In this week’s USDA report, US winter wheat planting is all but finished up with 96 percent of the new crop now sown compared to its five-year average of 97 percent.
In the winter wheat condition rating, 44 percent of the nation’s crop is said to be in the good to excellent categories. In the key production area of the Great Plains, Nebraska has edged out Kansas for the best rating as it gained three points with a 63 percent good to excellent rating while Kansas went the other direction and dropped three points to land at 62 percent this week. The Texas wheat crop showed even more drought stress this week as it’s rating slipped by another two points down to only 22 percent in the good to excellent categories while 42 percent of its crop is listed in the poor to very poor categories. This will be key to watch since the western High Plains of Texas where most of its wheat is grown are expected to remain dry for at least the next 10 days according to some sources.
The national harvest progress report shows that this year’s season has basically made it to the finish line (over 90 percent) in all of the major crops except for cotton.
Nationally, the corn harvest has reached the 95 percent completion mark. In the I-80 Corridor, corn harvest is over 90 percent complete in all states except Ohio which checks in at 84 percent as of Sunday.
Soybean harvest across the US is now 95 percent done with all states in the I-80 Corridor at or above the 90 percent mark. Ohio just made the 90 percent cut this week.
Cotton harvest surged ahead to 75 percent done. After making very good progress this past week, the harvest is now four points ahead of its average pace. Mississippi is furthest along with 91 percent taken out of the field while Texas - the largest producing state - moved to 70 percent completion.
Grain sorghum (milo) harvest is coming down the home stretch with 94 percent of the crop now in the bin compared to its average pace of 92 percent. All of the major producing states are over 90 percent done, if not totally completed by now.
Peanut harvest stands at 92 percent complete - just one point behind its five-year average. The top producing state of Georgia is 94 percent finished which is just one point behind its average.
In the topsoil moisture deficit section, Montana intensified its grip on the top spot as it added three more points to the short to very short categories to put it at 99 percent this week. The second driest topsoil state is New Mexico with 81 percent of its topsoil meeting the short to very short criteria.
To no one’s surprise, Montana also holds down the top sport in the subsoil moisture deficit report this week remaining at 94 percent short to very short. New Mexico is rated 83 percent short to very short in the root zone which is more than four inches below the surface.
