US winter wheat planting conditions 'ideal'

US winter wheat planting conditions are largely ideal, according to Nogger's spies on the other side of the pond.

Seeding of the winter crop was 22 percent completed as of Sept. 21, double the amount planted the prior week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday.

As much as six times the normal precipitation fell in parts of the southern Great Plains from Kansas to Texas in the past month, greatly improving soil moisture and planting conditions there.

Planting conditions in Oklahoma, the second-biggest winter wheat grower behind Kansas, are favourable for farmers, analysts say.

Even the normally very dry western plains have a good moisture base, for the first time in many years, Nogger hears.

Overall US winter wheat planting conditions are currently said to be 'very good' and Nogger's informant expects planted acres to be even higher than in 2007.