Kentucky Ag News
Kentucky soybean production breaks record for the third year in a row
National Agricultural Statistics Service
LOUISVILLE - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the Crop Production 2016 Summary today, highlighting another record breaking year for soybeans.
“This past crop year had its highs and lows, successes and disappointments,” said David Knopf, director of the NASS Eastern Mountain Regional Office in Kentucky. “Soybean production was the highlight, setting both a record production and yield, while corn and tobacco failed to reach expectations.”
Soybean production for Kentucky is estimated at 89 million bushels, down one percent from the November forecast and up slightly from 2015. Yield was estimated at 50 bushels per acre, unchanged from last month and up one bushel from a year ago. Acreage for harvest as beans was estimated at 1.78 million acres, down 30,000 acres from the previous year. U.S. soybean production is forecast at 4.31 billion bushels, down 1 percent from the November forecast and up 10 percent from last year. The average yield per acre is estimated at 52.1 bushels, down 0.4 bushels from last month and up 4.1 bushels from last year. Area harvested is up 1 percent from 2015 at 82.7 million acres.
Corn production in Kentucky is estimated at 223 million bushels, down one percent from the November forecast and down one percent from the previous crop. Yield was estimated at 159 bushels per acre, unchanged from the November forecast and down 13 bushels from the 2015 level. Acres for harvest as grain were estimated at 1.4 million acres, up 90,000 acres from 2015. The U.S. corn production is estimated at 15.1 billion bushels, down one percent from the November forecast and up 11 percent from the revised 2015 estimate. The average yield in the United States is estimated at 174.6 bushels per acre. This is down 0.7 bushels from the November forecast and 6.2 bushels above the revised 2015 average yield. Area harvested for grain is estimated at 86.7 million acres, down slightly from the November forecast and up 7 percent from the revised 2015 acreage.
“The corn crop started strong,” Knopf noted, “but faded down the stretch. It had the potential to be a record crop, but pollination and grain fill issues left growers disappointed.”
Kentucky burley tobacco production is estimated at 107 million pounds, down three percent from the October forecast and up two percent from 2015. Yield was estimated at 1,750 pounds per acre, unchanged from October forecast and down 50 pounds from the 2015 crop. Harvested acreage was estimated at 61,000 acres, up 3,000 acres from last year's crop. For the burley producing states production is estimated at 140 million pounds, down three percent from last year. Burley growers plan to harvest 80,000 acres, up one percent from 2015. Yields were estimated at 1,747 pounds per acre, down 87 pounds from last year.
“Nothing seemed to go right for burley tobacco this year,” Knopf said. “Delayed spring planting, too much summer rainfall, and poor weather conditions during the curing phase all contributed to the second smallest crop on record and the lowest yield since 1960.”
Production of Kentucky dark fire-cured tobacco is estimated at 21.9 million pounds, down 31 percent from the previous year. Dark air-cured tobacco production is estimated at 7.68 million pounds, down 44 percent from last year.
Alfalfa hay production by Kentucky farmers is estimated at 540,000 tons, down 14 percent the 2015 level. Other hay production is estimated at 5.04 million tons, down slightly from last year.
To view the complete report, visit https://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/cropan17.pdf. For more information, call the NASS Kentucky Field Office at (800) 928-5277.
