Winter Wheat Output Jumps

WASHINGTON - May 11/07 - SNS -- Winter wheat production in the United States is up sharply from last year, according to the USDA's latest crop production estimates.

The crop is forecast at 1.62 billion bushels, up 24% from 2006. Area harvested for grain totals 37.2 million acres, up 19% from last year. Based on May 1 conditions, the U.S. yield is forecast at 43.5 bushels per acre, up 1.8 bushels from the previous year.

Hard Red production is up 51% from a year ago to 1.03 billion bushels. Soft Red is down 11% and totals 347 million bushels. White production totals 241 million bushels, up 7% from a year ago. Of the White production total, 18.6 million bushels are Hard White and 222 million bushels are Soft White.

Hard Red Winter (HRW) harvested acreage is up about 26% from the previous year. Soft Red Winter (SRW) harvested acreage is estimated to be up 8% from last year. The portion of the winter wheat crop rated good to excellent on April 29, at 56%, was 20 percentage points above last year.

Subscribers can read the full text of the article by Clicking here