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Concerns continue for U.S. winter wheat crop in the Plains

 

The U.S. winter wheat crop in the southern Plains is either emerging or preparing to emerge from dormancy.

The USDA says recent scattered rainfall did help improve soil moisture in parts of the region, but the precipitation missed some of the drier areas, keeping hard red winter in generally poor to very poor condition.

As of Sunday, 11% of Kansas’ wheat crop is rated good to excellent, with another 34% called fair and the remaining 55% in poor to very poor shape. 81% of the state’s topsoil and 78% of subsoil are short to very short of moisture.

For Oklahoma, 5% of wheat is in good to excellent condition, with 29% rated fair and 66% called poor to very poor. 21% of the crop is jointing, compared to 36% a year ago and the five-year average of 29%. 71% of Oklahoma’s topsoil and 74% of subsoil are short to very short of moisture. 77% of pastures and rangelands are in fair to poor shape and 85% of livestock are called fair to good.

In Texas, 10% of wheat is rated good to excellent, 30% is fair, and 60% is poor to very poor. 35% of corn is planted, compared to 30% last year and 26% on average, with emergence reported in the upper coast and south-central regions. 71% of pastures and rangelands are in fair to very poor condition. Moisture is short to very short for 66% of topsoil and 59% of subsoil.

Weekly national crop progress and condition reports resume April 2nd.