Louisiana Field Office 5825 Florida Blvd. Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 Phone: (225) 922-1362 PRESS RELEASE On: November 1 Crop Report For Information Contact: Terry Mathews 1-800-256-4485 For Immediate Release: November 10, 2005 Louisiana Agriculture Receives Good News about Crop Yields Although Louisiana cotton farmers lost the chance to set a second state yield record in three years time due to Hurricane Rita and the need to get the crop out of the fields as quickly as possible, the crop was still good enough to be the second highest yielding in state history, according to Nathan Crisp, Director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Louisiana Field Office. There’s no doubt that Rita caused significant losses, Crisp continued, but we’re still looking at a great cotton crop. Plus, Louisiana’s soybean and sorghum crops produced record yields. The news for the state’s sugarcane crop, however, was not so good. Although early reports indicate that sugar content is relatively normal, the estimate for harvested tonnage is down again. Louisiana’s cotton production is expected to total 1.16 million bales, up 60,000 bales from last month and up 31 percent from 2004. Acreage harvested is estimated at 600,000 acres. The yield per acre, at 928 pounds, is up 48 pounds from last month and 61 pounds above 2004. This is the second largest yield in the state’s history. Upland cotton production for the U.S. is forecast at 22.5 million bales, unchanged from last year. Louisiana rice production is forecast at 30.7 million cwt, unchanged from the October 1 estimate but up 8 percent from 2004. Rice acreage for harvest is estimated at 525,000 acres. Yield per acre is forecast at 5,850 pounds, unchanged from last month but up 500 pounds from last year. This is the second highest yield on record, behind only the 2003 crop which had an average yield of 5,870 pounds per acre. U.S. rice production is forecast at 221 million cwt, down 4 percent from last year. The Louisiana sugarcane crop is estimated at 9.56 million net tons, down 5 percent from the previous month and down 14 percent from last year. Acreage expected for harvest (sugar and seed) is 455,000 acres. Yield is forecast at 21 net tons per acre, down 1 ton from the October 1 estimate and down 2.8 tons from 2004. This will be the lowest net tonnage per acre since 1990, when the state produced 20.6 net tons per acre. U.S. production of sugarcane for sugar and seed in 2005 is forecast at 28.4 million net tons, 2 percent below last year. Soybean production is expected to total 29.4 million bushels in Louisiana, up 3 percent from the previous month, but down 10 percent from a year ago. Acreage of soybeans expected for harvest is 840,000 acres. Yield is forecast at a record 35 bushels per acre, up 1 bushel from the previous month, and up 2 bushels from 2004. U.S. soybean production is forecast at 3.04 billion bushels, down 3 percent from 2004. Louisiana’s corn production is forecast at 46.9 million bushels, up 1 percent from the previous month, but down 15 percent from 2004. An estimated 330,000 acres were harvested for grain. Yield per acre, at 142 bushels, is up 2 bushels from last month and up 7 bushels from a year ago. U.S. corn production is forecast at 11.0 billion bushels, down 7 percent from 2004. Sorghum production is estimated at 8.67 million bushels in the state, up 2 percent from last month and up 67 percent from last year. Sorghum harvested acreage is estimated 85,000 acres. Yield is forecast at 102 bushels per acre, up 2 bushels from the previous month and up 37 bushels from 2004. This is a record yield for the state, shattering the previous record yield of 85 bushels per acre set two years ago. U.S. production for sorghum is forecast at 388 million bushels, down 15 percent from 2004. -30-