An update on crop progress

Farm and Ranch May 14, 2009 This week’s Crop Weather Summary from the National Agricultural Statistics Service reports some winter wheat is now heading out in the Pacific Northwest. One percent was headed in Washington at the start of this week, four percent in Oregon. But overall, USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey, says crop progress and spring planting continue to lag a bit in the region due to cool, wet weather.

Rippey: “All the way from the Pacific Coast into the Northern Plains. And as we head through the rest of the wheat we will see some improvement in the situation across the Northwest. We will see a warming trend and a drying trend. That is good news for all producers in the Northwest whether it is small grains or summer crops such as corn or spring wheat.”

At the start of this week Idaho and Washington farmers still had 15 percent of their spring wheat acres left to plant. Nationally, growers still had to seed 65 percent of the spring wheat crop. In the key hard red spring wheat state of North Dakota just 13 percent of the crop was sown. Normally 78 percent would be planted by now.

Only one-third of the U.S. barley crop had been planted, though progress in the Northwest was much higher with 93 percent of Oregon’s barley in the ground, 78 percent of Washington’s and 69 percent of Idaho’s.

U.S. corn plantings are on pace with last year at 48 percent complete but that compares to the five year average of 71 percent.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.