Rain across the US Southern Plains for a second consecutive week improved US winter wheat ratings further after the crops suffered a stretch of persistent dry weather during the first quarter of 2018. Winter wheat in Texas, one of the major HRW-growing regions, saw the percentage rated poor to very poor fall 4 percentage points to 59% while wheat rated “good to excellent” rose three percentage points on the week to 15%. The USDA said wheat fields are improving but the crops are still in need of moisture. Winter wheat quality in Colorado remained fairly neutral, with crop rated poor to very poor only gaining one percentage point on the week to 22%, while crops rated good to excellent remained unchanged at 39%.