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| FIRST ON WGIL: Local Farm Fields Not Doing Much Better Than Others |
POSTED 2:55pm 5/12/09 Last week started off well, weather-wise, but ended up too soggy for most farmers to be in the fields planting corn.
Corn planting continues to inch forward but is a large percentage behind past years. Temperatures seemed to help out farmers in the western district with temperatures averaging 62 degrees, over 2 degrees warmer than the week prior and a full degree more than the state average. The west did get a little more time than the rest of the state to get into the fields. The area saw nearly two days suitable for fieldwork while the state averaged just under one half day.
USDA crop statistician Brad Schawb says only about 10 percent of the state's corn crop has been planted, compared with 55 percent last year and a five-year average of 84 percent. Other crops are also behind, thanks in part to the wet weather conditions.
"The soft red winter wheat crop was 21-percent headed, compared to 15-percent one year ago, and 53-percent for the five-year average," Schwab said. "Oat seeding is now 88-percent complete, compared to 89-percent last year, and the five-year average of 96-percent."
The report shows the average precipitation in the state was 1.15 inches last week compared to nearly two tenths of an inch of rain that fell in the week prior. The western district saw just under half an inch of rain, which was down 6 tenths of an inch from the previous report. The southern area of the state saw an increase of about an inch and a half of precipitation versus the week prior thanks to strong storms that passed through that area of the state at the end of last week. The southwest district saw 2.6 inches of rain fall and the southeast had 2.3 inches of precipitation. |
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| 05 12 09 by Newsroom |
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