Drought conditions improve slightly for winter wheat

The amount of winter wheat considered in drought conditions dropped one percentage point to 68%, according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor. USDA said 27% of the winter wheat was considered in moderate drought, 22% moderate drought, 17% extreme drought, and 2% of the winter wheat area was considered in exceptional drought. In the previous week, USDA reported 29% of the winter area is in moderate drought, 22% in severe drought, 16% in extreme drought and 2% in exceptional drought.

Most of the improvement of abnormally dry/drought conditions occurred in the SRW area. The amount of land in North Carolina considered abnormally dry/drought was down 11 percentage points to 82%.  Illinois increased the amount of land abnormally dry/drought by two percentage points to 16%. The area in Missouri considered abnormally dry/drought was up one percentage point to 38%.  Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Arkansas had the same percentage of areas considered abnormally dry/drought as the previous week.

Most of the HRW area held steady with the amount of land considered abnormally dry/drought. Texas had a one percentage point drop in the area considered abnormally dry/drought to 96%. The amount of land classified as abnormally dry/drought in Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota remained unchanged from the previous week.