US wheat areas are heading into the spring facing much less drought than a year ago.
The latest data from the US drought monitor shows just 30% of American spring wheat area was being impacted by drought as of March 12, steady from the previous week but 19 points below the same time last year (see map below).
The improvement for durum – which is primarily grown in western North Dakota and Montana – was even more stark, with just 25% of the production area in drought, a 43-point drop from a year earlier.
Further, drought was impacting just 14% of US winter wheat area as of March 12, a 39-point fall from last year when over half of the region was plagued by drought.
In fact, aside from corn and soybeans, most other major US crops are also looking at considerably better moisture conditions heading into the 2024 planting season compared to a year earlier. For example, just 13% of the US sorghum growing area was being impacted by some form of drought as of March 12, versus 88% last year.
Barley area impacted by drought was down 23 points on the year to 24%, while cotton, peanut, rice and sunflower area was down 37, 17, 16, and 33 points, respectively, with all falling below 10%.
On the other hand, one-third of US soybean area was being impacted by drought, up 10 points on the year, while the amount of corn area was up 5 points to 36%. Meanwhile, an estimated 72% of the entire Midwest region was considered abnormally dry as of March 12 – the highest for this time of year since 2003, according to a Reuters report.
