White and Durum Wheat Wheat Early Gainers

WASHINGTON - May 10/02 - SNS -- The numbers for wheat production in the United States are starting to fill in with the release of winter wheat output estimates from the USDA.

Those numbers show an increased emphasis on white wheat and winter durum, while hard red and soft red wheat output levels are down from last year.

The changes will see hard red winter wheat production decline from 767 million bushels to a projected 717 million this year, while soft red winter wheat output drops from just under 400 million bushels to almost 373 million.

On the plus side of the equation, the USDA expects durum wheat output to advance 8% to 17.7 million bushels, while white winter output is expected to jump from 195 million bushels last year to 210 million.

Despite the changes, it will be difficult for overall wheat production to approach the levels seen in the year 2000 and it may not be possible for production to reach or exceed last year;'s output levels.

This reflects the fact all wheat planted area is expected to total 59.0 million acres in 2002. This is down 1% from 2001 and the lowest level since 1972. Area planted to durum wheat is intended to total 2.84 million acres, down 2% from 2001.

The 2002 other spring wheat planted acreage is estimated at 15.1 million acres, down 3% from last year. Of the total, about 14.2 million acres are hard red spring wheat.

Winter wheat planted area for the 2002 crop is 41.1 million acres, nearly identical to the previous year's acreage. This is the lowest acres seeded to winter wheat since 1971. Of the total, about 29.3 million acres are hard red winter, 8.4 million acres soft red winter, and 3.4 million acres white winter.

              Wheat:  Production by Class, United States, 2000-2001
                          and Forecasted May 1, 2002 1/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       :           Winter            :            Spring             :
       :-------------------------------------------------------------:
  Year :  Hard   :  Soft   :         :  Hard   :          :          :  Total
       :   Red   :   Red   :  White  :   Red   :  White   :  Durum   :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       :                             1,000 Bushels
       :
2000   : 846,324   471,356   248,343   502,318    54,314    109,805   2,232,460
2001   : 766,795   399,670   195,014   475,653    36,955     83,556   1,957,643
2002   : 717,170   372,689   210,867
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/  Wheat class estimates are based on varietal acreage survey data. The
    previous end-of-season class%ages are used throughout the forecast
    season. Spring wheat production by class and total production will be
    published in "Crop Production" released July 11, 2002.

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