US winter wheat has begun the 2023-24 planting campaign with the poorest conditions on record amid persisting drought in key producing regions, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its first rating of the crop.
The USDA deemed just 28pc of the US winter wheat crop in "good-to-excellent" condition at the first rating, published in the 30 October crop progress report from its National Agricultural Statistics Service (Nass). In an average year, half of the crop would make the top two ratings in October.
On the flipside, the USDA judged 35pc in "poor-to-very-poor" condition. This compares with just 16pc in an average year, and is double the proportion to receive this initial rating ahead of some of the worst harvests on record pre-2021 — 1992, 2004 and 2013.
The rating suggests that US winter wheat conditions will decline year on year for the third year running, after 21pc of the current 2022-23 crop was judged "poor-to-very-poor" in ratings the previous October.
High crop prices in the US — wheat prices across North America in September-October were among the highest in the world — had promised an encouraging start for the 2022-23 season, with farmers expected to plant greater wheat areas and invest more in inputs.
But dry summer weather spilled over into autumn and slowed wheat crop development, with the 62pc emergence rate at its lowest for end-October since 2012-13.
Conditions are particularly poor in Oklahoma and Kansas, although there are hopes that winter rain could still help some states avoid a drought as severe as the one recorded in 2012.
US farmers had planted 87pc of areas as of 30 October, slightly ahead of average.
