WESTERN FARM REPORT

The 2026 winter wheat crop entered the growing season in its worst early-spring condition since 2022. USDA NASS’s first Crop Progress report of the season, released April 6, rated just 35% of U.S. winter wheat in good-to-excellent condition — 13 percentage points below the same reading one year earlier and 16 points below the five-year average. An estimated 31% of the crop was rated poor to very poor, up from 21% a year ago. Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebraska are the most affected states, where a combination of persistent dry weather and an unusually harsh winter has eroded plant stands heading into the critical jointing and flag-leaf stages. Texas’s fourth-driest September-through-February stretch in 131 years of records is the proximate cause in that state. Less than 10% of West Texas acres may produce a harvestable crop under current conditions, according to USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.