Virginia’s wheat crop bigger than expected

According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Virginia’s winter wheat crop for 2012 is expected to total 18.9 million bushels, an increase of 290,000 bushels from the May forecast.

The information comes from the latest data collected by the Virginia Field Office of the National Agriculture Statistics Service.

Producers in the Commonwealth are expected to harvest 290,000 acres of wheat that will yield an average of 65 bushels per acre. As of June 10, the majority of the wheat crop was in good condition. The projected yield in Virginia is higher than the national forecast of 47.3 bushels per acre.

Nationally, the winter wheat production forecast is down one percent from May 1, 2012, but still 13 percent above 2011.