04/04/06 Winter wheat crop ratings resume

Farm and Ranch April 4, 2006 In its first weekly crop ratings report of the spring issued Monday the USDA said the U.S. winter wheat crop overall is rated in 38 percent good to excellent condition with 31 percent being poor to very poor. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says that's a decline from the last progress report issued in November of last year. Rippey: "At that time our numbers were looking 52% good to excellent and 15% very poor to poor. So we have taken a bit of a slide during the winter months." The major problem area of course is the drought stricken southern Plains. But Rippey says some other winter wheat states bear watching too. Rippey: "A little bit of a concern as you head further north. More than 1/5 of the wheat rated very poor to poor in three other states. South Dakota at 21%, Colorado at 22% and Kansas at 23%. Those last three states have seen some recent soil moisture improvement but still have a ways to go to see full recovery. " Rippey says a bright spot for winter wheat ratings is the West. Rippey: "California 95% good to excellent. Elsewhere in the Northwest we have Idaho 91% good to excellent and Washington state 74%." Oregon's winter wheat is rated 56 percent good to excellent with only one percent poor. Another bright spot says Rippey is the Midwest soft red winter wheat belt where three-quarters of the crop is good to excellent in Indiana and Illinois. USDA reports that just two percent of the U.S. spring wheat crop has been sown, a point behind the five year average pace for now. Washington farmers however, have almost a third of their spring wheat planted. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.