10/22/08 Winter wheat planting and emergence progress

Farm and Ranch October 22, 2008 Planting of the U.S. winter wheat crop only advanced six percentage points this past week. Rippey: "To reach 79%. Slightly behind the average of 81%." 04 Brad Rippey, USDA meteorologist who says unlike the Pacific Northwest where dryness is an issue, wetness slowed planting progress in some regions of the country. Rippey: "Planting continuing as weather conditions permit. It was a fairly wet week in some of the nation's major producing areas in the nation's mid-section." Planting progress in all the Pacific Northwest states is behind average with 88 percent of Idaho's crop seeded, 87 percent of Washington's and 67 percent of Oregon's. Emergence of the winter wheat in the region is lagging as well. Idaho is the closet to normal with 41 percent of the winter wheat up. At 62 percent emergence Washington is 11 points behind average. Only ten percent of Oregon's crop is up, 28 points behind the five year average. Weekly Crop Progress reports for Washington and Oregon cite the need for more moisture. Those rains USDA's Rippey mentioned in the nation's mid-section have also meant slow progress for the U.S. corn harvest. Rippey: "By October 19th the harvest had reached 29%, well behind the five year average of 53% and even further behind last year's number of 58 percent by October 19th 2007." The potato harvest in Idaho is 89 percent complete. In Washington 87 percent of the potato crop has been harvested. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.