University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

July 14, 2006

Winter wheat crop forecast at 18% below last year

Based on July 1 conditions, Nebraska’s 2006 winter wheat crop is forecast at 56.1 million bushels, unchanged from last month’s forecast but 18% below last year’s crop, according to a July 12 report from the Nebraska Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Average yield is forecast at 34 bushels per acre, unchanged from last month but 5 bushels below last year.

Area to be harvested for grain is estimated at 1.65 million acres, 110,000 less than last year. Actual field counts from the Objective Yield Survey indicated that wheat heads per square foot were 15% less than last year. Wheat harvest started the third full week of June and was 50% completed by July 2, running a week ahead of normal.

“With the effects of the limited precipitation during the growing season, many Nebraska wheat producers are not realizing the yield potential they had hoped for earlier in the season,” said Mark Harris, director of Nebraska Agricultural Statistics.

Oat production is forecast at 2.12 million bushels, down 52% from last year. Acreage for harvest, at 45,000 acres, is down 15,000 acres from 2005 while yield, at 47 bushels per acre, is 26 bushels per acre below last year.

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Copyright 2006 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. All rights reserved.
Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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