National Winter Wheat Slow To Develop, But Looking Good
When talking about the progress of this year’s winter wheat crop nationwide, one word comes to mind; Slow.
“A lot of the soils are cool, and or wet. Winter wheat heading by April 28th, is just 19% of the crop, that’s behind the five-year average of 29%, but slightly ahead of last year’s pace of 18% headed,” said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. He noted nationally, 8% of the winter wheat crop is rated Very Poor to Poor, which is a big improvement from last year’s drought impacted crop. But, by and large, he noted that things are looking good for the winter wheat crop.
“The good news though is winter wheat conditions continue to look quite good, especially across the Great Plains, which saw another increase in the Good to Excellent rating for the week ending April 28th, now to 64% of the crop. Up two points from last week.”
Rippey said a glaring question that still need to be answered, the quality, especially in areas that produce Soft Red such as Ohio.
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