(NAFB.com) – Kansas, the top U.S. winter-wheat-producing state, saw condition ratings for its crop decline during December, even as dry conditions subsided in parts of the state. The USDA rated 47 percent of the Kansas winter wheat crop in good-to-excellent condition on January 5, down from 55 percent from last November. Wheat ratings also dropped in December in Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota but improved in Montana and Colorado. As of December 31, about 25 percent of the winter wheat crop nationally was in an area experiencing drought. Farmers in the Plains states grow hard red winter wheat, the largest U.S. wheat class, which is milled into flour for bread. Ratings declined in Illinois and Ohio, where farmers grow soft red winter wheat used to make cookies and snack foods. The USDA rated 69 percent of the Illinois crop as good-to-excellent on January 5, down from 80 percent in November.