Click here for the J-MAS WeatherStation Data page. (it has not been updated this week)
Weekly WeatherStation Report – July 10th, 2014
Like most of the prairies since Jun 30th, we have seen net drying and a depletion of soil reserve moisture as July does what it does best.
Below you will see a brief summary of what 1 meter depth probes picked up, plus a Leaf Disease update via captured Humidity and Leaf Wetness data. A group text was sent to customers on how to utilize these latest developments with regard to Fungicide applications.
Average Station Information (over all 7 stations – minus anomalies)
Growing Degree Days (since May 22nd crop emergence) – 533
At Depth Soil Moisture %
10cm Depth: 12% Jul 10th (32% Jun 30th) 62% drop
20cm Depth: 18% Jul 10th (33% Jun 30th) 45% drop
30cm Depth: 23% Jul 10th (37% Jun 30th) 38% drop
50cm Depth: 32% Jul 10th (38% Jun 30th) 16% drop
100cm Depth: 44% Jul 10th (44% Jun 30th) 0% drop
Jun 30 – Jul 10th Rainfall Total – 1 mm
Jun 30th Soil Temp – 15.3 degrees
Jul 10th Soil Temp – 16.8 degrees
Dry Leaf Days (<5000 rv’s) – 1.1* days
Consecutive Dry Leaf Days – 1.1* days
* Leaf wetness sensors not placed properly during this period.
Up to the Minute – Weather Charts
This representative graph of all 7 stations highlights the soil moisture decline as roots have now grown enough to begin pulling moisture from the 50cm probe depth and have all but drained the 10cm and soon on the 20cm.
Humidity showed its first signs of decline just last night and while this chart shows consecutively low Leaf Wetness – a major sign that leaf disease will decline rapidly without the need for fungicide – it is not accurate as sensors were not yet moved up into the canopy and scouting each of these nights and mornings anecdotally tell us that leaves were plenty wet those nights and the sensors on the ground were not capturing the big humidity effect. Sensors are being repositioned as we type.