=========================================================== New England Agricultural Statistics - - - a field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service United States Department of Agriculture Aubrey R. Davis, Director Phone: (603) 224-9639 22 Bridge St, 3rd Floor Fax: (603) 225-1434 PO Box 1444 Internet: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ Concord, NH 03302-1444 E-Mail: nass.nh@nass.usda.gov =========================================================== OCTOBER AG REVIEW OCTOBER 24, 2005 The following is an abbreviated version of the report. The entire document is available as a PDF file on the Internet through: http://www.nass.usda.gov/nh/ =========================================================== A special “Thank you” goes to New England producers and agri-businesses who have helped us by completing surveys via mail, telephone or personal interviews. FIELD CROPS: Maine oat production is expected to total 2.2 million bushels in 2005, a decrease of 14 percent from the previous year’s output. Grain acreage harvested is estimated at 30,000 acres, down 2,000 acres from a year earlier. The bulk of the 2005 oat crop was seeded after June 1 this year due to excessive spring rainfall; planting ranged from one to two weeks later than normal. Warm, sunny conditions prevailed during June, but by mid-July the crop was beginning to show signs of stress due to lack of moisture. Heat and sparse shower activity through August brought crop development back on schedule with normal. As of the first week in September, 55 percent of the oats had been combined, ahead of last year’s 30 percent and normal of 35 percent. Early September grower assessments placed oats for grain yields at 73 bushels per acre, compared with 80 bushels per acre a year earlier. Maine’s 2005 barley production is estimated at 1.3 million bushels, five percent below 2004 output due to fewer acres harvested. Grain acreage harvested totaled 21,000 acres, 1,000 acres less than a year earlier. Grain yields are expected to average 60 bushels per acre, unchanged from the 2004 barley yield average. TOBACCO: After a cold, wet start, an excellent growing season prevailed for broadleaf tobacco in 2005. The October 1, 2005 forecast placed broadleaf production at 4.1 million pounds in the Connecticut River Valley. Improved yields would place 2005 production ten percent above last year=s output and 22 percent above 2003 crop sales. Hot, dry conditions during the summer forced irrigation at many farms, but confined the spread of blue mold to one location. Broadleaf harvest finished up by mid-September, on schedule with normal, and excellent curing conditions prevailed through the end of that month. Growers provided early October assessments with the crop still hanging in the sheds and placed broadleaf yields at 1,725 pounds per acre. Since then, heavy rains have caused severe flooding along the Connecticut River Valley. The moisture provided the damp conditions needed to take down the crop, however increased the incidence of mold at some locations. Producers intend to harvest 1.8 million pounds of shade tobacco in Connecticut and Massachusetts, a one percent drop in production from last year’s output. Based on early October assessments, yields were expected to average 1,538 pounds per acre, compared with the 1,597 pounds per acre average a year earlier. MILK PRODUCTION: Milk production in Vermont totaled 210 million pounds for September 2005, an increase of one percent from September 2004. There were an estimated 142,000 milk cows on Vermont farms in September, a decrease of 1,000 head from the previous month and a decline of 3,000 from September 2004. Milk production in New England during the third quarter (July-September) of 2005 totaled 1.05 billion pounds, unchanged from the previous year. There were an estimated 229,100 milk cows on hand from July through September 2005, a decrease of 1,900 cows from the previous quarter. Milk production per cow averaged 4,582 pounds per cow, an increase of two percent from the same quarter in 2004. Milk production in the United States during the third quarter of this year totaled 44.0 billion pounds, an increase of four percent from the third quarter of 2004. There were 9.1 million milk cows in the United States during the third quarter of the year, slightly above the previous quarter’s total. The United States average quarterly milk production rate was 4,862 pounds per cow for the third quarter of 2005, a nearly four percent increase from the third quarter of 2004. LAYER AND EGG PRODUCTION: Connecticut and Maine layer inventories in September 2005 averaged 7.1 million birds. Maine was the leading producer of eggs in New England, with an output of 80 million eggs during September 2005. Connecticut layers produced 68 million eggs from all layers during the same month. The total number of layers in the United States during September 2005 averaged 342 million, down less than one percent from a year earlier. United States egg production totaled 7.38 billion eggs during September 2005, up less than one percent from last year. Production included 6.31 billion table eggs and 1.07 billion hatching eggs. This is a monthly summary of New England agricultural statistics taken from nationwide reports issued by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. All National reports and State newsletters are available on the Internet at: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ National reports can be ordered by calling 1-800-999-6779. How can you get these reports electronically? * For free National e-mail reports, send a message to: usda-reports@usda.mannlib.cornell.edu and in the body of the message, type: lists * For free State newsletters, such as this, send a message to: listserv@newsbox.usda.gov and in the body, type: subscribe usda-new-eng-all-reports OR for a list of all available reports, type: lists for other states. **************************End of Report****************************