CHICAGO: U.S. winter wheat crop ratings declined slightly over the past week amid a deepening drought in western and southern portions of the U.S. Plains wheat belt, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday.
The winter wheat crop was rated 33 percent good to excellent, down 1 point from the previous week and well below the five-year average of 49 percent, USDA said in its weekly crop progress report.
Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, expected no change to the condition ratings.
Hard red winter wheat yields were expected to decline from a year ago due to dry conditions at planting last fall, followed by a harsh winter that likely damaged a larger-than-normal portion of the crop and a worsening drought.
Ratings in top winter wheat producer Kansas dropped to 21 percent good to excellent, from 24 percent a week ago, as crop scouts on an annual U.S. winter wheat tour prepare to fan out across the state this week to gauge yield potential.
"The southern Plains from south of Lubbock, Texas, west to the New Mexico state line, north to the Texas-Oklahoma Panhandle to I-70 in Kansas - that area has been devastated by drought," said Mark Hodges, executive director for Oklahoma City-based wheat testing company Plains Grains.
"There will be significant amount of drought-damaged wheat and yields will be significantly reduced," he said.
The winter wheat tour will begin scouting crops on Tuesday and will release its final tour results after futures markets close on Thursday afternoon.
Weekend storms dumped significant rain on central and eastern sections of Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, while more rain was needed in western areas and in the Texas panhandle, much of which is currently under extreme to exceptional drought, according to forecasters.
But while hard red winter wheat conditions slipped, the Midwest soft red wheat crop was holding up well.
SRW wheat was rated 62 percent good to excellent as of Sunday in Indiana and Illinois, up 1 to 2 points from a week earlier, while Ohio's SRW crop ratings climbed 1 point to 49 percent good to excellent.
Planting of the U.S. spring wheat crop, centered in the northern U.S. Plains, was 18 percent complete as of Sunday, USDA said. That was within the range of analyst estimates from 17 to 20 percent complete, but behind the five-year average of 30 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.