Over half the 2024 winter wheat crop rated good/excellent condition

The USDA Crop Progress report for the week ending April 7 shows winter wheat has headed in six of the top 18 winter-wheat-growing states. These 18 states planted 89% of the 2023 winter wheat acreage.

More than half of the crop was reported in good/excellent condition nationwide in the recent report.

Three more of the top winter wheat growing states have reported winter wheat headed according to USDA. North Carolina, Missouri, and Illinois reported their first acres of winter wheat heading the first week of April.

North Carolina

USDA reported that 5% of North Carolina’s winter wheat was headed the week ending April 7. Compared to the five-year average, that’s behind by 1%. Last year at this time, 13% of the state’s winter wheat had headed.

The state’s winter wheat crop rated 77% good/excellent condition. Twenty-one percent of the crop rated fair, while the remaining 2% rated poor/very poor.

Missouri

Winter wheat in Missouri was reported at 2% headed, according to the USDA Crop Progress report. That’s ahead of both the previous year and the five-year average when no winter wheat headed has been reported.

The winter wheat crop in Missouri was rated as 76% good/excellent condition, USDA reported. Twenty-three percent of the crop rated fair, while the rest of the state’s winter wheat was rated 1% poor/very poor.

Ben Brown, a senior research associate at the University of Missouri, says the 2024 winter wheat crop is better than it’s been at this time of year for the previous two years. Brown says timely rainfall has provided much-needed moisture for the growing crop. 

This year’s wheat crop is a little ahead of normal, Brown, notes. “This would become concerning if we have a later than normal freeze,” he says. “However, one is not expected at the current time.”

Illinois

In Illinois, winter wheat heading was reported at 2% for the week ending April 7. That’s 1% ahead of both the previous year and the five-year average.

USDA reported that the majority of the winter wheat crop in Illinois rated in good/excellent condition at 65%. Twenty-two percent was rated in fair condition, and the rest of the state’s winter wheat, 13%, rated in poor/very poor condition.

Other states

Nationally, 6% of the winter wheat crop has headed, according to the USDA Crop Progress report for the week ending April 7. This is 1% ahead of the five-year average and 1% behind the previous year.

California’s winter wheat heading progress doubled from the previous week, with 40% of the crop headed. This is 22% ahead of the five-year average. Winter wheat crop conditions in California remain in 95% good/excellent condition. 

In Texas, winter wheat heading progress jumped 7% from the previous week, with 27% of the crop headed the week ending April 7. Arkansas also saw an increase in winter wheat headed from the previous week by 6%, with 16% of the state’s winter wheat headed. This is double the five-year average in Arkansas.