Kentucky Ag News

 

Kentucky on trend for record soybean harvest

 

National Agricultural Statistics Service

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its crop production report today from the September Agricultural Yield Survey conducted at the beginning of the month. The survey queried about 600 farms across Kentucky and is the second of four measurements for the 2016 harvest.

 

“As fall harvest is beginning, the yield picture is becoming clearer,” said David Knopf, director of the NASS Eastern Mountain Regional Office in Kentucky. “It’s been a rainy growing season here. It could be another record soybean crop, and corn has also benefitted from the rain. On the other hand, tobacco has been challenged by all that rain, and those weather conditions continued in August lowering the yield potential.”

Corn production in Kentucky is forecast at 244 million bushels.

“Corn (production) is down two percent from August, but up eight percent from 2015,” Knopf said.

Corn yield was estimated at 172 bushels per acre, down three bushels from last month and unchanged from the 2015 level. Acres for harvest as grain were estimated at 1.41 million acres, up 100,000 acres from 2015. The U.S. corn production is forecast at 15.1 billion bushels, down slightly from the August forecast and up 11 percent from last year's record production. Based on conditions as of Sept. 1, yields are expected to average 174.4 bushels per acre, down 0.7 bushels from last month but up six bushels from 2015. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 86.6 million acres, unchanged from the August forecast but up seven percent from 2015.

“Soybean production is forecast at 91.3 million bushels, up six percent from last month and three percent from last year,” according to Knopf.

Soybean yield for Kentucky was estimated at 51 bushels per acre, up three from last month and up two bushels from a year ago. Acreage for harvest as beans was estimated at 1.79 million acres, down 20,000 acres from the previous year. U.S. soybean production is forecast at 4.2 billion bushels, up three percent from the August forecast and up seven percent from last year. Based on Sept. 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 50.6 bushels per acre, up 1.7 bushels from last month and up 2.6 bushels from last year. Area for harvest is forecast at 83 million acres, unchanged from the August forecast but up one percent from 2015.

Kentucky burley tobacco production is forecast at 111 million pounds, down three percent from the August forecast and up six percent from 2015. Yield was projected at 1,850 pounds per acre, down 50 pounds from last month and up 50 pounds from the 2015 crop. Harvested acreage was estimated at 60,000 acres, up 2,000 acres from last year's crop. For the burley producing states production is forecast at 146 million pounds, up one percent from last year. Burley growers plan to harvest 78,900 acres, unchanged from 2015. Yields were expected to average 1,848 pounds per acre, up 14 pounds from last year.

Production of Kentucky dark fire-cured tobacco is forecast at 24.7 million pounds, down four percent from the August forecast but down 22 percent from the previous year. Dark air-cured tobacco production is forecast at 10.3 million pounds, down eight percent from the August forecast and down 25 percent from last year.