Winter wheat forecast up from May, says USDA

Washington-In its latest Crop Production report released on June 10, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service said winter wheat production in the U.S. is forecast at 1.48 billion bushels, up 2 percent from the May 1 forecast, but 3 percent below 2009. The harvest total is the smallest amount since 2006, USDA said. Based on June 1 conditions, the U.S. average yield is forecast at 46.6 bushels/acre, up 0.7 bushel from last month and 2.4 bushels more than last year. Expected area for harvest as grain or seed totals 31.8 million acres, unchanged from May 1. Hard red wheat production is up 2 percent from a month ago, to 979 million bushels, according to USDA. Soft red wheat production is up slightly from last month and now totals 284 million bushels. White production totals 219 million bushels, up 2 percent from last month. Of the white production total, USDA said 17.3 million bushels are hard white and 202 million bushels are soft white. USDA’s World Supply and Demand report, also issued June 10, lowered the surplus corn stocks on hand from roughly 1.7 billion bushels to 1.57 billion bushels. USDA said corn prices may rise as high as $3.90/bushel this year, which is up about 10 cents/bushel from previous forecasts. The report also said ethanol use is expected to be about 150 million bushels higher than previous reports. As for soybeans, the report said the U.S. soybean crush is expected to be down 5 percent, and U.S. exports are projected to be down due to export competition from India and South America. On a positive note, USDA said more soybeans will be used for biodiesel, provided Congress renews the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit.