Market News & Headlines >> U.S. Winter Wheat Conditions Improve

U.S. winter wheat conditions improved slightly last week as rains arrived in some of the dry areas of the Plains HRW wheat belt and many Midwest SRW wheat fields flourished amid ample soil moisture as did white wheat fields in the Pacific Northwest.

Nationwide winter wheat conditions were rated 57% good/excellent as of Sunday, up from 56% a week earlier and only 42% a year earlier. Some 12% of the U.S. crop was reported to be heading, slightly behind last year’s 13% and the five-year average of 15%. 

In the top winter wheat state of Kansas, the crop rating fell slightly to 49% good/excellent from 50% a week earlier. However, that was still well above the year-earlier reading of only 26% good/excellent and the rating should rise further thanks to beneficial late week rains. Much of the western half of the state received two or more inches of rain on the week, according to the Kansas office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

In the No. 2 HRW wheat state of Oklahoma, the crop rating improved to 58% good/excellent from 56% a week earlier, while the Texas crop was rated 45% good/excellent, unchanged from a week earlier. 

SRW wheat crop conditions were favorable across Midwest producing states with conditions rated 66% good/excellent in both Illinois and Missouri, with the Indiana crop was rated 77% good/excellent, the Ohio crop 78% good/excellent and the Michigan crop 69% good/excellent. 

Winter wheat is also doing very well in the Pacific Northwest, with conditions rated 80% good/excellent in Washington state, 90% good/excellent in Idaho and 66% good/excellent in Oregon.