Tobacco has congregated in recent years in the North Carolina growing area. About 78% of all flue-cured tobacco is now grown in North Carolina. But the slower decline is not enough to offset lower production altogether, according to a new Crop Production report was released July 9 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The forecast for the tobacco area harvested in the Tarheel State is 164,000 acres of flue-cured tobacco for 2010. That is down from last year when growers harvested 174,000 acres.
North Carolina growers are forecast to yield about 2,200 pounds of flue-cured, again down, compared to 2,400 pounds in an excellent 2009-growing season. Add it all up and production is forecast at 360.8 million pounds in the Tarheel State, down from 417.6 million pounds in 2009.
South Carolina tobacco producers are forecast to produce 34 million pounds of tobacco on 17,000 harvested acres in 2010. In 2009 they produced 38.8 million pounds on 18.5 million harvested acres. Yield was 2,100 pounds last year and the forecast is for yield to be 2,000 pounds per acre this year.
Tobacco production for Virginia growers is forecast to be 31.5 million pounds, compared to 40.95 million pounds in 2009. Yield is forecast at 2,100 pounds per acre on 15,000 harvested acres, compared to 2,340 pounds per acre on 17,500 harvested acres in 2009.
In total U.S. tobacco production is forecast at 452.1 million pounds in 2010, down from 525.4 million pounds in 2009.
Barley area harvested in Virginia is forecast to be up in 2010. Producers will harvest 60,000 acres this year, compared to just 43,000 acres in 2009. Yield is forecast at 75 bushels per acre, up from 74 bushels per acre in 2009. Production is forecast at 4.5 million bushels, compared to 3.18 million bushels in 2009.
Winter wheat area harvested is forecast to be down by a third in North Carolina this year, at 400,000 acres this year compared to 600,000 acres in 2009. Yield was 49 bushels per acre in 2009 but it was forecast to be just 37 bushels per acre in a July 1, 2010 report. The slip in forecast yield was notable between June 1 and July 1 with the forecast dropping 9 bushels from 47 bushels a month earlier.
Production in 2010 is forecast at 14.8 million bushels, down to about half the production in 2009 when farmers produced 29.4 million bushels of winter wheat.
Winter wheat in Virginia is also expected to be down. In 2010 the area harvested is 180,000 wheat acres in Virginia, down from 210,000 acres in 2009. Yield in 2009 was 58 bushels per acre; on a July 1 report from USDA it was forecast that yield will be 54 bushels per acre in 2010. (A month earlier, the forecast yield was for 63 bushels per acre – a drop of 9 bushels). Total production is forecast at 9.72 million bushels in 2010, compared to 12.18 million bushels in 2009.
In 2010 the forecast for South Carolina winter wheat is down compared to 2009. This year it is forecast that growers will harvest 130,000 acres of winter wheat; they harvested 150,000 acres in 2009. Yield in 2009 was 47 bushels per acre but in a July 1 report from USDA the forecast is for them to yield 38 bushels in 2010. Total production is forecast at 4.9 million bushels in 2010, compared to the 7.0 million bushels produced in 2009.
Forecasted yield in South Carolina also dropped precipitously between June 1, when it was forecast at 43 bushels per acre, and July 1 when the forecast was dropped by 5 bushel per acre.
For the complete July 9 Crop Production Report visit http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1046 and select one of the links to the current documents.
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