An Excellent Week for Making Hay
Published: Friday, June 21, 2024
The following is from the Michigan Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service for the week ending June 16.
A mostly dry week gave producers time to finish some planting across the state. There were 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork.
Corn, soybean and oat planting were all but wrapped up while dry edible beans reached 75% planted last week.
Eighty percent of the winter wheat crop remained in good to excellent condition.
Hay harvest was well underway with reports of better yields compared with last year.
Herbicides were applied to sugarbeets, but strong winds limited some applications. The potato crop was in good condition.
Fruit
June drop was underway in apples. On the Ridge, frost damage was apparent on some fruitlets. Frost rings and irregular fruitlets were common. In the South, fruit was sizing rapidly.
For early apple varieties in the West Central, the most advanced fruitlets ranged from 40-44 mm for Zestar and 35-40 mm for Idared. Honeycrisp ranged from 31-35 mm and Gala was 24-28 mm. In the Northwest, apples were sizing well.
Tart cherries were growing rapidly across the state. In the West Central, tart cherry fruitlets were 14-16 mm.
Peaches in the southwest were about five days earlier than normal. Pits were still soft. In the West Central, peach fruitlets were growing steadily. Fruit set appeared to be very good across all varieties.
Venture peach fruitlets were 30-35 mm. Growers began to hand thin peaches.
In the Southwest, blueberries were sizing well with earlier varieties showing hints of blue. Fruit set looked good. Some farms reported poor foliage growth on Bluecrop and other varieties. The cause was still unknown.
Vegetables
Vegetable crops grew well in the average temperatures and varied rainfall last week; soil conditions in the north were more moist than in the south.
Early plantings of tomatoes and peppers were being trellised, and growers were busy laying additional plastic for planting later in the season.
Producers were concluding asparagus harvest and applied herbicides and fungicides.
Transplanting cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts continued, while direct-seeded brassica greens, such as kale, mustard greens and collard greens, began to be harvested.
Carrots were several inches tall, with some intended for fresh market still being planted.
Cucumbers and zucchini were nearing harvest in the Southwest region, while those grown under hoophouses had already begun to be harvested.
Onion producers began insect and fungal control programs based on crop development stage.
Peas continued to be harvested in the Southwest and Eastern regions, and early planted snap beans were beginning to flower.
Topsoil moisture was rated very short, 1%; short, 13%; adequate, 76%; surplus, 10%.
Subsoil moisture was rated very short, 0%; short, 8%; adequate, 83%; surplus, 9%.
The crop progress schedule (last week, previous week, 2023 and five-year average) showed: corn emerged, 92, 80, 91, 83; soybeans planted, 93, 87, 99, 88; soybeans emerged, 82, 69, 88, 77; winter wheat headed, 95, 87, 91, 82; dry edible beans planted, 75, 23, 79, 60; dry edible beans emerged, 45, 12, 49, 33; alfalfa hay, first cutting, 73, 46, 82, 62; other hay, first cutting, 63, 26, 82, 45; oats emerged, 95, 90, 95, 90; oats headed, 23, 12, 20, 16.
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