Winter wheat seeding ahead of average pace in PNW

Farm and Ranch September 16, 2009 Farmers continue to make good progress in planting the U.S. winter wheat crop.

Rippey: “In term of the winter wheat planting, which is now underway in most of the major production states, we have now reached 13% planted. That is ahead of last year‘s pace of 9% but equal to the five year average.”

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey who says all 18 major winter wheat producing states are now within five points of their five year average. Farmers in the Pacific Northwest are running ahead of average with Washington the most advanced at 39 percent planted, followed by Oregon at 24 percent complete and Idaho with 19 percent of its winter wheat in the ground. Washington reports ten percent of its winter wheat has emerged.

Meanwhile the U.S. spring wheat harvest continues though USDA’s Rippey says the pace was slower this past week.

Rippey: “We did see some rain especially in the Dakotas dragging progress even further back; 69% harvested; last year 91%; five year average 92 %.”

The main spring cereal harvesting activity in the PNW is in Idaho where growers had ten percent of their spring wheat still to cut at the start of this week and 17 percent of their barley.

With most samples in on this year’s Pacific Northwest soft white wheat crop, testing at the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland shows the cumulative average protein on the 2009 crop at 10.3 percent, down nearly one percent from last year’s crop. Average test weight is 59.8 pounds, nearly a pound higher than in 2008.

The U.S. corn crop continues its slow development with only 12 percent of the crop mature compared to the five year average of 37 percent.

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