First Crop Progress Report of the Year

The big news for the first Crop Progress Report of the 2014 season is the expected wheat winter condition decline, especially in the drought-stricken Southern Plains. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey shares the dramatic difference in crop condition from last fall.

Rippey: “Winter wheat conditions decline precipitously during the winter. In fact looking back at the last 20 years, this is on par to the decline we saw in 1995-96.”

Rippey continues with the overall national winter wheat conditions

Rippey: “Thirty five percent of the crop rated good to excellent condition, but 29 percent rated very poor to poor and as we look back to where we were in late November in 2013 that is a very significant decline — from 62 percent good to excellent and 8 percent very poor to poor.”

For the Southern Plains Texas rated 61 percent of the crop very poor to poor. Rippey shares crop ratings of other effected states

Rippey: “Including: Oklahoma 48 percent very poor to poor, Colorado 33 percent and Kansas 28 percent.”

In Idaho things look really positive with winter wheat crop conditions rated 78 percent good to excellent. In Oregon 44 percent of the crop is rated good to excellent and 50 percent of the crop rated fair. Washington had the the most rated poorly — with 16 percent rated very poor to poor and only 39 percent rated good to excellent.