HRW crop condition ratings plunged in December

Individual state crop conditions ratings released on Monday showed major deterioration of the HRW wheat crop during December. The “good” to “excellent” ratings for HRW wheat plunged 29 points in Kansas, 28 points in Oklahoma, 13 points in Colorado and 25 points in Nebraska during December. The “good” to “excellent” ratings for HRW wheat improved two points in South Dakota and five points in Montana over the past month. Texas did not release updated crop condition ratings. The largest SRW producer Illinois reported a four-point drop in “good” to “excellent” ratings during December. Most SRW states did not update crop ratings.

When the crop condition ratings below (and using Texas ratings from late November) are plugged into the weighted Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index (CCI; 0 to 500 point scale, with 500 being perfect), the HRW crop plunged 40.3 points to a reading of 284.1. That would be 48.1 points below the five-year average for the end of November (when USDA stops releasing national crop ratings) and 45.8 points below the five-year average for early April (when USDA restarts releasing national ratings).