Health conditions of the 2025 U.S. winter wheat crop were described as the “second-worst ever” last Fall. As harvest ramps up, Reuters says winter wheat ratings now sit at a six-year-high point for early June. It’s precisely what U.S. exporters need to continue and possibly grow their impressive sales numbers into next year. As of last weekend, the USDA rated 54 percent of the American winter wheat crop in good or excellent condition, which is higher than trade expectations and up from 50 percent only two weeks ago.
That number is significantly higher than the 38 percent good-to-excellent in late October, which was the crops’ second-worst start in 39 years of data. By way of comparison, winter wheat was 47 percent good-to-excellent one year ago and final yield numbers were close to trend. Rain, however, has the winter wheat crop in Oklahoma, and the hard-red crop in Kansas off to slow starts.