U.S. wheat ratings hold steady, corn harvest 96% complete -USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday rated 32% of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week, while analysts on average had expected a 1-point improvement.

The wheat ratings are the lowest for this time of year in USDA records dating to 1986. A year ago, 44% of the winter wheat crop was rated good to excellent.

The newly planted crop has struggled with dry conditions as 75% of the U.S. winter wheat production area is experiencing drought, according to the government. The crop’s moisture needs typically decline as plants go dormant over the winter, but precipitation will be crucial when growth resumes in the spring.

The USDA has projected the United States as the world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter for the 2022/23 marketing year.

For corn, the government said the U.S. harvest was 96% complete, below the average analyst estimate of 97% but ahead of the five-year average of 90%. The United States is the world’s biggest corn exporter and the No. 2 supplier of soybeans after Brazil.

With the harvest of fall crops virtually complete, the USDA did not plan to release further updates on corn or for soybeans, which were 96% harvested by Nov. 13. The USDA will report on winter wheat condition ratings once more, on Nov. 28, before suspending its weekly U.S. crop progress reports until April.

All figures in percent:

Category

Analyst average

Analyst range

USDA last week

USDA last week

Corn harvested (percent)

97
96-97
93
96
Winter wheat conditions*

33
31-34
32
32
*Percent good/excellent
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago Editing by Andrea Ricci and Matthew Lewis)