Weekend rains April 19-20 brought some relief to dry hard red winter wheat fields in Kansas and Oklahoma, though potential improvement was not yet apparent in the latest crop conditions report.
Winter wheat conditions declined across central and southern portions of the production area, except in Texas. In the Northern Plains, conditions improved in South Dakota, where drought conditions recently eased from 100%, and in Montana.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said winter wheat rated good-to-excellent as of April 20 totaled 41% in Kansas (43% on April 13), 39% in Oklahoma (43%), 27% in Texas (23%), 56% in Colorado (57%), 30% in Nebraska (30%), 14% (all good) in South Dakota (22%) and 65% in Montana (59%).
The current dryness woes aren’t the first challenge the 2025 hard red winter wheat crop in the Southwest has experienced. The crop was seeded in dry conditions last fall and growers mostly saw clear skies for the next few months.
“The November rains threw this crop a lifeline,” said Justin Gilpin, chief executive officer of Kansas Wheat. “It was so dry in September and October in the high plains hard red winter wheat area. But there is still a lot of area in southwest Kansas and northern Oklahoma that did not receive a substantial rain after November. Even though that crop got a stand and it’s up and growing now, the importance of getting a rain now is really becoming heightened and probably why crop conditions have backed off a little. But at this point in a crop’s development, it’s not so much how much it rains but rather when. It needs timely rains.
The driest areas of the southern Plains, according to the April 15 US Drought Monitor, were in northwest Oklahoma and smaller areas of the Texas panhandle and southern Kansas. Those areas were in severe drought. A majority of Kansas was in moderate drought, ringed by areas of abnormal dryness. The USDA said winter wheat areas in drought as of April 15 covered 79% in Kansas (70% a week earlier), 26% in Texas (26%), 5% in Colorado (5%), 90% in Nebraska (74%), 92% in South Dakota (92%) and 12% in Montana (12%).
“We have had some challenging years, for example last year where timely rains helped out with the 2024 crop,” Gilpin said. “This year there is a cautious optimism because we do have a stand, we just need Mother Nature to cooperate in the next 30 days.”
Subsoil moisture profile ratings in the latest USDA Crop Progress report corroborated the need for more moisture.
The USDA said subsoil moisture short to very short ratings as of April 20 were 50% in Kansas, 30% in Oklahoma, 57% in Texas, 43% in Colorado, 83% in Nebraska, 88% in South Dakota and 62% in Montana.
A seven-day estimated precipitation map from Weather Underground indicated much heavier rains fell in eastern Kansas than in the west from April 15 through April 22. Rainfall totals reached above 4 inches in southeast Kansas, between 1 and 4 inches in south central Kansas near Wichita and less than ½ inch in the west, where some fields near the Colorado border received none.
“It’ a growing need for timely rains from northwest Kansas down to southwest Kansas; there’s a stand there and there’s potential there,” Gilpin said. “But we’re at a point where that crop is starting to use a lot of that moisture and see mid-90-degree days with 30 mph winds. That type of weather in April when the crop is using moisture and needing moisture is not as favorable as actually catching a nice cool rain and some cooler temperatures.”
