Weekly USDA wheat ratings rise in Kansas, drop in Oklahoma, Colorado

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service in a weekly crop report on Monday rated 32% of the winter wheat in top producer Kansas in good-to-excellent condition, up from 25% a week earlier.

* U.S. farmers planted 34.4 million acres (13.9 million hectares) of winter wheat for 2022, the most in six years, the USDA said in January. However, dry conditions across most of the Plains have threatened crop prospects.

* For Oklahoma, the USDA rated 18% of the winter wheat crop as good-to-excellent, down from 21% a week earlier.

* For Texas, the No. 2 winter wheat state by planted area, the USDA rated 7% of the crop as good, up from 6% the previous week. None of the Texas crop was rated excellent in either week.

* The Texas corn crop was 51% planted, ahead of the state's five-year average of 46%.

* For Colorado, the USDA rated 11% of the winter wheat in good condition, a drop from 19% a week earlier. As in Texas, none of the Colorado wheat was rated excellent in either week.

* For Montana, the USDA in a monthly report rated 11% of the wheat crop in good condition, down from 21% at the end of February. None of the Montana wheat was rated excellent.

* For Nebraska, the USDA in a monthly report rated 27% of the state's wheat as good-to-excellent, down from 36% at the end of February.

* For South Dakota, the USDA in a monthly report rated 26% of the state's wheat as good-to-excellent, up from 24% at the end of February.

* Farmers in the Plains states grow hard red winter wheat, the largest U.S. wheat class, which is milled into flour for bread.

* In Illinois, where farmers grow soft red winter wheat used to make cookies and snack foods, the USDA in a monthly report rated 59% of the crop as good-to-excellent, steady with the end of February.

* In North Carolina, another soft wheat producer, the USDA in a monthly report rated 80% of the state's wheat as good-to-excellent, up from 74% in late February.

* The USDA rated 76% of the Louisiana winter wheat crop, 67% of Mississippi's wheat and 72% of Arkansas' wheat as good-to-excellent.

* Corn planting was 51% complete in Louisiana, 5% complete in Mississippi and 2% complete in Arkansas.

* Over the winter and early spring, the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service releases crop progress reports for select states. The government is scheduled to resume regular weekly U.S. crop progress reports on April 4.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen)