Weekly Crop Progress Report
Every Tuesday during the growing season (generally April through September), the North Dakota Wheat Commission issues a crop progress report to update buyers on growing conditions, yield potential, crop health, disease concerns, quality, etc. The Commission utilizes the USDA NASS weekly crop progress reports and crop reports from producers, elevators and agronomists to develop the report.
Crop Progress Report October 1, 2019
Another week of cool, wet weather, including snow in areas limited any additional harvest progress over the last week. In many areas, fields are simply too wet for harvest to take place. Some of the wheat may not be harvested and is likely not of milling quality. The USDA crop progress report indicates that 90 percent of the U.S. crop has been harvested, with unharvested acres mainly left in Montana and North Dakota. Harvest completion rates estimated by the USDA are at 89 percent in North Dakota and 84 percent in Montana, although it’s difficult to assess how much is actually left to harvest. Sample collection is complete for spring wheat at the NDSU wheat quality lab and final data will be available later this month. While protein and test weights are good, quality factors such as falling numbers and color have been impacted this year due to the adverse harvest conditions. Quality appears quite variable this year, with some of the crop coming off under good harvest conditions with good quality, while other areas struggled with wet conditions and quality downgrades.
Very little harvest was done last week in the durum regions due to continued cold, wet weather. As with spring wheat, it is likely some of the crop simply won’t be harvested and quality on the remaining crop will be compromised. The USDA crop progress report estimated that 78 percent of the North Dakota crop and 55 percent of the Montana crop had been harvested through the end of September. About half of the expected samples had been collected and analyzed at the NDSU wheat quality lab, but only 13 percent of those were form the northwest part of North Dakota (the largest durum production region), where harvest has been slowest. So far color has been the main factor affected by the weather, with the crop only averaging 60 vitreous kernel content so far.
This will be the last crop progress report for the year. Final crop quality data will be released the third week of October.
Percent Headed and Harvested by State
| Wheat Type |
9/29/19 |
Last
week |
Last
year |
5 Yr
Avg. |
| ND Spring - headed |
99 |
93 |
98 |
97 |
| ND Spring - harvested |
89 |
85 |
100 |
98 |
| ND Durum - headed |
96 |
88 |
99 |
88 |
| ND Durum - harvested |
78 |
73 |
98 |
89 |
| Minnesota - headed |
100 |
100 |
100 |
98 |
| Minnesota - harvested |
97 |
94 |
100 |
100 |
| Montana - headed |
94 |
87 |
96 |
96 |
| Montana - harvested |
84 |
80 |
97 |
97 |
| South Dakota - headed |
100 |
86 |
94 |
100 |
| South Dakota - harvested |
100 |
99 |
100 |
100 |
| U.S. - headed |
99 |
92 |
97 |
98 |
| U.S. - harvested |
90 |
87 |
100 |
99 |
| As of September 29, 2019 |
|