U.S. winter wheat ratings lowest on record; corn 8% planted -USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday rated 27% of U.S. winter wheat in good to excellent condition, unchanged from a week ago and the lowest for this time of year in records dating to the late 1980s, while corn planting moved ahead of the average pace during an unusually warm week.
The wheat ratings, reflecting drought in key areas of the Plains wheat belt, matched the average expectation among 11 analysts polled by Reuters. Good-to-excellent ratings for winter wheat in the 15th week of the calendar year have dropped below 30% only one other year in USDA records dating to the late 1980s, in 1996.
Tightening global wheat supplies and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, two major grain exporters, have raised the importance of U.S. winter wheat production prospects. Even with U.S. wheat exports on pace to hit a 51-year low in the current 2022/23 marketing year, the United States is still the world’s fifth-largest supplier of the food grain.
The current U.S. winter wheat crop is developing ahead of harvest in June and July.
For corn, the USDA said planting was 8% complete by Sunday, behind the average analyst estimate of 10% but ahead of the five-year average of 5% as farmers took advantage of mild weather.
“Sandwiched between severe storms and chilly snow flurries were some unseasonably warm and dry conditions that allowed farmers to get planters rolling,” Mike Naig, Iowa’s agriculture secretary, said in a statement. Iowa is the largest U.S. corn producer.
However, cold temperatures and late-week rains are likely to slow progress this week, meteorologists said.
The USDA’s first estimate of soybean progress for 2023 showed planting as 4% complete, ahead of the average analyst expectation of 2% and the five-year average of 1%.
The U.S. spring wheat crop was 3% planted, the government said, lagging both the average analyst estimate of 5% and the five-year average of 7%.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Alexander Smith and Richard Chang)