USDA delayed its last of the year Crop Progress report until tomorrow due to undefined “system outages.” Private analysts told Reuters that they expect the report to show 33 percent of the winter wheat crop in Good/Excellent conditions, up one point from last week’s report.  Based on historical studies, a relatively low-quality condition in the fall is not determinative of yield when the crop is harvested. However, there is a stronger correlation of a lower fall quality rating and the ratio of abandoned acres. Lower quality means that when the plants emerge, fewer will have survived dormancy. However, good spring growing conditions means that those plants still growing can have good yields. There have also been years...

TAGS – Wheat, North America