Return to the KASS Homepage
CROPS

KANSAS AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS
Kansas Department of Agriculture
PO Box 3534
Topeka, KS 66601-3534
Phone: 785-233-2230

Released: November 10, 1998
Volume 98, No. 11



Text Box


INCLUDED
IN THIS
ISSUE

CROP
PRODUCTION

MARKET
IMPLICATIONS


CORN PRODUCTION STILL REMAINS AT A RECORD HIGH

Kansas corn production is forecast at a record high 410.4 million bushels, according to Kansas Agricultural Statistics (see table 1). Current production is unchanged from the October 1 forecast but 6 percent above last year's crop. The average yield is expected to be 144 bushels per acre, equal to the previous forecast but up 1 bushel from last year's yield. Acreage harvested for grain, at 2.85 million acres, is up 150,000 acres from 1997.

Grain sorghum production is expected to total 254.1 million bushels, unchanged from October but down 7 percent from last year. Acres harvested for grain stands at 3.30 million, down 6 percent from last year. The average yield is forecast at 77 bushels per acre, unchanged from October 1 but down 1 bushel from last year.

The soybean crop is expected to be 77.5 million bushels, down 7.5 million bushels from October 1 and down 11.3 million bushels from last year. The yield is forecast at 31 bushels per acre, down 3 bushels from last month and 6 bushels below last year's record high yield. Harvested acreage is expected to total 2.50 million acres, up 4 percent from last year. The November 1 crop estimates are based on survey data obtained prior to the heavy rains that fell over the State during the weekend of October 31. Harvest progress was ahead of both last year and the average when the rains began. Field conditions will require dry weather for quite some time or some hard freezing weather so that harvesting may resume.

Table 1-- KANSAS CROP PRODUCTION, NOVEMBER 1, 1998
Crop &
Unit
Planted 1/ Harvested Yield per Acre 2/ Production
1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
1,000 Acres Per Unit (000's)
Winter Wheat, bu. 3/ 11,400 10,700 11,000 10,100 46 49 506,000 494,900
Corn Grain, bu. 2,850 3,000 2,700 2,850 143 144 386,100 410,400
Sorghum Grain, bu. 3,650 3,500 3,500 3,300 78 77 273,000 254,100
Soybeans, bu. 2,450 2,550 2,400 2,500 37 31 88,800 77,500
All Sunflowers, lbs. 3/ 220 200 213 195 1,161 1,350 247,200 263,250
Cotton, bales 4/ 12 .0 15 .0 10 .0 14 .0 418 501 8 .7 14 .6
All Hay, tons 3/ - - 2,700 2,850 2 .53 2 .60 6,840 7,410
    Alfalfa Hay, tons 3/ - - 900 950 4 .00 4 .40 3,600 4,180
    Other Hay, tons 3/ - - 1,800 1,900 1 .80 1 .70 3,240 3,230
1/ Planted for all purposes. 2/ Production divided by harvested acres rounded to whole bushels. 3/ Estimate carried forward from earlier estimate. 4/ Yield in pounds.


Table 2-- KANSAS CROP PRODUCTION FORECAST, NOVEMBER 1, 1998, BY DISTRICTS
Crop
and
District
Acres Planted,
All Purposes
Acres Harvested
for Grain
Yield
per Acre
Production
1997 1998 1997 1998 % Prev.
Year
1997 1998 1997 1998 % Prev.
Year
------------ 1,000 Acres ------------ Bushels 1,000 Bushels
CORN
Northwest 458 525 441 505 115 126 139 55,585 70,000 126
West Central 206 214 190 199 105 132 148 25,145 29,400 117
Southwest 810 900 785 874 111 185 176 144,900 153,500 106
North Central 212 216 201 204 101 113 122 22,640 24,800 110
Central 105 105 92 92 100 137 132 12,620 12,100 96
South Central 328 338 310 321 104 165 146 51,005 47,000 92
Northeast 382 372 359 350 97 108 124 38,770 43,400 112
East Central 233 212 216 197 91 110 105 23,735 20,700 97
Southeast 116 118 106 108 102 110 88 11,700 9,500 81
    State 2,850 3,000 2,700 2,850 106 143 144 386,100 410,400 106
SORGHUM GRAIN
Northwest 185 200 170 180 106 70 76 11,900 13,600 114
West Central 250 470 238 436 183 73 78 17,374 33,800 195
Southwest 520 494 510 466 91 68 71 34,552 33,000 96
North Central 665 525 627 498 79 77 84 48,321 41,600 86
Central 590 570 560 539 96 82 74 45,924 39,900 87
South Central 580 519 550 487 89 75 66 41,254 31,900 77
Northeast 305 239 301 229 76 90 99 27,090 22,600 83
East Central 225 213 221 204 92 90 83 19,780 16,900 85
Southeast 330 270 323 261 81 83 80 26,805 20,800 78
    State 3,650 3,500 3,500 3,300 94 78 77 273,000 254,100 93
SOYBEANS
Northwest 21 28 20 27 135 50 49 1,007 1,335 133
West Central 8 13 8 12 150 43 39 328 470 143
Southwest 35 43 34 42 124 48 46 1,632 1,940 119
North Central 210 231 206 227 110 34 40 6,975 9,150 131
Central 95 110 92 108 117 43 36 3,912 3,920 100
South Central 195 220 192 216 113 48 35 9,147 7,630 83
Northeast 592 600 581 588 101 36 37 21,071 21,925 104
East Central 655 660 642 648 101 36 26 23,251 17,040 73
Southeast 639 645 625 632 101 34 22 21,477 14,090 66
    State 2,450 2,550 2,400 2,500 104 37 31 88,000 77,500 87

