NEWS RELEASE
United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service
South Dakota Field Office ? Sioux Falls, SD

Media contact: South Dakota Office, 605/323-6500
Email:  nass-sd@nass.usda.gov




WINTER WHEAT PRODUCTION FORECAST DOWN FROM LAST YEAR


SIOUX FALLS, MAY 12, 2006 – The South Dakota May 1, 2006, winter wheat production forecast is 56.3 million bushels, down 14 percent from last year’s 65.6 million bushels, according to the South Dakota office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.  The winter wheat yield for 2006 is forecast at 45 bushels per acre, up 1 bushel from last year.  Harvested acreage is estimated at 1,250,000 acres, down 240,000 acres from 2005.  Planted acreage, at 1,350,000 acres, is down 13 percent (200,000 acres) from last year.

May 1, 2006 on-farm hay stocks, at 2.14 million tons, are up 2 percent from May 2005.  Hay disappearance from December 1, 2005 to May 1, 2006 was 5.8 million tons, up 20 percent from last year.  

Access this complete report at:

http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/field/pcp-bb/2006/crop0506.pdf