Minor Dip in Estimated Oat Harvest

WASHINGTON - Jan 12/06 - SNS -- The 2005 production of oats is estimated at 115 million bushels, down fractionally from the Small Grains 2005 Summary and down less than 1% from last year, according to the USDA's final crop production report for 2005.

The estimated yield is 63.0 bushels per acre, down 0.1 bushel from September and down 1.7 bushels from the previous year. Area planted to oats is estimated at 4.25 million acres, up fractionally from September and up 4% from 2004.

Harvested area is 1.82 million acres, 2% above last year. Compared with 2004, area harvested for grain increased 15,000 acres in Minnesota, 25,000 acres in New York, and 20,000 acres in North Dakota. The largest decline occurred in Texas, where area harvested for grain decreased by 50,000 acres.

Compared with last year, yields declined in all States except for those in the Southeast, central and northern Great Plains, and the middle Mississippi Valley. In Colorado and Kansas, beneficial growing conditions led to yield increases from last year of 20 bushels and 16 bushels, respectively.

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