Hard Red Spring Wheat values have rallied significantly over past two weeks in response to continuing dryness in Northern Plains. Definitely hurting crops, probably birds also. Here's this mornings forecast.
Today?s Headlines:
Hot and dry through the weekend in the north central U.S.
Drought expands across the northern Plains
Some relief from dryness expected in the southern Prairies
Hot and dry through the weekend in the north central U.S.
Soil moisture deficits continue to build across the northern Plains and western Midwest as dry weather continues. Hot and dry weather over the next several days will only make the situation worse for crops, with highs expected to reach at least 95?F (35?C) across most of the Plains and central and western Midwest this weekend. Some shower activity is expected to reach portions of the northern Plains and far northern Midwest, but should not reach the major corn and soybean growing areas. The areas most likely to see any notable improvements are eastern Montana and northwestern North Dakota, which would favor spring wheat. The areas most likely to see expansion in dryness in the coming days are Illinois, Iowa, southern Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, which would stress early growth of corn and soybeans. Confidence in the 6-10 day forecast remains lower than normal, but models are in somewhat better agreement today compared to yesterday. Models (shown below) are in good agreement that rainfall will favor the Canadian Prairies and far northwestern Plains during this period, leading to improvements. Model agreement is much lower in the Midwest, with the European models showing a drier solution, similar to our forecast, while the GFS models show a wetter solution. Temperatures should moderate during this period. -KT