U.S. spring wheat crop is in its worst shape in almost three decades

The U.S. spring wheat crop is in its worst shape in almost three decades, sending prices for the grain on a tear. Forty-five percent of the crop, the high-protein variety grown in northern states, was in good or excellent condition as of June 11, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday after the close of trading. That’s down 10 percentage points from the prior week and marks the worst rating for the time of year since 1988. Futures have surged 13 percent in the past month, outpacing the gains of all the 22 components of the Bloomberg Commodity Index. Spring wheat isn’t tracked by the gauge. Dryness has expanded across key U.S. growing states this spring. Sixty-three percent of North Dakota, the top domestic producer, is short or very short on topsoil moisture, the USDA estimates. Farmers in Canada have also faced adverse conditions for their spring wheat crops. Soil conditions remain dry in many areas of Manitoba, the province’s agriculture ministry said Monday. Some Alberta farmers are shifting acres to barley due to delayed planting for spring wheat and other crops, and Saskatchewan’s topsoil moisture is deteriorating amid strong wind and lack of rains, according to reports from last week. Conditions for some U.S. spring wheat should improve. Rains that began June 10 are forecast to last through early Wednesday, boosting moisture for plants in some parts of the northern Plains, and will be followed by a dry and cool period, according to Mike Tannura, the owner of T-storm Weather LLC in Chicago. The driest areas will remain in the west. Still, more rain will be needed to reverse drought conditions, and there is little in the forecast. “The spring wheat conditions have the market’s attention this morning, with much debate on whether recent rains are too late for the crop,” The Hightower Report said in a note on Tuesday. “It feels like the market has more upside.”