CHICAGO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The condition of U.S. winter wheat grown across the southern Plains deteriorated during January as a combination of dryness and arctic temperatures took a toll on the dormant crop, according to government crop reports.
In the top U.S. wheat state of Kansas, 20 percent of the crop was rated poor to very poor at the end of January, versus 6 percent the month before.
“The snowfall during the month did not bring much moisture, as most of the state saw less than half the normal precipitation,” USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in Kansas said late Monday. “Farmers in areas with little to no snow cover were concerned with winterkill on their wheat crop,” the report added.
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During January an arctic blast swept across the nation’s grain belt, including the southern Plains, a region known for producing the most popular U.S. wheat variety – hard red winter – used to make bread. Lows in early January dipped to zero as far south as Oklahoma and further north, Nebraska and Colorado saw lows dip to minus 15 to minus 20F (minus 26 to minus 29 Celsius).
Worries about the crop lifted U.S. wheat futures prices on Tuesday, led by the Kansas City market which tracks the value of hard red winter wheat, traders said. By midday, KC March wheat was up 16-1/2 cents to $6.40-3/4 a bushel.
In Oklahoma, the No. 2 producer of hard red winter wheat, crop conditions were worse than Kansas, with 24 percent of the state’s wheat rated poor to very poor. Just a month ago 8 percent of Oklahoma’s wheat was poor to very poor.
Wheat conditions also deteriorated in two other big wheat states – Texas and Nebraska – during January, raising concerns about the young crop.
“January was categorized as high winds and little to no precipitation,” the Oklahoma crop report said. “According to the most recent drought monitor, the majority of the state was rated abnormally dry to no drought at all, while the Panhandle and the far Southwest district were rated an extreme to exceptional drought.”
“Some canola and winter wheat also experienced freeze damage,” it added.
Tougher on the wheat than the cold has been the lack of moisture since November, agronomists say.
Subsoil moisture in Kansas was 57 percent short to very short as of Sunday, up from 39 percent a month earlier.
“It’s the lack of moisture that is the biggest concern and the dry regions are expanding from the west to the east,” Jim Shroyer, an agronomist with Kansas State University, said.
“Winterkill is a possibility as well,” Shroyer added.
Snow cover protects dormant wheat from being burned, also referred to as winterkill, when temperatures dip below zero for four hours or more. The damage can prevent the crop from reaching its full potential next summer.
Despite the falling crop conditions during January, wheat ratings are higher than a year ago, following the historic 2012 U.S. drought. Thirty-nine percent of the Kansas wheat crop was rated as poor to very poor at the end of January 2013.
A winter storm sweeping the southern Plains on Tuesday was expected to bring some relief to the crop, with forecasts calling for as much as 10 inches of snow in Kansas.
The snow should help insulate the crop from another round of frigid temperatures expected later this week. But the crop will need more moisture as it emerges from dormancy later this year, crop specialists said.
