LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the August Crop Production report Thursday. Dry conditions during September allowed harvest to proceed at a normal pace, but hurt soybean yields. Some later planted corn fields were also impacted by the drought, but overall the yields remain good.
Corn production in Kentucky is forecast at 258 million bushels, down 3 percent from the September forecast and up 20 percent from the previous crop. Yield was estimated at 178 bushels per acre, up 1 bushel from last month and up 3 bushels from the 2018 level. Acres for harvest as grain were estimated at 1.45 million acres, up 220,000 acres from 2018. The U.S. corn production is forecast at 13.8 billion bushels, down slightly from the September forecast and down 4 percent from 2018. Based on conditions as of October 1, yields are expected to average 168.4 bushels per acre, up 0.2 bushels from last month and down 8.0 bushels from 2018. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 81.8 million acres, down slightly from the September forecast and up slightly from 2018.
Soybean production for Kentucky is forecast at 82.8 million bushels, down 8 percent from the September forecast and down 16 percent from 2018. Yield was estimated at 49 bushels per acre, down 4 bushels from last month and down 2 bushels from a year ago. Acreage for harvest as beans was estimated at 1.69 million acres, down 240,000 acres from the previous year. U.S. soybean production is forecast at 3.55 billion bushels, down 2 percent from the September forecast and down 20 percent from last year. Based on October 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 46.9 bushels per acre, down 1.0 bushels from last month and down 3.7 bushels from last year. Area for harvest is forecast at 75.6 million acres, down slightly from the September forecast and down 14 percent from 2018.
Kentucky burley tobacco production is forecast at 77.9 million pounds, down 5 percent from the September forecast and down 3 percent from 2018. Yield was projected at 1,900 pounds per acre, unchanged from last month and up 300 pounds from the 2018 crop. Harvested acreage was estimated at 41,000 acres, down 9,000 acres from last year’s crop. For the burley producing states production is forecast at 91.8 million pounds, down 9 percent from last year. Burley growers plan to harvest 48,600 acres, down 20 percent from 2018. Yields were expected to average 1,889 pounds per acre, up 244 pounds from last year.
Production of Kentucky dark fire-cured tobacco is forecast at 29.5 million pounds, up 2 percent from the
September forecast and down 16 percent from the previous year. Dark air-cured tobacco production is
forecast at 19.4 million pounds, down 4 percent from the September forecast and up 1 percent from last year.
Alfalfa hay production by Kentucky farmers is forecast at 368,000 tons, down 18 percent the 2018 level.
Other hay production is estimated at 4.80 million tons, up 3 percent from last year.
— USDA, NASS, Kentucky Field Office
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