CHICAGO, April 6 (Reuters) – U.S. winter wheat is coming out of dormancy in worse condition than usual due to drought, but is in better shape than it was a year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday.
In its first weekly crop report of the 2015 season, USDA said 44 percent of the winter wheat crop in the 18 top producing states was rated good to excellent. That was up from 35 percent a year ago but off the five-year average for the first week in April of 47 percent good to excellent.
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However, conditions in the leading hard red winter wheat areas of the southern Plains deteriorated in the latest week due to drought pressures that may not let up soon.
In Kansas, the top HRW wheat state, the crop was rated 33 percent good to excellent, down 6 points from last week. Oklahoma weekly wheat conditions dropped 1 point to 43 percent good to excellent and the Texas crop fell 1 point to 54 percent good to excellent.
In Nebraska, another big HRW state, conditions were unchanged from last week at 34 percent good to excellent.
“With the winterkill that has been showing up and the overall drought stress the crop has been having, it’s not overly surprising,” Justin Gilpin, head of the Kansas Wheat Commission, said in a phone interview.
The lack of soil moisture is a continuing concern in a number of counties, the Kansas wheat report said.
For the soft red winter wheat crop, grown in less arid areas of the Midwest and Southeast, conditions improved.
In its first rating of the season, Ohio SRW was 59 percent good to excellent and 32 percent fair. The Illinois soft red crop was rated 56 percent good to excellent, up four points in the week, and Arkansas wheat was 51 percent good to excellent, up three points from last week.
Rain was forecast to move into the Plains mid-week but the driest western and southern areas were not expected to see much moisture, crop experts said.
The rain outlook will also affect corn planting and germination this month.
Nationally, the four-year California drought continues to draw the most attention. Topsoil moisture statewide was rated 80 percent short to very short and subsoils were rated 85 percent short to very short, with the remaining acreage rated adequate.
