U.S. winter wheat harvest two-thirds complete

Farm and Ranch July 14, 2009 Grain harvesting is just getting underway in the Pacific Northwest with six percent of Oregon’s winter wheat reported cut to start this week and four percent of Washington’s. Nationally however, 66 percent of the winter wheat is in the bin with the National Agricultural Statistics Service reporting harvest in the largest wheat producing state, Kansas, at 96 percent complete.

As for the progress of the nation’s spring wheat crop, USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey tells us;

Rippey: “Spring wheat, we are looking at the crop moving into the heading stage behind schedule, 57% headed, five year average 83%. In terms of condition still a pretty good looking crop; 71% good to excellent, only five percent very poor to poor. Better than a year ago at 61 and 11% respectively. We did see some fairly significant improvements in condition with cool, showery weather in places like Montana, South Dakota and Washington state.”

Heading of spring wheat in Washington and Oregon is nearly complete but in Idaho only 61 percent of the crop is headed. That compares to the five year average for now of 78 percent. Idaho’s barley is also 61 percent headed, which is also running behind normal. Washington’s barley crop is nearly all headed out.

USDA’s Rippey says row crops in the Midwest are entering the reproductive phase under generally favorable conditions. Development is running late but the condition of the corn crop at 71 percent good to excellent is better than last year at this time.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.