Issue:  TX-CW3808
Released:  September 15, 2008
For the week of:  September 8 – 14, 2008

Agricultural Summary: Late last week, Hurricane Ike brought East Texas and parts of the Upper Coast heavy rain along with strong winds, while parts of the Panhandle, the Blacklands, and Cross Timbers had isolated flooding as well. Some areas of the Trans-Pecos, parts of Edwards Plateau, and parts of South Texas and the Lower Valley also received rain. Small grain planting was delayed due to wet conditions in parts of the Panhandle, Cross Timbers, the Blacklands, and Edwards Plateau. Cotton development was slowed in parts of Edwards plateau and the Panhandle due to cool, wet weather. Corn harvest was underway in the High Plains; however, it was delayed later in the week due to rain. Sorghum continued to progress even though there was cooler weather in the Plains. Peanuts continued to mature in South Texas and the Southern High Plains. Land preparation continued for vegetables in South Texas. Pecans nut development moved into the shell hardening stage in some areas of the Trans-Pecos. Livestock conditions continued to improve due to the greened up pastures and ranges. Top soil moisture was mostly adequate statewide.

Field Crops Report
	Small Grains: Wet conditions delayed small grain planting in parts of the Panhandle, Cross Timbers, the Blacklands, and Edwards Plateau due to recent rains.
	Cotton: Cool, wet weather slowed cotton development in parts of the Panhandle, and Edwards Plateau. Cotton condition was mostly fair to good statewide.
	Corn: In the High Plains, corn harvest was underway, but delayed later in the week due to rain. Corn condition was mostly fair to good statewide.
	Sorghum: Sorghum continued to mature despite the slightly cooler weather in the Plains. Sorghum condition was mostly fair to good statewide.
	Peanuts: Peanuts continued to progress in the Southern High Plains and South Texas. Harvest should start pretty soon in South Texas. Peanut condition was mostly fair to good statewide.

Fruit, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Report
	Pumpkin and sunflower harvests were underway in the Northern High Plains. Land preparation continued for vegetables in South Texas.
	Pecans: Pecans nut development moved into the shell hardening stage in some areas of the Trans-Pecos.

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report
	Range and pasture continued to improve due to recent rains. Livestock condition improved as well in most areas of the state. Range and pasture condition was mostly fair to good statewide.

Crop Progress Table – September 14, 2008	
Crop	Stage	2008	2007	Average
2003 – 2007	
		– Percent –	
Corn	Dough	99	100	100	
	Dent	95	100	98	
	Mature	67	84	83	
	Harvested
	64	67	67	
Cotton	Squaring				
	Setting Bolls	98	99	99	
	Bolls Opening	22	31	34	
	Harvested
	14	8	16	
Peanuts	Harvested
	2	0	1	
Rice	Harvested
	91	91	93	
Sorghum	Headed	96	100	96	
	Coloring	75	95	76	
	Mature	67	84	66	
	Harvested
	66	79	62	
Soybeans	Dropping Leaves	84	84	30	
	Harvested
	61	45	60	
Sunflowers	Harvested	3	19	31	
Winter Wheat	Planted	8	7	20	

Crop Condition Table – September 14, 2008	
Crop	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Very Poor	Index 1/	
	Percent	2008	2007	
Corn	4	38	26	16	16	59	83	
Cotton	9	31	33	18	9	63	70	
Peanuts	3	61	31	4	1	78	88	
Rice	16	50	28	3	3	80	66	
Sorghum	5	40	36	14	5	67	72	
Soybeans	2	33	29	27	9	57	92	
Range & Pasture	7	32	38	15	8	--	--	
  1/ 	The formula for the condition index is I = (5V + 25P + 60F + 90G + 110E)/100 where
	I=crop condition Index and V, P, F, G, E = percentage of crop rated very poor, poor, fair, good, excellent.	

Top Soil Moisture by District – September 14, 2008 *	
Condition	1-N	1-S	2-N	2-S	3	4	5-N	5-S	6	7	8-N	8-S	9	10-N	10-S	
	- Percent of Acreage -	
Very Short	2	2	2	2	8	6	0	8	7	17	14	13	0	5	0	
Short	28	17	14	13	23	18	5	23	15	30	49	27	40	31	0	
Adequate	69	68	24	79	56	71	87	55	62	47	36	52	60	59	95	
Surplus	1	13	60	6	13	5	8	14	16	6	1	8	0	5	5	
*	High Plains: 1-N, 1-S; Low Rolling Plains: 2-N, 2-S; North Central Texas: 3, 4; East Texas: 5-N, 5-S. 
	Trans-Pecos: 6; Edwards Plateau: 7; South Central Texas: 8-N, 8-S; Upper Coast: 96; South Texas: 10-N; Lower Valley: 10-S.	

Weather Information Table 1/  2/	
National 
Weather Service 
Climatic Divisions	Previous Week
(September 8 – 14)
Accumulation	Month-to-date
(September 1 – 14)
Accumulation	Year-to-date
(Jan 1 – Sep 14)
Accumulation	1961 – 1990
Annual 
Normal	Previous
Three Months
(Jun – Aug)
Percent of Normal	
High Plains	2.33	2.55	13.95	18.87	103	
Low Rolling Plains	2.51	2.59	15.75	23.78	97	
North Central Texas	1.58	1.66	19.80	34.00	82	
East Texas	3.84	4.31	30.51	45.69	101	
Trans-Pecos	1.81	2.37	8.26	12.96	90	
Edwards Plateau	1.42	1.42	13.56	24.01	93	
South Central Texas	0.72	1.17	14.89	34.48	81	
Upper Coast	2.98	3.04	27.48	47.63	88	
South Texas	1.09	1.50	14.38	23.49	134	
Lower Valley	1.54	2.71	19.93	25.34	185	
1/	Average of all stations reporting precipitation data.
2/	    High Plains: 1-N, 1-S; Low Rolling Plains: 2-N, 2-S; North Central Texas: 3, 4; East Texas: 5-N, 5-S. 
	Trans-Pecos: 6; Edwards Plateau: 7; South Central Texas: 8-N, 8-S; Upper Coast: 9; South Texas: 10-N; Lower Valley: 10-S.
 For more weather information, please visit the following web sites:
 www.srh.noaa.gov/rfcshare/precip_analysis_new.php  and  www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html	

Cooperating Agencies:
Texas AgriLife Extension Service
Texas Department of Agriculture
National Weather Service