Winter Wheat Plantings Near Average Nationwide

When looking at the pace of winter wheat plantings nationwide, USDA's meteorologist Brad Rippey said while this year is close to average, numbers are still off last year's pace.

"In fact, identical.  80% is the planted number for October 24th.  That matches the five year average.  Four points behind last year, however.  84% on October 24th, 2020."

Rippey noted recent showers have helped growers in a variety of regions.

"And so we have seen numbers picking up in some of the dryer areas, including the interior northwest, the northern plains and the southern plains that had been trending dry.  With that later and quick planting at the tail end of the season; we're still seeing our emergence numbers a bit behind schedule.  55% of the crop emerged by October 24th.

"It does tell a tale of continuing dryness, or concerning dryness in some areas," Rippey continued.  Fortunately, some of that dryness is being relieved as we speak, and so hopefully these conditions will start to turn around.  But as we start the season, only 46% of the crop rated good to excellent, 20% very poor to poor."

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