Home Virginia producers expect improved yields in 2011
Local

Virginia producers expect improved yields in 2011

Contributors

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced today that Virginia’s winter wheat yield is forecast at 72 bushels per acre compared with 51 bushels per acre a year earlier. Production is expected to total 18.7 million bushels which is up 129 percent from the previous year. Harvested acreage is up 100,000 acres from 2010 to 260,000 acres.

All estimates are based on surveys by the Virginia Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Services (NASS).

Corn yields are expected to be 116 bushels per acre, up 39 bushels per acre from last year. Production is estimated at 39.4 million bushels, up 90 percent from 2010. Harvested acres are estimated at 340,000.

Peanut producers expect to harvest 14,000 acres, a 4,000 acre decrease from the previous year. Yield is forecast at 3,300 pounds per acre, up 1,500 pounds from last year’s yield. Resulting production will be 46.2 million pounds, up 43 percent from 2010’s production.

Soybean producers currently expect to harvest 550,000 acres with an average yield of 35 bushels per acre, up nine bushels per acre from last year. Production is expected to total 19.3 million bushels, up 37 percent from last year.

Cotton yield is forecast to average 981 pounds per acre, up 249 pounds from last year’s 732 pounds per acre. If realized, production would be 233,000 bales, up 86 percent from last year. Producers expect to harvest 114,000 acres in 2011, up 39 percent from last year.

Flue tobacco producers currently expect yields to average 2,400 pounds, up 120 pounds from 2010. Production will total 44.4 million pounds from 18,500 acres.

Burley yields are expected to average 1,700 pounds, down 200 pounds from last year. Production is expected to total 3.4 million pounds, up 12 percent from 2010. Producers expect to harvest 2,000 acres, up 400 acres from the previous year.

Fire-cured tobacco yields are expected to average 1,800 pounds per acre, down 290 pounds from 2010. Production is expected to total 990,000 pounds, down 37 percent from 2010. Producers expect to harvest 550 acres in 2011, down 15 percent from last year.

Hay producers expect to harvest 70,000 acres of alfalfa hay with an average yield of 4.0 tons per acre. Production is expected to total 280,000 tons, up 52 percent from 2010. NASS expects 1.28 million acres of other hay to be harvested in Virginia. The yield for other hay is expected to average 2.10 tons per acre. Production is expected to total 2.69 million tons, up 34 percent from the previous year.

Barley yields averaged 83 bushels per acre, up 16 bushels per acre from last year. The resulting production will total 5.81 million bushels. Barley producers harvested 70,000 acres, which was up 22,000 acres from last year.

Nationally, wheat production is down one percent; corn is on track for the third largest production total and the fourth highest yield on record.

Nationwide all wheat production is expected to be down one percent from the July forecast.

All wheat production, at 2.08 billion bushels, is down one percent from the July forecast and down six percent from 2010. Based on August 1 conditions, the United States yield is forecast at 45.2 bushels per acre, up 0.6 bushel from last month but down 1.2 bushels from last year.

Winter wheat production is forecast at 1.50 billion bushels, up slightly from last month and up one percent from 2010. The United States yield is forecast at 46.3 bushels per acre, up 0.1 bushel from last month but down 0.5 bushel from last year. The area expected to be harvested for grain nationally totals 32.3 million acres, unchanged from last month but up two percent from last year.

Corn production is forecast at 12.9 billion bushels, up four percent from 2010. If realized, this will be the third largest production total on record for the United States. Based on conditions as of August 1, yields are expected to average 153.0 bushels per acre, up 0.2 bushel from 2010, and the fourth highest yield on record. U.S. acreage planted for all purposes is estimated at 92.3 million acres, unchanged from the June estimate. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 84.4 million acres, down less than one percent from June but up four percent from 2010.

Soybean production is forecast at 3.06 billion bushels, down eight percent from last year. Based on August 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 41.4 bushels per acre, down 2.1 bushels from last year. Area for harvest in the United States is forecast at 73.8 million acres, down less than one percent from June and down four percent from 2010. Planted area for the nation is estimated at 75.0 million acres, down fractionally from June.

All cotton production is forecast at 16.6 million 480-pound bales, down nine percent from last year’s 18.1 million bales. Yield is expected to average 822 pounds per harvested acre, up 10 pounds from last year. This harvested total includes 9.38 million acres of upland cotton and 287,500 acres of pima cotton.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.