Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly crop progress report showed on Monday 50 per cent of U.S. spring wheat and 52 per cent of winter wheat in good to excellent condition, exceeding analyst expectations.
The U.S. winter wheat crop has been plagued by persistent dryness, but recent rains have helped the crop rebound. The USDA ratings surpassed analyst predictions of a 50 per cent good to excellent rating for the winter wheat crop and a 47 per cent rating for spring wheat.
Why it matters: Crop conditions have a direct influence on prices, with the improving ratings weighing on wheat bids in the U.S. and Canada.
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The spring wheat condition rating jumped from the previous week, when the USDA rated only 45 per cent of the crop as good to excellent, below the lowest estimate in a Reuters survey of 13 analysts.
The department’s first rating of the soybean crop this year came in at 67 per cent good to excellent, slightly below the average estimate of 68 per cent.
The rating is roughly on par with soybean conditions for the same time period in previous years. The agency reported 84 per cent of the crop was planted, slightly below the average expectation of 86 per cent.
Regular rain has helped most soybean and corn crops in the Midwest get off to good starts, though the showers also delayed planting in some areas.
The USDA reported 93 per cent of corn was seeded and 69 per cent of the crop was in good to excellent condition. Both were in line with analyst expectations.
The USDA also released its first harvest predictions of the year for the winter wheat crop, which came in at three per cent harvested.
