04/12/05 Weekly crop progress

Farm and Ranch April 12, 2005 In USDA's second crop progress report of the year, winter wheat conditions continue to look good. That's the word from USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. Rippey: "Seventy percent of the wheat rated good to excellent. Just six percent very poor to poor. That is up just a little bit from last week when we had 68% good to excellent, six percent very poor to poor." Rippey says this year's crop has come out of dormancy in the best shape since the 1999 harvested crop. Rippey: "It is probably worth noting that that crop harvested in 99 which also came out 68% good to excellent, six percent very poor to poor in early April had a yield per harvested acre of 47.8 bushels per acre and that is a record that still stands." That's a national average yield. Both Oregon and Washington saw improvements in the good to excellent rating categories for winter wheat, Idaho saw a two point decline. Meanwhile, Rippey says spring wheat planting across the U.S. was 12 percent complete to start this week. That compares to the five-year average of 9%. Rippey: "And it is kind of reflective of low sub-soil moisture that even though it has been raining sporadically the last three or four weeks across the northern Plains and the northwest it is not that muddy so planting progress continues through the showers. Washington state 79% of the spring wheat planted. Five-year average is 53%. And South Dakota 39% planted. Five-year average just 24%." Nationally, farmers have planted 11% of this year's barley crop, which is right on the average pace for this time. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.