US Winter Wheat Harvest Reaches 69%, Spring Wheat Crop Ratings Unchanged

(S&P Global) – Winter wheat harvest in the US for the 2019-20 crop (June-May) hit 69% in the week ended July 21, up 12 percentage points week on week, led by good weather conditions in Kansas and Colorado, the US Department of Agriculture said late Monday.

Hot and dry weather last week allowed wheat harvest to advance quickly in Colorado, a major winter wheat producing state, the USDA said. Harvest reached 65% in the state from 22% a week earlier.

Wheat harvest in Kansas, the country’s largest wheat producing state, reached 96% from 81% in the week ended July 14.

Kansas struggled with severe wet conditions in May and early June, slowing down crop development in the region earlier.

Overall US winter wheat harvest in the latest week was below market expectations of 73%, and behind the year-ago pace of 79%.

SPRING WHEAT

A total of 76% of spring wheat crop across six key-producing states was reported to be in good to excellent conditions in the latest week, unchanged from the past week and in line with market estimates.

However, spring wheat crop ratings were down 3 percentage points from the year-ago period.

Spring wheat was headed at 92% in the week ended July 21, compared with 78% in the past week, with good crop progress seen in Montana and North Dakota. Heading occurs when the head of the wheat plant fully emerges from the stem.