I subscribe to the weekly report on agriculture and weather in Alabama, issued each Monday afternoon by the U.S Department of Agriculture, Alabama Field Office, Montgomery. It is known as the Crop Progress and Condition Report. Some notes from today’s edition:
CROPS
…..81% of the Alabama corn crop is in good condition, 10% excellent and only 9% fair. None is in poor condition.
…..79% of the cotton crop is in good condition, 7% excellent and 14% fair.
…..87% of the peanut crop is good, 4% excellent and 9% fair. None is is poor.
…..87% of soybean acreage is good, 3% excellent and 10% fair
LIVESTOCK
…..78% of the livestock population in good condition and 11% excellent. The other 11% is fair. This contrasts sharply with just a few years ago when a lot of livestock suffered through the drought and many were carried to market early.
PASTURE AND RANGE LAND
…..89% is in in good to excellent condition and 10% fair
TOP SOIL MOISTURE
…..it is rated as adequate over 85% of Alabama and 9% of the state has a surplus. Only 5% is short and 1% very short.
THE RAIN SITUATION
The USDA uses weather data from 34 weather stations around the state. Eight of those locations has rain on all seven days and 17 stations had rain on five or six days. Here is a short list of rain totals for the last seven days (through yesterday)
4.86 Hamilton
3.67 Bridgeport
3.60 Talladega
4.08 Pinson
2.60 Livingston
2.80 Mobile
However, Jack Tatum, Regional Extension Agent for Shelby County, reported that farms he visited in Bibb and Chilton County only received about 3/10ths of an inch of rain in the last seven days.
DROUGHT SITUATION
The last Drought Monitor, issued June 1, showed that 100% of Alabama is free of drought! What a contrast with just a few years ago!
