State-level winter wheat condition ratings signaled more general improvement in the HRW crop over the past month, despite a minor downtick in top producer Kansas. The “good” to “excellent” ratings for HRW wheat rose 12 points in Colorado (to 68%), six points in Nebraska (66%), five points in Texas (51%) and three points in Montana (48%) during March. The “good” to “excellent” ratings for HRW wheat declined four points in Kansas (53%) and two points in South Dakota (56%) over the past month. Conditions were unchanged in Oklahoma with 70% of the crop rated “good” to “excellent.”
On the weighted Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index (0 to 500-point scale, with 500 being perfect), the HRW crop improved another 1.5 points from the end of February to 351.7 and stood 28.4 points above USDA’s final national rating at the end of November.
USDA will issue its initial national winter wheat crop conditions ratings of the spring on Monday, April 1.
Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index for HRW Wheat | |||
| March 24, 2024 | Feb. 25, 2024 | Nov. 27, 2023 |
Kansas (39.61%*) | 135.85 | 137.04 | 114.06 |
Oklahoma (12.81%) | 47.65 | 47.65 | 44.57 |
Texas (7.77%) | 26.65 | 25.49 | 25.56 |
Colorado (6.52%) | 23.98 | 23.00 | 24.05 |
Nebraska (4.52%) | 16.71 | 16.39 | 15.40 |
S. Dakota (4.44%) | 15.63 | 15.68 | 15.37 |
Montana (8.42%) | 29.21 | 29.21 | 32.83 |
HRW total | 351.68 | 350.22 | 323.33 |
* denotes percentage of total national HRW crop production.