1.69 Billion Bushel Winter Wheat Crop

WASHINGTON - May 10/12 - SNS -- This year's winter wheat harvest in the United States is now expected to total 1.69 billion bushels, up 13% from last year, according to the USDA's latest crop production forecasts.

The area expected to be harvested for grain or seed totals 35.6 million acres, up 10% from last year. Based on May 1 conditions, the United States yield is forecast at 47.6 bushels per acre, up 1.4 bushels from last year. As of May 1, 64% of the winter wheat crop in the 18 major producing States was rated in good to excellent condition, 30 points above the same week in 2011, and heading had reached 54%, 30 points ahead of the 5-year average.

Hard Red Winter, at 1.03 billion bushels, is up 32% from 2011. Soft Red Winter, at 428 million bushels, is down 6% from last year. White Winter is down 9% from last year and now totals 233 million bushels. Of this total, 14.1 million bushels are Hard White and 219 million bushels are Soft White.

The combination of a mild winter and spring, paired with timely precipitation, resulted in beneficial growing conditions in the Great Plains States. Precipitation this spring not only aided the winter wheat crop, but also improved pasture and hay fields, leading cattle producers to harvest wheat acreage for grain instead of hay. Current crop conditions have improved from last year in all major Hard Red Winter (HRW) producing states except Montana and South Dakota. As of May 1, the% of crop rated good to excellent in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas was 27 points or more higher than last year, contributing to forecasted yield increases for those States.

Crop conditions were varied in several of the Soft Red Winter (SRW) producing States due to cooler than normal spring temperatures. Yields are forecasted to be down in the Coastal Plains States and the Southeast, where many States set record yields in 2011. However, yields are expected to be up from last year in much of the Corn Belt and the Northeast.

Warmer temperatures and adequate moisture in the Pacific Northwest left growers optimistic after a predominantly cool start to the spring growing season. As of May 1, crop conditions reported as good to excellent were unchanged in Idaho, down 8 points in Oregon, while up 18 points in Washington compared to last year. Yields are forecast to be down from last year in Oregon and Washington but up in Idaho.

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