaware

	
	VP	P	F	G	EX	VP	P	F	G	EX	
	Percent	Percent	
Apples	0	1	17	79	3	2	5	16	68	9	
Corn	2	16	39	34	9	7	21	46	17	9	
Pasture	3	23	41	30	3	35	48	13	3	1	
Soybeans	20	21	24	29	6	13	32	44	8	3	
VP-Very Poor, P-Poor, F-Fair, G-Good, EX-Excellent

SOIL MOISTURE CONDITION FOR WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

	Maryland	Delaware	
Condition by Percent	Topsoil Moisture	Subsoil Moisture	Topsoil Moisture	Subsoil Moisture	
	This	Last	This	Last	This	Last	This	Last	
	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	
Very Short	1	8	6	15	13	28	40	45	
Short 	31	26	43	36	45	33	53	47	
Adequate	67	64	51	48	42	39	7	8	
Surplus	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 14, 2008
Station	Precipitation 1/	Temperatures	
		Since Jan 1		
	Total		Depart				Depart	
	this		From				from	
	Week	Total	Normal	High	Low	Average	Normal	
Maryland	
  Baltimore/Washington AP	0.88	30.67	2.91	88	55	73	-1	
  Frederick	1.40	32.81	6.35	87	57	70	2	
  Frostburg	2.98	37.33	4.28	85	54	64	-2	
  Hagerstown	0.87	23.42	-2.79	88	57	71	0	
  Mechanicsville	0.57	31.38	0.57	88	60	72	-1	
  Patuxent River	0.63	30.54	1.84	89	65	75	3	
  Ocean City	0.08	24.56	-6.92	90	56	76	4	
  Salisbury 	0.76	27.80	-3.74	90	48	74	1	
  Sharpsburg	1.08	31.74	5.18	89	54	70	2	
  Stevensville	0.20	35.68	6.93	87	58	72	-2	
  Washington, DC (Reagan National)	0.67	33.53	7.35	92	68	77	2	
								
Delaware								
  Dover	0.34	23.06	-6.95	89	55	73	-1	
  Georgetown	0.18	19.19	-11.43	93	54	76	4	
  Wilmington	0.06	25.52	-2.37	87	57	73	1	
          1/Precipitation totals as of 7 A.M. on recorded date.
Weather data is provided by the Agricultural Weather Information Service, Auburn, Alabama and is considered       preliminary.

Published by
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service - Maryland Field Office
50 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis, Maryland  21401
(410) 841-5740 		Fax (410) 841-5755

In cooperation with 
The Maryland Department of Agriculture
And
The University of Maryland Extension System