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US spring wheat harvest at a slower pace on year, crop conditions improve slightly

The US spring wheat harvest for the 2019-2020 crop (June-May) reached 16% in the week to August 18, with harvest in Minnesota and South Dakota continuing at a slower pace than last year, US Department of Agriculture data showed.

Spring wheat harvest in the latest week is trailing the year-ago pace of 56% and the five-year average pace of 49%, according to the data released late Monday.

Spring wheat harvest in Minnesota, which is expected to account for the second-largest spring wheat crop in the US in 2019-20, reached 14% in the latest week, down sharply from 72% a year ago.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in a separate report said Minnesota’s spring wheat harvest was two weeks behind normal.

The harvest in South Dakota is “well behind” the crop progress seen last year, NASS said in a state crop progress report.

Spring wheat crop conditions across the six key states improved marginally, with 70% of the crop rated in good to excellent conditions, up from 69% a week earlier.

Spring wheat crop ratings are behind the year-ago pace of 74%.
WINTER WHEAT

Winter wheat harvest in the US reached 93% in the week ended August 18, up from 89% a week ago.

Harvest estimates were behind the year-ago pace of 97% and five-year average of 98%.

Crop progress has been slow in states like Idaho, South Dakota, Montana and Washington, which are expected to account for 22% of the total winter wheat production in the US during the 2019-20 marketing season.

Harvest in the Northern Great Plains and Pacific Northwest has slowed as precipitation, high humidity or cooler temperatures prevailed across much of the growing region, US Wheat Associates said.

Winter wheat harvest is 100% complete in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, which are expected to produce 47% of the total US winter wheat production estimated in 2019-20, according to the USDA data.

Earlier, winter wheat crop progress struggled after key states like Kansas and Oklahoma faced difficult weather conditions in May and early June.
Source: Platts

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