WEEKLY USDA WHEAT RATINGS STEADY IN KANSAS, DECLINE IN OKLAHOMA

March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service in a weekly crop report on Monday rated 17% of the winter wheat in top producer Kansas in good to excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week.

* U.S. farmers planted 36.950 million acres (14.953 million hectares) of winter wheat for 2023, the most in eight years, the USDA said on Jan. 12. But dry conditions have threatened crop prospects in portions of the southern Plains wheat belt.

* Approximately 55% of U.S. winter wheat is produced in an area currently experiencing drought, the USDA said last week, up from 54% a week earlier but down from 69% as the year began.

* In Kansas, topsoil moisture was short to very short in 66% of the state, the USDA said, up from 64% the previous week.

* For Oklahoma, the USDA rated 30% of the winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, a drop from 39% a week ago.

* For Texas, the No. 2 winter wheat state by planted area, the USDA rated 17% of the crop as good to excellent, down from 19% the previous week, and 50% was rated as poor to very poor, unchanged from a week ago.

* The Texas corn crop was 30% planted, ahead of the state's five-year average of 24%.

* For Colorado, the USDA rated 40% of the winter wheat as good to excellent, an improvement from 29% in the state's previous report, released in late February.

* In Arkansas, where farmers grow soft red winter wheat used to make cookies and snack foods, the USDA rated 61% of the state's wheat as good to excellent.

* The USDA rated 64% of the Louisiana winter wheat crop and 57% of Mississippi's wheat as good to excellent.

* Corn planting was 78% complete in Louisiana and 3% complete in Mississippi.

* The USDA issued its last national winter wheat ratings on Nov. 29, reporting 34% of the U.S. crop in good-to-excellent condition as of Nov. 27, the lowest for that time of year since 2012. Over the winter, the agency releases periodic reports for select states. The government resumes weekly U.S. crop progress reports in April.