LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The 2021 corn for grain crop is estimated at 148.35 million bushels, 21 percent above last year’s production of 122.96 million bushels, according to the December 1 Agricultural Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. The average yield of 129.0 bushels per acre is 13.0 bushels per acre above the yield realized last year. Area harvested for grain in 2021, at 1.15 million acres, is 90,000 acres above last year. Acreage cut for corn silage is estimated at 180,000 acres, down 50,000 acres from last year, with production estimated at 4.41 million tons, compared with 5.29 million tons produced last year.
Sorghum for grain production is estimated at 14.80 million bushels, up 190 percent from the previous year. Average yield is estimated at 37.0 bushels per acre, up 17.0 bushels per acre from last year. Producers harvested 400,000 acres for grain, up 145,000 acres from last year’s area harvested. Acreage cut for sorghum silage is estimated at 39,000 acres, up 16,000 acres from last year, with production estimated at 546,000 tons, compared with 253,000 tons produced last year.
Colorado’s barley seeded area, at 52,000 acres, is down 4,000 acres from last year and the lowest seeded acreage since 2006. Harvested area, at 47,000 acres, is unchanged from 2020 and the lowest harvested acreage since 2006. Barley yield, at 111.0 bushels per acre, is down 34.0 bushels per acre from last year and is the lowest yield since 109.0 bushels per acre in 2003. Barley production in 2021 is estimated at 5.22 million bushels, down 23 percent from the previous year and the lowest production since 2006.
Winter wheat production in Colorado, estimated at 69.56 million bushels, is up 69 percent from 2020. Winter wheat producers seeded 2.20 million acres in the fall of 2020 for harvest in 2021, up from 1.90 million acres seeded for the previous year’s crop. Acreage harvested for grain increased 360,000 acres from last year to 1.88 million acres in 2021. Winter wheat yield, at 37.0 bushels per acre, is up 10.0 bushels per acre from last year.
Proso millet production in the state is estimated at 9.24 million bushels, up from 4.86 million bushels produced last year. Farmers harvested 420,000 acres of proso millet, up 85,000 acres from the previous year. Yield increased 7.5 bushels per acre from last year to 22.0 bushels per acre.
All hay production for 2021 is estimated at 4.49 million tons, up 36 percent from the 2020 total. Alfalfa hay production is estimated at 3.12 million tons from 780,000 acres harvested, up 740,000 tons from 2020. Average yield for the 2021 crop is 4.00 tons per acre, 0.60 ton per acre above last year. All other hay production totaled 1.37 million tons from 700,000 acres harvested, up 447,000 tons from 2020. The average yield of 1.95 tons per acre is 0.60 ton per acre above last year. New seedings of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures in Colorado are estimated at 50,000 acres, down 33 percent from 2020.
As of December 1, producers in Colorado were storing 2.00 million tons of all hay, up 18 percent from the 1.70 million tons stored last year.
All sunflower production is estimated at 47.20 million pounds from 50,500 acres harvested. Yield is estimated at 935 pounds per acre, down from the 941 pounds attained last year. Production of oil varieties increased 37 percent from the previous year to 36.27 million pounds and production of non-oil varieties decreased 44 percent from the previous year to 10.93 million pounds.
The state’s sugarbeet crop of 795,000 tons for 2021 is up 7 percent from the 742,000 tons produced in 2020. Producers harvested 23,600 acres in 2021, down from 23,700 acres in 2020. Average yield is estimated at 33.7 tons per acre, 2.4 tons per acre above 2020.
Colorado potato growers produced an estimated 20.88 million hundredweight of potatoes this year, down 8 percent from last year’s crop. Average yield, at 400 hundredweight per acre, decreased 20 hundredweight per acre from the yield attained last year. The harvested area, estimated at 52,200 acres, is down from the 53,800 acres harvested last year.
Dry edible bean production is set at 602,000 hundredweight, 44 percent below the 2020 crop of 1.07 million hundredweight. Average yield is estimated at 1,880 pounds per acre, 190 pounds per acre below last year. Harvested area, at 32,000 acres, is 20,000 acres less than last year. Pinto bean production in 2021 is 357,000 hundredweight, down 51 percent from last year.
Winter wheat seedings last fall for the 2022 crop year are estimated at 2.15 million acres, down 2 percent from last year.
UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS
Corn for grain production in 2021 was estimated at 15.1 billion bushels, up 7 percent from the 2020 estimate. The average yield in the United States was estimated at a record high 177.0 bushels per acre, 5.6 bushels above the 2020 yield of 171.4 bushels per acre. Area harvested for grain was estimated at 85.4 million acres, up 4 percent from the 2020 estimate. Corn silage production was estimated at 130 million tons for 2021, down 5 percent from the 2020 estimate. The United States silage yield was estimated at 20.1 tons per acre, down 0.4 ton from 2020. Area harvested for silage was estimated at 6.48 million acres, down 3 percent from the 2020 estimate.
Sorghum grain production in 2021 was estimated at 448 million bushels, up 20 percent from the 2020 total. Planted area for 2021 was estimated at 7.31 million acres, up 24 percent from the previous year. Area harvested for grain, at 6.49 million acres, was up 27 percent from 2020. Grain yield was estimated at 69.0 bushels per acre, down 4.2 bushels from 2020. Sorghum silage production was estimated at 5.08 million tons, up 63 percent from 2020. Area harvested for silage was estimated at 331,000 acres, up 39 percent from the previous year. Silage yield averaged 15.4 tons per acre, up 2.3 tons per acre from 2020.
