Kansas wheat conditions deteriorate as drought bites: USDA

US winter wheat conditions showed further reductions in Kansas and only limited improvement in Texas and Oklahoma, as most of the key American winter wheat growing area received little-to-no rainfall in the, the USDA reported late Monday.

Winter wheat in Kansas was hit the hardest with wheat rated "good to very good" down a percentage point on the week to 12%, after the USDA moved it up by 1% the week before.

The state's crop was 53% rated "very poor to poor" up from 50%.

Kansas is a key state for US winter wheat, producing just under half of hard red winter wheat (HRW), wihch last year stood at 760 million bushels (21 million mt).

In other key states, the situation improved marginally.

In Oklahoma, which produces 13% of HRW, 72% of its crop was rated as "very poor to poor rating" down from 77% last week.

The state also saw wheat deemed "good to excellent" moving up a percentage point on the week to 7%.

In Texas, which produces 9% of HRW, 13% of the crop is in good-to-excellent condition, up from 10%, and 53% of its crop is in "poor and very poor" condition, down from 64%.