Spring wheat planting still lagging

Farm and Ranch June 2, 2009 Spring wheat planting is about wrapped up in the Pacific Northwest but not nationally.

Rippey: “Eight-nine percent now planted. Five year average 98 percent.”

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. North Dakota farmers still have about 18 percent of their crop to plant; in Minnesota 13 percent. Spring wheat emergence nationally is at 67 percent compared to the five year average of 90 percent. Of the spring wheat up and growing 73 percent is rated good to excellent in the first condition rating of the season. That’s better than last year’s 57 percent at this time.

USDA’s Rippey says 77 percent of the U.S. winter wheat crop is headed. The five year average is 81 percent so progress is not far off the normal pace.

Rippey: “And the winter wheat condition holding generally steady as we head towards the end of the year. Forty-five percent good to excellent. Similar to last year at 47% good to excellent at this time, 22 % very poor to poor.”

Crop weather bulletins in Oregon and Washington report that the recent hot temperatures were causing stress to winter wheat in shallow soils. Both Oregon and Washington report 20 percent of their winter wheat crops are in poor to very poor condition.

U.S. corn growers have most of that crop in the ground now with seeding 93 percent complete, only four points behind average. And the crop is in good condition too; 70 percent good to excellent compared to a year ago’s 60 percent.

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