October 9, 2009

Corn and Soybean Yields Unchanged From Last Month, Acreages Decline

(COLUMBIA, MO) - "Missouri farmers expect an outstanding year if weather conditions don’t adversely affect harvest." said Gene Danekas, Director, USDA-Missouri Agricultural Statistics. "Near-record yields are expected as producers begin this late harvest season.”

Based on conditions as of October 1, Missouri corn yield per harvested acre is forecast at 151 bushels, up 7 bushels per acre from a year earlier but unchanged from the September 1 estimate. This would be the second largest yield on record following the 162 bushels per acre realized in 2004. Planted and harvested acres were revised downward to 3.00 million acres planted and 2.90 million acres harvested for grain. Production is forecast at 438 million bushels. If realized, this production would be 15 percent above a year ago. If realized, this will be the third largest Missouri corn crop on record behind 2004 and 2007.

Soybean yield in Missouri is forecast at 42 bushels per acre, up 4 bushels per acre from the 2008 yield but unchanged from the September 1 forecast. This would be the second largest yield on record following the 45 bushels per acre achieved in 2004. Acres are revised from last month to 5.30 million acres harvested from 5.35 million acres planted, 5 percent above last years’ estimate of 5.03 million harvested acres. Production is forecast at 223 million bushels, 16 percent above the 2008 estimate of 191 million bushels but down 1 percent from September 1. This would be the second largest Missouri soybean crop on record, slightly behind the record set in 2004.

Based on a record yield of 2.24 tons per acre, all hay production in Missouri is forecast at 8.68 million tons from 3.88 million acres harvested and the third largest hay crop on record behind 2004 and 2008. The previous record hay yield was set in 2004 at 2.17 tons per acre.

Grain sorghum to be harvested in Missouri is forecast at 45,000 acres, 44 percent below last year and 18 percent below the September 1 estimate. A yield of 89 bushels per acre is expected, down 8 bushels from 2008 but up 3 bushels per acre from last month. If realized, this would result in a production of 4.01 million bushels,

A record yield of 7,000 pounds per acre is forecast for Missouri rice, 100 pounds per acre above the previous record yield set in 2007. This yield is 380 pounds per acre above last year and 200 pounds per acre above the September 1 estimate. If realized, this would result in the states’ second largest production of 13.9 million hundredweight, slightly below the previous record production of 14.1 million hundredweight set in 2005. Missouri cotton producers expect to harvest 263,000 acres, 13 percent below last year. A record yield of 1,132 pounds per acre is forecast, 26 pounds per acre above the previous record set last year. The resulting 620,000 480-pound bales would be 11 percent below last year but unchanged from the September 1 estimate.down 48 percent from 2008 and down 15 percent from the September 1 estimate.

United States Crops

U.S. corn production is forecast at 13.0 billion bushels, up slightly from last month and 8 percent higher than 2008. Based on conditions as of October 1, yields are expected to average 164.2 bushels per acre, up 2.3 bushels from September and 10.3 bushels above last year. If realized, this yield will be the highest on record and total production will be second only to the record set in 2007.

U.S. soybean production is forecast at a record high 3.25 billion bushels, up slightly from the September forecast and up 10 percent from last year. Based on October 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 42.4 bushels per acre, up 0.1 bushel from last month and up 2.7 bushels from 2008. If realized, this will be the third highest yield on record.

U.S. all Cotton production is forecast at 13.0 million 480-pound bales, down 3 percent from last month but up 1 percent from last year. Upland cotton production is forecast at 12.6 million 480-pound bales, down 3 percent from last month but up 2 percent from last year. U.S. sorghum production is forecast at 364 million bushels, down 7 percent from last month and down 23 percent from last year. Based on administrative information, acreage changes were made in several States. Planted area is 6.62 million acres, down 5 percent from the previous forecast and down 20 percent from 2008. U.S. rice production is forecast at 221 million cwt, up 1 percent from the September forecast and up 8 percent from last year. Area for harvest is expected to total 3.10 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast but up 4 percent from 2008. As of October 1, the U.S. yield is forecast at 7,115 pounds per acre, up 64 pounds from the September 1 forecast and 269 pounds above the 2008 average yield of 6,846 pounds per acre.