Winter Wheat Pegged at 1.3 Billion Bushels
WASHINGTON - May 10/02 - STAT -- The USDA reckons winter wheat production in the United States will drop 4% from last year's output levels to 1.30 billion bushels, the lowest production since 1978.
Based on May 1 conditions, the U.S. yield is forecast at 43.1 bushels per acre, 0.4 bushels less than last year. Grain area totals 30.2 million acres, down 4% from last season. This is the lowest harvested acreage since 1917.
Hard Red production is down 6% from a year ago to 717 million bushels. Soft Red is down 7% and totals 373 million bushels. White production totals 211 million bushels, up 8% from a year ago.
Discussing the crop, the USDA said winter wheat plantings for the 2002 grain harvest is forecast at 30.2 million acres, down 4% from 2001. This will be the smallest winter wheat area harvested since 1917. All classes declined from a year ago, with Soft Red Winter showing the largest acreage drop at 8%. Hard Red Winter and White Winter declined 3% and 1%, respectively.
The portion of the winter wheat crop rated good to excellent on April 28, at 36%, was 5%age points lower than last year. The Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas good to excellent ratings were only 25%, 34%, and 24%, respectively. Overall, condition ratings on April 28 were lower than any corresponding week since 1989.
Dry weather aided winter wheat seeding across the Great Plains and Pacific Northwest last fall. Temperatures were favorable for development across most of the Nation, but emergence and growth were spotty and uneven due to topsoil moisture shortages, especially in Kansas and Oklahoma. Abnormally warm December weather delayed the onset of freezing temperatures and extended the period for winter wheat root development. Dry conditions persisted across the Great Plains during the winter.
By April 28, the Nation's winter wheat acreage was 22% headed, compared with 19% a year ago and 21% normally headed by this date. Many fields on the central and northern Plains remained dormant or produced very little new growth prior to midmonth due to extremely cold nighttime temperatures.
After midmonth, abnormally hot weather accelerated vegetative growth in the central Great Plains and Corn Belt, but jointing remained behind normal in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana, and Ohio. Near the end of the month, fields quickly headed in the southern Great Plains, lower Mississippi Valley, and Southeast. Heavy rain and saturated soils stressed some fields in the Corn Belt, while many fields on the Great Plains suffered due to moisture shortages.
Winter Wheat: Area Harvested, Yield, and Production by State
and United States, 2001 and Forecasted May 1, 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Harvested : Yield : Production
State :------------------------------------------------------------------------
: 2001 : 2002 : 2001 : 2002 : 2000 : 2001 : 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: -- 1,000 Acres -- -- Bushels -- -------- 1,000 Bushels --------
:
AR : 970 800 52.0 53.0 59,400 50,440 42,400
CA : 380 310 70.0 75.0 27,300 26,600 23,250
CO : 2,000 1,800 33.0 30.0 68,150 66,000 54,000
DE : 57 58 61.0 67.0 4,158 3,477 3,886
GA : 200 180 53.0 50.0 10,800 10,600 9,000
ID : 710 690 73.0 77.0 65,700 51,830 53,130
IL : 720 650 61.0 60.0 52,440 43,920 39,000
IN : 380 330 66.0 62.0 35,190 25,080 20,460
KS : 8,200 8,000 40.0 37.0 347,800 328,000 296,000
KY : 360 380 66.0 66.0 23,940 23,760 25,080
MD : 175 180 63.0 65.0 12,600 11,025 11,700
MI : 560 460 64.0 67.0 36,000 35,840 30,820
MS : 225 180 52.0 50.0 12,925 11,700 9,000
MO : 760 760 54.0 55.0 49,400 41,040 41,800
MT : 870 1,000 22.0 28.0 44,550 19,140 28,000
NE : 1,600 1,600 37.0 36.0 59,400 59,200 57,600
NY : 120 137 53.0 62.0 7,420 6,360 8,494
NC : 470 470 39.0 47.0 27,500 18,330 22,090
OH : 900 825 67.0 66.0 79,920 60,300 54,450
OK : 3,700 3,600 33.0 31.0 142,800 122,100 111,600
OR : 700 750 40.0 50.0 45,260 28,000 37,500
PA : 160 175 52.0 58.0 10,335 8,320 10,150
SC : 210 190 43.0 42.0 9,555 9,030 7,980
SD : 370 1,050 32.0 40.0 53,760 11,840 42,000
TN : 340 270 54.0 54.0 20,900 18,360 14,580
TX : 3,200 2,500 34.0 32.0 66,000 108,800 80,000
VA : 170 175 60.0 62.0 12,915 10,200 10,850
WA : 1,750 1,700 61.0 66.0 131,400 106,750 112,200
WY : 120 130 24.0 25.0 4,080 2,880 3,250
:
Oth :
Sts 1/: 918 824 46.4 49.1 44,425 42,557 40,456
:
US : 31,295 30,174 43.5 43.1 1,566,023 1,361,479 1,300,726
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Other States include AL, AZ, FL, IA, LA, MN, NV, NJ, NM, ND, UT, WV, and WI.
Individual State level estimates will be published in the "Small Grains 2002
Summary."
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