A winter wheat update
Farm and Ranch December 8, 2011 Temperatures have turned cooler in the Pacific Northwest but nothing like what hit the middle part of the U.S. where severe cold struck.
Rippey: “Below minus 10 in parts of Nebraska and all the way to zero or below all the way down into the northwestern corner of Texas.”
But USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says;
Rippey: “The good news for winter wheat is the majority of the region has at least a shallow snow cover. We do see depths from two to six inches across a broad part of the plains, even down to Lubbock, Texas where there is an inch on the ground early this week. As a result we see the vast majority of the winter wheat is being protected.”
Rippey says winter wheat can take a lot of cold as long as there is that insulating snow cover.
While most of the U.S. corn harvest is over USDA says Ohio still has 20 percent to harvest.
USDA ended the national weekly crop progress report for the season last week so there is not update on crop condition ratings. In its world weather report USDA says winter grains in the Ukraine remain exposed to potential bitter cold. There is some snow cover in parts of Russia. China has favorable moisture for its winter wheat headed into dormancy. Rainfall in eastern Australia hampered wheat harvest continuing concerns about quality.
I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.
