Plains wheat crop struggling, but Central states seeing good yields
The state of the US winter wheat crop declined during the months of dormancy since the report’s hibernation last autumn, according to the seasonal return of the US Department of Agriculture’s weekly national Crop Progress report.
The first nationwide Crop Progress report from the USDA since November 27, 2022 was released on April 3. In order to provide a thorough analysis for the 18 main states that grow winter wheat, the report combines new data with information that certain state USDA offices had begun to release a few weeks earlier. Conditions were worse than in the last report of 2022 (for the 2023 crop) and compared with the 2022 US crop as it emerged from dormancy a year earlier for winter wheat, which was sowed last autumn for harvest in 2023.
As of April 2, the USDA had the following ratings for winter wheat: 3% excellent, 25% good, 36% fair, 20% poor, and 16% extremely poor. The overall 28% good-to-excellent rating contrasted with 34% in the week that concluded on November 27 and with 30% on the crop in 2022 one year prior.
Hard red winter wheat-growing regions in the northern, central, and southern Plains fared the worst over the winter, supporting US Drought Monitor data and providing additional important evidence of the impact of drought on the crop. On Nov. 27, 16% of respondents in Kansas (22%), 26% in Oklahoma (31%), 18% in Texas (21%), 27% in Colorado (30%), 22% in Nebraska (20%), 23% in South Dakota (27%) and 24% in Montana (44%), all received good-to-excellent ratings.
We need precipitation or we risk having a harvest with yields as low as last year, which has become a pretty significant concern for wheat, according to Bill Lapp, owner of Advanced Economic Solutions in Omaha, Nebraska. The area near Liberal, Kansas, is the epicentre of the dry spell, and it extends 100 miles in all directions into Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado. This is a crucial region for wheat production.
91% of winter wheat was growing in drought in the southwestern half of Kansas, the top-producing state in the US, according to the USDA’s most recent assessment of the US Drought Monitor, which indicates the ongoing lack of rainfall in hard red winter wheat areas. Some states with sizable regions in the extreme.
Mr. Lapp remarked, “I’m quite concerned about this amount of dryness with no evidence of alleviation thus far. “The precipitation patterns in California, Arizona, and New Mexico shifted significantly in December, but it hasn’t reached those western wheat states. The Gulf’s moisture content hasn’t increased enough for the conditions to improve as I had anticipated.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noted that northern US and Canada areas can become dryer and warmer. Generally, trade winds are reduced and warm Pacific Ocean water is pushed back eastward towards the US West Coast when El Niño conditions take over from La Niña (also known as El Viejo, anti-El Niño, or “a cold event”).
Conditions were worse than in November outside the five main states that produce soft wheat. In Arkansas (57% on April 2), there were good-to-excellent ratings (up from 64% on Nov. 29) and 82% in North Carolina (79%). Conditions were noticeably worse after winter in the states of the Pacific Northwest, where white winter wheat is largely farmed. On April 2, 17% of Idaho had good-to-excellent conditions (compared to 37% on Nov. 29), 44% of Oregon had 70%, and 39% of Washington had 64%.
You may also like:
Food security in emerging nations: issues and remedies
Are drinks the secret to increasing cannabis use among consumers?
Managing the lack of labour for mushroom picking
Winter wheat was listed as progressing in the USDA’s aggregate crop report, but only for the first four states. As of April 2, the percentages were as follows: 3% in Arkansas (based on a five-year average of 7%), 30% in California (4%), 2% in North Carolina (1%), and 20% in Texas. Regarding the United