May 10, 2013

Based on May 1 conditions Nebraska's winter wheat crop is forecast at 42.9 million bushels, down 20% from last year and the smallest crop since 1944, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office.

Average yield is forecast at 33 bu/ac, down 8 bushels from last year and the lowest since 2002.

Acreage to be harvested for grain is estimated at 1.3 million acres, unchanged from last year. This would be 90% of the planted acres, below last year’s harvested percent and the smallest percentage since 2004.

May 1 hay stocks of 610,000 tons are down 43% from last year and the lowest since 2001.

National Winter Wheat Forecast

Nationally, winter wheat prouction is forecast at 1.49 billion bushels, down 10% from 2012. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 32.7 million acres, down 6% from last year. As of May 1, the United States yield is forecast at 45.4 bushels per acre, down 1.8 bushels from the previous year.

Hard red winter production, at 768 million bushels, is down 23% from a year ago. Soft red winter wheat, at 501 million bushels, is up 19% from 2012. White winter wheat, at 217 million bushels, is down 2% from a year ago. Of the white winter production, 11.4 million bushels are hard white and 205 million bushels are soft white.