April 14, 2009

The US winter wheat crop deteriorated slightly last week, as corn and spring wheat planting lumbered to a slow start, the US Department of Agriculture said Monday (April 13).

The crop updates, issued in the USDA's weekly progress report, were mostly unsurprising, analysts said. Hard red winter, or HRW, wheat in the southern Plains continued to struggle with dryness for much of the week, while excessive wetness slowed planting attempts, they said.

The USDA rated 42 percent of winter wheat as good to excellent as of Sunday, down one percentage point from the previous week and five percentage points from a year earlier. Analysts had expected to see a slight decline.

The ratings reflect a divide between HRW wheat, grown in the central and southern Plains, and soft red winter, or SRW, wheat, grown in the eastern third of the US Poor weather has stressed HRW wheat, used to make bread, while conditions have been more favorable for SRW wheat, used to make pastries and snack foods.

"It's primarily a hard red winter wheat versus soft red winter wheat game at this time," said Joe Victor, vice president of marketing for Allendale. "Soft red is doing quite well and the hard red needs some help."

In Kansas, the country's top HRW-wheat-producing state, 37 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, down two percentage points from the previous week, according to the USDA. In Oklahoma, 16 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, down nine percentage points from the previous week.

A freeze that descended on the southern Plains last Tuesday appeared to hurt Oklahoma's crop, agronomists have said. However, it takes awhile for farmers to assess the true impact of a cold snap.

"The jury is still out regarding the Kansas wheat freeze," Victor said. "After the rains that just fell through this weekend, we anticipate next week we should see a little bit of improvement in the Texas and Oklahoma crops."

Among SRW wheat states, Ohio's crop was rated 71 percent good to excellent, unchanged from last week, according to the USDA. In Indiana, 76 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, up two percentage points from the previous week. In Illinois, 66 percent of the crop was seen as good to excellent, down eight percentage points from last week, the USDA said.

The USDA said 2 percent of the spring wheat crop was planted as of Sunday, down from 8 percent last year and the average of 11 percent. The slow start was mostly expected because the northern Plains have been hit with flooding and excessive wetness.

In North Dakota, no spring wheat had been planted yet, according to the USDA. Last year, 5 percent of the crop was in the ground. The average is 4 percent planted.

In South Dakota, 2 percent of spring wheat had been planted, down from 11 percent last year and the average of 28 percent, according to the USDA. It is "a little bit worrisome" that South Dakota farmers are so far behind average in planting, Victor said.

Corn planting was 2 percent complete as of Sunday, on target with last year but down from the average of 6 percent, the USDA said. The lack of progress in major Midwest states was "not surprising given the cooler weather we've had and the series of storms that have gone through," Victor said.

Planting had not begun yet in Illinois, Iowa or Indiana, according to the USDA. Normally, the crop would be 7 percent seeded in Illinois, 1 percent seeded in Iowa and 2 percent seeded in Indiana.

The delays are not concerning yet because farmers can put the crop in the ground quickly when the weather improves, traders said. Conditions should turn drier and warmer next week for most areas, T-Storm Weather said in a forecast. Planting prospects gradually improve, especially in the western Corn Belt and Central Plains, where above-average warmth is most probable, the private weather firm said.