July 12, 2006

Missouri Wheat Production Unchanged from Last Month

(COLUMBIA, MO) - "The Missouri winter wheat crop is turning out similar to what farmers expected a month ago," said Gene Danekas, Director, USDA’s Missouri Agricultural Statistics. "Yields are varying from well below normal in the southwestern counties to above normal in the northeastern and southeastern areas. The State yield should end up close to the 5-year average." The mild winter and rapid development of the crop, coupled with excellent harvesting weather, allowed farmers to reach completion of harvest several days ahead of normal.

The State production of winter wheat is forecast at 46.1 million bushels, based on conditions as of July 1, 2006, up 58 percent from the 2005 crop but unchanged from the June 1 forecast. Yields in the State are expected to average 53 bushels per acre, down 1 bushel from the 2005 yield, also unchanged from June 1. Harvested acres are forecast at 870,000, up 61 percent from the low 2005 acreage level.

U.S. Winter Wheat Production Up 1 Percent from June Forecast

Winter wheat production in the U.S. is forecast at 1.28 billion bushels. This is up 1 percent from last month but 15 percent below 2005. The U.S. yield is forecast at 41.1 bushels per acre, up 0.6 bushel from last month but down 3.3 bushels from last year. Area harvested for grain totals 31.1 million acres, unchanged from the Acreage report released on June 30, 2006, but down 8 percent from last year. Hard Red Winter, at 660 million bushels, is up less than 1 percent from a month ago. Soft Red Winter, at 375 million bushels, is up 5 percent from the last forecast. White Winter is down 1 percent from last month and now totals 245 million bushels. Of this total, 19.9 million bushels are Hard White and 225 million bushels are Soft White.

Wheat yield forecasts in states adjacent to Missouri are as follows: Arkansas 61; Illinois 68; Kansas 32; Kentucky 73; Nebraska 34; Oklahoma 23 and Tennessee 61.