Barley production was estimated at 118 million bushels, down 31 percent from the 2020 total of 171 million bushels. The average yield, at 60.4 bushels per acre, was down 16.8 bushels from the previous year. Producers seeded 2.66 million acres in 2021, down 2 percent from 2020. Harvested area, at 1.95 million acres, was down 12 percent from 2020.
All wheat production totaled 1.65 billion bushels in 2021, down 10 percent from the 2020 total of 1.83 billion bushels. Area harvested for grain totaled 37.2 million acres, up 1 percent from the previous year. The United States yield was estimated at 44.3 bushels per acre, down 5.4 bushels from the previous year. The levels of production and changes from 2020 by type were: winter wheat, 1.28 billion bushels, up 9 percent; other spring wheat, 331 million bushels, down 44 percent; and Durum wheat, 37.3 million bushels, down 46 percent. Winter wheat production for 2021 totaled 1.28 billion bushels, up 9 percent from the 2020 total of 1.17 billion bushels. The United States yield, at 50.2 bushels per acre, was down 0.7 bushel from 2020. Area harvested for grain was estimated at 25.5 million acres, up 11 percent from the previous year.
Production of proso millet in 2021 totaled 15.4 million bushels, up 61 percent from the revised 2020 production of 9.57 million bushels. Area planted to proso millet in the United States was estimated at 725,000 acres, up 116,000 acres (or 19 percent) from 2020. Area harvested in the United States, at 662,000 acres, was up 153,000 acres (or 30 percent) from the revised 2020 harvested estimate. The average yield for 2021 was estimated at 23.2 bushels per acre, up 4.4 bushels from the revised 2020 yield of 18.8 bushels per acre.
Production of all dry hay for 2021 was estimated at 120.2 million tons, down 5 percent from the 2020 total. Area harvested was estimated at 50.7 million acres, down 3 percent from 2020. The average yield, at 2.37 tons per acre, was down 0.06 ton from 2020. Production of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures in 2021 was estimated at 49.2 million tons, down 7 percent from the 2020 total. Harvested area, at 15.2 million acres, was 6 percent below 2020. Average yield was estimated at 3.23 tons per acre, down 0.04 ton from 2020. All other hay production in 2021 totaled 71.0 million tons, down 4 percent from the 2020 total. Harvested area, at 35.5 million acres, was down 1 percent from 2020. Average yield was estimated at 2.00 tons per acre, down 0.05 ton from 2020. New seedings of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures totaled 1.65 million acres during 2021, down 25 percent from 2020. This is a record low for the Nation. New seedings of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures are normally harvested for the first time in the year following planting.
All hay stored on United States farms as of December 1, 2021 totaled 79.0 million tons, down 6 percent from December 1, 2020, which is the third lowest December 1 stocks since 1977. Disappearance from May 1, 2021 – December 1, 2021 totaled 59.2 million tons, down 6 percent from the same period in 2020.
The 2021 sunflower production totaled 1.90 billion pounds, down 36 percent from 2020 and was the lowest production since 1989. The United States average yield of 1,530 pounds per acre decreased 260 pounds from 2020. Planted area, at 1.29 million acres, was 25 percent below the previous year and was the lowest since 1976. Area harvested decreased 25 percent from 2020 to 1.24 million acres. United States production of oil-type sunflower varieties, at 1.74 billion pounds, decreased 34 percent from 2020. Compared with the previous year, harvested acres were down 22 percent and the average yield decreased by 279 pounds to 1,523 pounds per acre. Production of non-oil sunflower varieties was estimated at 167 million pounds, a decrease of 54 percent from 2020 and represents the lowest production on record for the Nation. Area harvested, at 104,300 acres, was down 51 percent from 2020. The average yield decreased by 109 pounds from 2020 to 1,602 pounds per acre.
Sugarbeet production for 2021 was estimated at 36.8 million tons, up 9 percent from the previous year’s revised production. Growers in the 11 major sugarbeet-producing States planted 1.16 million acres, down slightly from the 2020 revised area. Harvested area, at 1.11 million acres, was down 3 percent from the previous year. Estimated yield, at 33.2 tons per acre, was up 3.8 tons from last year.
Production of potatoes in 2021 was estimated at 410 million cwt, down 2 percent from the 2020 crop. Planted area, at 943,000 acres, was up 3 percent from last year. Harvested area, at 935,700 acres, was up 3 percent from the previous year. The average yield, at 438 cwt per acre, down 23 cwt from the previous year.
United States dry edible bean production was estimated at 22.7 million cwt for 2021, down 30 percent from the previous year. Planted area was estimated at 1.39 million acres, down 19 percent from 2020. Harvested area was estimated at 1.34 million acres, down 20 percent from the previous year. The average United States yield for dry edible beans for the 2021 season is 1,701 pounds per acre, down 261 pounds from 2020.
Winter wheat seeded area for 2022 is expected to total 34.4 million acres, up 2 percent from 2021. Approximate class acreage breakdowns are: Hard Red Winter, 23.8 million; Soft Red Winter, 7.07 million; and White Winter, 3.56 million.
For a full copy of the Crop Production 2021 Summary report, please visit www.nass.usda.gov.
–USDA, NASS