According to a report at AgWeek, the winter wheat crop is not off to a great start this spring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has started reporting weekly conditions for the national crop, and ratings keep dropping. Just 30% of the crop is rated good to excellent and 35% is rated poor to very poor. All through the winter, the Plains were in need of some precipitation to build soil moisture reserves for the spring. That really did not ever happen in a significant way, so when the crop emerged from winter dormancy there just was not a good stand in place.
Weather forecasts really have not shown much hope for some needed rain until late in the week, but considerable drought conditions will require a good amount. We saw last year's spring wheat crop go through some major drought issues before late-season rains brought some relief and boosted yields. But until rains come, look for some support to continue.
Read the full report here.