U.S. CROP PRODUCTION - NOVEMBER 1998

Corn production is forecast at 9.84 billion bushels, up 1 percent from last month and up 5 percent from 1997. Based on conditions as of November 1, yields are expected to average 133.3 bushels per acre, up 1.3 bushel per acre from last month and up 6.3 bushels from 1997. If realized, this would be the second largest production and the second highest yield on record. Acreage harvested and to be harvested for grain is forecast at 73.8 million acres, unchanged from last month and virtually unchanged from 1997. Yield prospects increased in Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin due to ideal weather conditions during October. The yields in the three other major producing states, Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota remained unchanged.

Grain sorghum production is forecast at 521 million bushels, down slightly from the October forecast and 20 percent below 1997. The U.S. yield is forecast at 66.5 bushels per acre, unchanged from last month but 3.0 bushels below 1997. Area harvested and to be harvested was unchanged from October, at 7.84 million acres, down 17 percent from the previous year. Arkansas and Missouri showed declines of 2 and 6 bushels per acre, respectively, in yield forecast from October. Colorado and South Dakota increased their yield forecasts, up 9 and 5 bushels per acre, respectively.

Soybean production is forecast at a record high 2.76 billion bushels, down fractionally from October 1 but 2 percent above last year's record of 2.70 billion bushels. The yield forecast, at 38.6 bushels per acre, is down 0.1 bushel from last month and is 0.2 bushel below the 1997 final yield. If realized, this year's soybean yield will be the third highest yield on record. In the major producing states, the forecasted yields decreased by 2 bushels in Arkansas and Missouri. Yields increased 3 bushels in Ohio, but remained unchanged in the other major producing states. Acreage for harvest is estimated at a record 71.6 million acres, unchanged from October 1 but up 3 percent from 1997. As of November 1, the soybean harvest was 89 percent complete.

Table 3-- UNITED STATES CROP PRODUCTION, NOVEMBER 1, 1998
Crop &
Unit
Planted 1/ Harvested Yield per Acre Production
1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
1,000 Acres Per Unit (000's)
All Wheat, bu. 2/ 70,989 66,185 63,577 59,112 39 .7 43 .3 2,526,552 2,557,497
Winter Wheat, bu. 2/ 48,342 46,759 41,813 40,231 45 .0 46 .9 1,882,609 1,887,395
Corn Grain, bu. 80,227 80,798 73,720 73,789 127 .0 133 .3 9,365,574 9,836,069
Sorghum Grain, bu 10,108 9,726 9,391 7,838 69 .5 66 .5 653,106 520,981
Soybeans, bu. 70,550 72,690 69,584 71,570 38 .8 38 .6 2,702,554 2,762,609
All Sunflowers, lbs. 2/ 2,949 .0 3,420 .0 2,852 .0 3,307 .0 1,320 1,400 3,763,428 4,628,860
All Cotton, bales 3/ 13,808 .0 12,865 .5 13,270 .0 10,374 .5 680 612 18,793 .0 13,230 .6
All Hay, tons 2/ - - 60,815 59,819 2 .50 2 .54 152,120 151,754
    Alfalfa Hay, tons 2/ - - 23,673 23,437 3 .35 3 .52 79,242 82,442
    Other Hay, tons 2/ - - 37,142 36,382 1 .96 1 .91 72,878 69,312
1/ Planted for all purposes. 2/ Carried forward from previous estimate. 3/ Yield in pounds.

Ron Sitzman & Deonne McCray, Agricultural Statisticians
Eldon J. Thiessen, State Statistician
Eddie Wells, Deputy State Statistician

Return to the KASS Homepage