Washington Pulling Down National Spring Wheat Numbers

When looking at the latest spring wheat numbers, harvest officially past the 1/3 mark on Sunday August 17th, reaching 36%, which is equal to the five-year average of 36% and ahead of last year's 29%.

“We did have a big 20% jump, meaning that 1/5 of the wheat was harvested in just the last week," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.  "The overall range is from 24% harvested in North Dakota all the way up to 70% in South Dakota.”

When it comes progress here in the Northwest, both Idaho and Washington are reporting 45% of the spring wheat crop harvested.  For Idaho, that’s well above the five-year average of 33%, while Washington is spot in the five-year average.

Washington, Montana Quality Hurting National Numbers

When it comes to the quality of the spring wheat crop.

“As we wind down the season exactly half the crop, 50% is rated good to excellent, 18%, very poor to poor," Rippey said.  "Quite a disappointment on this crop, with over half the crop, 53% rated very poor to poor in Washington.”

That, plus poor numbers in Montana are dragging down the national average.

When you look at the 2024 spring wheat crop this week, 73% was rated good to excellent and 5% very poor to poor.

By the way, 18% of Idaho’s spring wheat crop is rated very-poor to poor.

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