Minnesota, South Dakota Fuel Spring Wheat Planting Progress

US spring wheat planting advanced well this past week, thanks mainly to strong progress in Minnesota and South Dakota 

According to Monday’s USDA crop progress report, 15% of the national spring wheat crop was already planted as of Sunday. That is up 8 points on the week and 5 points ahead of the five-year average, easily topping the average pre-report trade guess of 12% planted.  

Planting in Minnesota jumped 15 points on the week to 18% complete as of Sunday, far ahead of the state average of just 3%. In South Dakota, 40% of the spring wheat crop was already in the ground as of Sunday, a gain of 17 points from a week earlier and 19 points ahead of the average. 

In the No. 1 production state of North Dakota, planting advanced a more modest 4 points from a week earlier to reach 7% complete as of Sunday, 6 points ahead of last year and 2 points ahead of the state average. The Montana crop was 7% planted, up from 2% a week earlier and ahead of 4% last year but still behind the state average of 10%. 

An estimated 2% of the US spring wheat crop had emerged as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of last year but 1 point behind the average.