LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the Crop Production report Monday, showing an increase in wheat production and yield. Production is expected to increase 49% from 2020 and yield expectations are up 23 bushels per acre from last year.
“This is a big wheat crop,” said David Knopf, director of the NASS Eastern Mountain Regional Office in Kentucky. “If these forecast numbers hold up, this will rank as the fifth largest production in Kentucky history. Yield per acre would eclipse the previous record of 80 bushels per acres, set in 2016.”
Farmers expect to harvest 31.8 million bushels of winter wheat during 2021. The expected crop for 2021 would be up 49% from the previous year. The forecast was based on crop conditions as of July 1 and increased 13% from the June forecast. Growers expect a yield of 86 bushels per acre, up 23 bushels from 2020 and up 9 bushels from June. Farmers seeded 520,000 acres last fall with 370,000 acres to be harvested for grain. Acres for other uses totaled 150,000 acres and will be used as a cover crop or cut as silage or hay.
Winter wheat production for the Nation was forecast at 1.36 billion bushels, up 4% from the June 1 forecast and up 16% from 2020. Based on July 1 conditions, the United States yield is forecast at 53.6 bushels per acre, up 0.4 bushels from last month and up 2.7 bushels from last year. The expected area to be harvested for grain or seed totals 25.4 million acres, up 11% from last year.
— USDA, NASS, Kentucky Field Office
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