According to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the condition of the nation’s winter wheat crop remains at a four-year high, with 50% of the crop rated as good-to-excellent. This is unchanged from the previous week and significantly higher than the 29% recorded a year earlier when drought slashed harvests.
The strong winter wheat ratings come as traders are closely monitoring crop conditions in the world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter, the United States, amid concerns over frost and drought damage to farms in top exporter Russia. Analysts had expected a slight increase in the good-to-excellent rating to 51%.
In the coming week, scouts on an annual crop tour in Kansas will assess hundreds of wheat fields to further evaluate the crop’s status. As of May 7, the USDA data showed that only 28% of the U.S. winter wheat was in an area experiencing drought, down significantly from 48% a year earlier.
However, the USDA report also highlighted that corn planting progress in the U.S. is behind the five-year average. As of Sunday, only 49% of the corn crop had been planted, compared to the average of 54%. The corn crop was also 23% emerged, which is above the average of 21%.
While the USDA projects that farmers will harvest the fourth-largest corn crop and second-biggest soybean crop this year, with record yields expected for both, the extensive delays from poor weather could prevent planting or prompt farmers to switch from one crop to another.
Mike Naig, Iowa’s agriculture secretary, commented that “planters continue to be parked across much of the state” and that the delays are “certainly weighing on the minds of farmers.”
For the U.S. spring wheat crop, planting was 61% complete, ahead of the 48% average, according to the USDA report. However, soybean planting, at 35% complete, was behind the five-year average of 34% and analysts’ estimates of 39%.