USDA: New York crop production primarily projected to increase this year

Farm crop-production prospects for New York state in 2014 are mostly higher compared with a year earlier, according to Blair Smith, state statistician of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) New York field office.

Yield forecasts for output of corn, grain, soybeans, alfalfa, hay, and oats are higher than last year. However, production of dry beans and winter wheat are expected to decline this year compared to 2013. The forecasts are based on conditions as of Aug. 1 and assume normal growing conditions throughout the remainder of the season, the field office stated in a news release.

New York grain-corn production is forecast at 99 million bushels this year, up 4 percent from last year. Area for harvest is expected to total 660,000 acres, 4 percent below a year ago. Yield is projected at 150 bushels per acre, up 12 bushels from last year, which ties the record high, the release stated.

Soybean production in the Empire State is estimated at a record high 19.5 million bushels this year, up 46 percent from last year’s 13.3 million bushels. Acreage for harvest increased 43 percent to a record-high 397,000 acres, the field office reported. Yields are projected to average a record-high 49 bushels per acre, up 1 bushel from last year.

Dry-bean production in New York is forecast at a record-low 148,000 hundredweight (cwt), down 8 percent from the 160,000 cwt produced last year. Harvested acreage is anticipated to total a record low of 7,800 acres, down 1,000 acres from 2013, according to the field office. Yields are expected to average 1,900 pounds per acre, up 4 percent from last year’s 1,820 pounds.

Oat production in New York is expected to total 2.8 million bushels in 2014, or 9 percent below a year ago. Acreage for harvest is estimated at 40,000 acres, down 13 percent from last year, the field-office release stated. Yields are forecast to be up 3 bushels from 2013.

Winter-wheat production for New York is projected at 5.99 million bushels, down 23 percent from the 2013 crop. Acreage for harvest fell an estimated 17 percent to 95,000 acres. Yields are expected to average 63 bushels per acre, 5 bushels less than a year earlier, the field office reported.