Drought Conditions Lower Wheat Production Estimates
Latest USDA crop report says winter wheat production is down 16% from 2005.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jun 9, 2006
Ongoing drought conditions in the southern Great Plains mean that forecasted winter wheat production is down 16% from 2005, according to the Crop Production report released today by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Based on June 1 conditions, NASS forecasts winter wheat production at 1.26 billion bushels, down 4.5% from the May 1 forecast. U.S. yield is forecast at 40.5 bushels per acre, down 1.9 bushels from last month and 3.9 bushels from 2005. Area harvested for grain is expected to total 31.2 million acres, unchanged from May but down 7.7% from last year.
Production of hard red winter wheat is forecast at 658.6 million bushels, down 7.9% from May and 29.2% from last year, according to the NASS report. Soft red winter wheat production is up slightly from last month's estimate, to 357 million bushels, a 15.6% increase from 2005. NASS forecasts white winter wheat production at 247.9 million bushels, down 1.5% from May and 4.8% from 2005.
Looking at 2005-2006 orange production, NASS forecasts utilization at 8.96 million tons, unchanged from May 1 but down 2.8% from last season's final utilization.
NASS June crop production forecasts are based on data collected between May 22 and June 6, both from farm operators participating in the monthly Agricultural Survey and from actual field counts obtained by NASS enumerators as part of the Objective Yield Survey.
The June Crop Production report, along with all other NASS reports, is available online at www.nass.usda.gov.
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Tagged: wheat, winter wheat, usda, farm, Drought
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