U.S. Plains wheat deteriorating in dry weather

CHICAGO: Winter wheat condition ratings are declining in the southern U.S. Plains breadbasket, where dry conditions persist as the region's crop is breaking dormancy and needs more water for spring growth, agronomists said.

"We could use rain," said Jim Shroyer, a wheat specialist with Kansas State University. "As it warms up, if it's short on soil moisture and the temperatures are right, the wheat is going to try to grow. And that is going to put it under stress," Shroyer said.

A generally cold and dry winter has already killed off some of the crop in parts of central Kansas, the biggest U.S. wheat producer.

"We are seeing some winterkill in the central part of the state," Shroyer said, adding that Saline, McPherson and Marion counties were among the hardest hit.

The Kansas field office of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service said in a weekly report on Monday that 34 percent of the Kansas wheat crop was rated in good to excellent condition, down from 37 percent a week earlier.

In Oklahoma, another major wheat producer, 18 percent of the wheat was rated good to excellent, down from 22 percent a week earlier, USDA's Oklahoma field office said.

In Texas, 13 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, down from 28 percent a week earlier. At the other end of the ratings scale, the amount of Texas wheat rated poor to very poor jumped to 52 percent, from 31 percent the previous week, USDA said.

All three states primarily grow hard red winter wheat, the largest U.S. wheat class.

In Oklahoma, winterkill was not an issue, said Jeff Edwards, a wheat specialist at Oklahoma State University. But with 14 percent of the crop at the jointing stage of growth, the lack of moisture was becoming critical.

The latest weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report showed that 43 percent of Kansas and 31 percent of Oklahoma were in the grip of severe drought.

Meteorologists said rain would be minimal in the region for the next 10 days but there was a chance for some precipitation in the central Plains toward the end of the month.

"We can make it a little longer with the current conditions, but it will be the end of March before you know it and things could get tough in a hurry," Oklahoma State's Edwards said.

"About the time that it's jointing is when we are entering reproductive growth. Any water stress past that point, you are losing bushels," Edwards said, adding, "I am not all that concerned about anything other than moisture."