Oklahoma’s crop forecast
The story I wrote for today’s newspaper on the latest crop forecast focused on the surprising national corn estimate and the lack of trust in its accuracy.
Much of the nation’s prime corn growing regions were inundated with floods at the start of the growing season, and experts don’t believe that 12.3 billion bushels will be brought in this year. That’s only a 6 percent decline from 2007.
While Oklahoma is not a big corn growing the state, the issue is key to cattle farmers who use corn as a prime feed for their livestock. So, they were watching the forecast with interest.
Oklahoma’s wheat harvest — it’s largest grain crop — is forecast at 171 million bushels. That’s a whopping 74 percent over the weather-plagued 2007 crop. In fact, the two previous wheat crops were virtually wiped out by weather-related issues.
While the state’s wheat industry should celebrate the big harvest numbers, many farmers are concerned about the high cost of inputs — diesel fuel and fertilizer — as they plan for next season’s crop. There is always a black cloud behind the silver lining, it seems.
Here’s a stat that stood out in the state wheat forecast: 4.5 million acres. That’s one million more acres that were harvested for wheat than in 2007. That’s big.
Other state crops:
Corn: 41.6 million bushels, up 6 percent from 2007 and the largest in Oklahoma since 1932.
Cotton: 290,000 bales, up 3 percent
Grain sorghum: 12 million bushels, up 6 percent.
Peanuts: 53.2 million pounds, down 8 percent and the lowest production since 1956.
Soybeans: 7.13 milion bushels, up 70 percent
Hay production: 6.21 million tons, the second highest on record, although it is down 12 percent from 2007.
Peaches: 1,800 tons, up 80 percent.
Business Reporter
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