Winter wheat drought area increases... The amount of U.S. winter wheat considered in drought conditions increased one point to 70% for the week ended April 19, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. USDA rated winter wheat drought as 16% “moderate,” 30% “severe,” 21% “extreme,” and 2% “exceptional.” Last week, USDA said winter wheat drought was 17% “moderate,” 31% “severe,” 18% “extreme,” and 2% “exceptional.”
For HRW areas, the area considered abnormally dry/drought in Kansas increased three points to 74%. Oklahoma dropped four points to 81%. Texas’s abnormally dry/drought area decreased by one point to 96%. South Dakota had 87% of its land classified as abnormally dry/drought, a three-point increase. Nebraska (99%), Montana (90%) and Colorado (100%) had the same amount of land considered abnormally dry/drought.
In SRW areas, Arkansas has a six-point drop to 21% of its area considered abnormally dry/drought. Illinois had 10% of its land classified as abnormally dry/drought, a one-point drop. Michigan had 6% of its area considered abnormally dry/drought, a one-point decline. North Carolina had 44% of its area classified as abnormally dry/drought, a one-point decrease. Missouri (0%), Ohio (0%) and Indiana (0%) had the same percentage of the area considered abnormally dry/drought as the previous week.
Spring wheat had a six-point decline in the amount of the crop in drought to 40%. North Dakota had 14% of its spring wheat in drought, down 11 points from the previous week. South Dakota increased the amount of its spring wheat in drought by two points to 58%.
The amount of cotton in drought declined by five points to 55%. Georgia had a three-point drop in the amount of its cotton in drought. Mississippi had a 42-point reduction in the amount of cotton in drought. Arkansas had the amount of cotton considered in drought drop by six points.
USDA said 19% of the soybean crop is in drought, down two points from the previous week. Iowa had a one-point drop in its soybean area in drought. North Dakota had a five-point decrease in the amount of its soybean crop in drought.
The percent of U.S. corn considered in drought dropped by one point to 29%, due to a two-point drop in Iowa.