Crops in drought remain steady

The amount of U.S. winter wheat considered in drought conditions remained constant at 69% for the week ended April 12, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. USDA said winter wheat drought was 17% “moderate,” 31% “severe,” 18% “extreme,” and 2% “exceptional.” Last week, USDA rated winter wheat drought as 18% “moderate,” 34% “severe,” 16% “extreme,” and 2% “exceptional."

For HRW areas, the area considered abnormally dry/drought in Oklahoma dropped one point to 85%. Texas’s abnormally dry/drought area increased by two points to 97%. South Dakota had 84% of its land classified as abnormally dry/drought, a two-point drop. Kansas (71%), Nebraska (99%), Montana (90%) and Colorado (100%) had the same amount of land considered abnormally dry/drought.

In SRW areas, Illinois had 11% of its land classified as abnormally dry/drought, a one-point drop. Michigan had 7% of its area considered abnormally dry/drought, an 11-point decline. North Carolina (45%), Arkansas (28%), Missouri (0%), Ohio (0%) and Indiana (0%) had the same percentage of the area considered abnormally dry/drought as the previous week.

The percent of U.S. corn (30%), cotton (40%) and spring wheat (46%) acres listed in drought remained the same as the previous week.