Corn, Soybeans Benefit from Rain
Published: Friday, July 5, 2024
The following is from the Michigan Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service for the week end-ing June 30.
Widespread storms across the state halted most fieldwork. There were 3.8 days suitable for fieldwork.
The excess moisture significantly hampered second cutting hay harvest.
Corn benefited from the recent rains. Early planted soybeans were blooming.
Dry edible beans planting was almost com-plete.
Sugarbeets condition was rated 80% good to excellent, an improvement of 10 points from last week.
Winter wheat harvest began in counties nearest the Southern border.
Other activities included spraying, side dressing corn, spreading manure, and tending livestock.
Fruit
Fruit made steady growth last week and crop loads looked good across all fruit in the state.
Weather conditions were ideal for many pests so keeping orchards protected was a challenge given frequent rain events.
June drop for apples was complete in some orchards in the South and hand thinning was generally completed.
In the West Central, the most advanced fruit ranged from 50-55 mm for Zestar, and Honeycrisp ranged from 44-47 mm. Jonagold was 42-46 mm. and Minnieska was 48-52 mm.
Recent storms brought high winds and hail. Trauma may have occurred in some orchards.
Tart cherry harvest began in the Grand Rapids area and continued in the Southwest. Brix ap-peared to be very good this year. Birds were feeding on cherries.
In the West Central, tart cherries were 20-22 mm and were turning red. Fruit began to soften.
Peach harvest began in the South. In the West Central, Ven-ture peaches were 38-42 mm.
Blueberry harvest was underway in the Southwest and was gearing up in the Southeast.
Vegetables
Many vegetables were being harvested as producers managed increased disease pressures due to rainfall during the previous week.
Asparagus producers shifted focus from harvest to maintaining the health of ferns for next year's crop.
Pumpkins and winter squash were being planted, while harvest was underway for cucumbers and summer squash. Some operations began picking early planted pep-pers and tomatoes.
Broccoli, kohlrabi and kale were being harvested as new plants were being transplant-ed.
Garlic leaves were undergoing senescence, indicating that the crop would be harvested soon.
Many root crops were being harvested, including radishes, turnips, beets and new pota-toes.
Topsoil moisture was rated very short, 0%; short, 3%; adequate, 75%; surplus, 22%.
Subsoil moisture was rated very short, 0%; short, 5%; adequate, 77%; surplus, 18%.
The crop progress schedule (last week, previous week, 2023 and five-year average) showed: soybeans emerged, 96, 91, 95, 91; soybeans blooming, 13, 2, 7, 6; winter wheat mature, 44, 17, 17, 18; winter wheat harvested, 3, 0, 0, 0; dry edible beans planted, 96, 91, 90, 85; dry edible beans emerged, 88, 83, 82, 72; alfalfa hay, first cutting, 85, 81, 94, 85; alfalfa hay, second cutting, 16, 6, 18, 13; other hay, first cutting, 76, 71, 94, 70; other hay, second cutting, 7, 1, 7, 5; oats headed, 70, 43, 36, 48.
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