Wednesday October 7, 2020

Winter wheat planting progress is near or ahead of the 5 year average pace in much of the area from the Plains eastward. Progress is behind this average in MT, MO and some northern areas of the Delta, however. More than 80 percent of the winter wheat has been planted in CO, and NE, with only around 10 percent planted in MO, AR and NC. There are quite a few winter wheat areas where greater rainfall is needed to increase soil moisture for germination and early growth of the crop. 30 day precip amounts have been less than 50 percent of normal in winter wheat areas in parts of eastern MT, northwestern SD, NE, eastern CO, KS, OK, and the TX Panhandle. A similar trend has been seen in some central and southern parts of the Midwest from parts of MO eastward into some central and southern parts of IL and IN, northern KY and southern OH, as well as parts of the northern Delta. In some of these locations mentioned above, there have been smaller pockets where 30 day precip has been less than 25 percent of normal. In these wheat areas that need rain, the most likely locations to get significant amounts in the near term include the northern Delta and parts of the southern Midwest and Ohio Valley. North and west of these areas near term amounts stay light, with possibly some greater amounts during the 6-10 day period. .