Planting progress and wheat ratings

Planting progress and wheat ratings

Farm and Ranch April 21, 2011 Planting of most spring crops is running slower than last year and USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says that includes spring wheat.

Rippey: “Overall nationally just five percent planted. That is well behind the five year average of 12% and quite a bit behind last year‘s pace of 18% on April 17th.”

Spring wheat planting in the Pacific Northwest is much further along, though still behind average. Seeding in Idaho is lagging by only a point from the five year average at 35 percent complete, but spring wheat planting in Washington at 40 percent complete is 14 points behind the average pace for now, and in Oregon seeding at 45 percent complete is 31 points behind the five year average.

Rippey says the winter wheat crop in some areas is having more trouble.

Rippey: “The bad wheat getting worse and the good wheat holding on and looking very good.”

Some of the good wheat being in the Pacific Northwest where winter wheat ratings are 80 good to excellent or better. Nationally Rippey says 36 percent of the winter wheat is good to excellent, the same as last week. But;

Rippey: “In terms of very poor to poor wheat, that number has moved up to 38%. Last week 36%. Last year just six percent.”

At the start of this week planting of the U.S. corn crop was only a point behind average at seven percent complete.

Washington farmers have half the state’s potato crop planted, which is ahead of normal. In Idaho two percent of the spuds are in the ground, five points behind the average pace for now.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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