Cold and snow over much of the Northern Plains, wet conditions in the Eastern Corn Belt and drought in parts of the Midwest, West and Southern Plains continued to keep planters parked and hampered the development of winter wheat last week, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.
Corn: Planting progress was 7% nationwide as of Sunday, April 24, up 3 percentage points from the previous week, 9 points behind last year’s 16% and 8 points behind the five-year average of 6%.
States at the top and bottom last week: Texas led the way in corn planting progress at 69%. On the low end of other states that are planting, South Dakota and Indiana are at 1%. A few states reported no progress, including Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Soybeans: Planting Progress was 3% nationwide as of Sunday. That was 4 percentage points behind last year’s 7% and slightly behind the 5-year average of 5%.
States at the top and bottom last week: Louisiana reported the most progress at 39%. On the low end of states that had started planting were Illinois, Iowa and Missouri at 1% complete. Several other states reported no planting progress, including Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Notable states: Louisiana and Mississippi made the most planting progress last week with gains of 16 percentage points and 14 percentage points, respectively.
As with corn planting, Illinois was one of the states furthest behind its five-year average with just 1% of soybeans planted, 7 percentage points behind its five-year average of 8%.
Cotton: Planting progress was 12% nationwide, up from the 10% the prior week. One point ahead of the 5-year-average. California led the way for cotton with 85% planted, followed by Arizona at 51% and Texas at 19%.
Winter wheat: Crop development progress: 11% of the winter wheat crop was headed nationwide as of Sunday. That is a 4% increase from last week, but a 5% decrease from last year’s 16%. The five-year average is 19%. Other major winter-wheat-producing states reported no wheat headed, including Kansas and Nebraska.
States at the bottom last week: California’s winter wheat crop was the furthest along at 78% heading. North Carolina’s wheat was next furthest along at 48%. Of the other states reporting winter wheat heading, the lowest was Missouri at 3%, many points down from its five-year average of 18%.
Crop Condition: Nationwide, winter wheat was rated 27% good to excellent, dropping 3 points from the previous week’s 30%. The current rating is well below last year’s good-to-excellent rating of 49%.
Winter wheat conditions in Kansas and Oklahoma 26%, 16%, declined from last week, with Oklahoma falling 5 points from a week ago at 21%. Texas wheat conditions improved to 8% good-to-excellent, from weeks 6%.
Sorghum: Planting Progress for the 6 states planted: 19% nationwide compared to 18% a year ago, with Texas leading at 63% planted, versus the 5 year average of 67%.
For Oklahoma:
Rainfall totals in Oklahoma averaged 1.23 inches. According to the April 19th US Drought Monitor Report, drought conditions were rated 81 percent abnormally dry to exceptional drought, down 4 points from the previous week.
Additionally, 73 percent of the state was in the moderate drought to exceptional drought category, down 1 point from the previous week. Statewide, temperatures averaged in the lower 60’s. Topsoil moisture conditions were rated mostly adequate to short, while subsoil moisture conditions were rated short to very short. There were 6 days suitable for fieldwork.
Small Grains: Winter wheat jointing reached 70 percent, down 20 points from the previous year and down 19 points from normal. Winter wheat headed reached 6 percent, down 26 points from the previous year and down 32 points from normal. Canola blooming reached 45 percent, down 17 points from the previous year and down 31 points from normal. Rye jointing reached 65 percent, down 26 points from the previous year and down 25 points from normal.
Wheat conditions for Oklahoma include 16% good to excellent, 36% fair, and 48% poor to very poor.
In Oklahoma, Sorghum is 1% planted compared to the 5-year average of 7%.
There is currently no cotton planted in Oklahoma compared to the 5-year- average of 3%.
Oats jointing reached 45 percent, up 2 points from the previous year but down 4 points from normal. Pasture and range condition was rated 29% good to excellent, 34% fair, and 37% poor to very poor.
Weather for Week Ending: Temperatures ranged from 30 degrees at Lake Carl Blac on Tuesday, April 19th to 98 degrees at Grandfield on Wednesday, April 20th. Precipitation ranged from 0.02 of an inch in the West Central district with the Southeast district at 3.16 inches. Soil temperature averages ranged from 51 degrees at Vinita on Tuesday, April 19th to 76 degrees at Waurika on Thursday, April 21st .
To see the Oklahoma Crop Progress Report, Click Here.
Over in Texas:
Much of the state received from trace amounts to upwards of 2.00 inches of precipitation. Isolated areas in the Cross Timbers and the Blacklands received up to 5.00 inches. Drought conditions ranged from none to exceptionally dry with the Northern and Southern Plains, the Blacklands, and South Texas being the driest. There was an average of 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork.
Small Grains: Winter wheat continued to struggle throughout most of the state. Irrigated wheat was doing well in the Northern and Southern High Plains. While the majority of the wheat crop is used for grazing in the Cross Timbers, wheat is starting to head out for those farmers trying to harvest the crop for grain.
Row Crops: In the Blacklands, corn has begun to emerge, and irrigation has started for cotton in the Edwards Plateau. Sorghum fields are in need of moisture. Rice planting continues in the Upper Coast.
Fruit, Vegetable and Specialty Crops: In the Lower Valley, onion harvesting continues while the citrus harvest has been completed. In South Texas, strawberry producers are picking at a feverish pace with fruit coming off fast.
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