Amount of winter wheat area in drought unchanged

The amount of winter wheat considered in drought conditions remained steady at 68% for the week that ended Jan. 25, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. USDA said winter wheat drought was 25% “moderate,” 23% “severe,” 18% “extreme,” and 2% “exceptional.”  Last week, USDA said winter wheat drought was 27% “moderate,” 22% “severe,” 17% “extreme,” and 2% “exceptional.”

In the HRW area, dry/drought conditions continue to get worse. The amount of land in Nebraska considered abnormally dry/drought increased nine percentage points to 91%.  Kansas had a five-point increase in the area considered abnormally dry/drought to 86%.  Oklahoma had a one-point gain to have 96% of its area considered abnormally dry/drought.  The amount of land classified as abnormally dry/drought in Texas (96%), Montana (92%), Colorado (100%), Nebraska (82%) and South Dakota (78%) was unchanged.

There was some improvement in abnormally dry/drought conditions in the SRW area.  North Carolina had a 23-point decline to have 60% of its area considered abnormally dry/drought. Missouri has 40% of its area considered abnormally dry/drought, up two percentage points from the previous week. Illinois had an 11-point increase in the area considered abnormally dry/drought to 26%. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Arkansas had the same percentage of areas considered abnormally dry/drought as the previous week.