ALBANY, N.Y. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is forecasting a substantially larger winter wheat crop in New York state this year.
Empire State farms are expected to harvest 7.36 million bushels of winter wheat in 2015, up 23 percent from 2014, according to the USDA’s New York field office.
Based on conditions as of May 1, crop yields are expected to average 64 bushels per acre, up 1 bushel from a year prior, the field office said. Area harvested for the winter wheat crop in New York is forecast at 115,000 acres, up 21 percent from last year.
The USDA predicts national winter wheat production to rise 7 percent this year to 1.5 billion bushels. So, New York’s expected crop accounts for about 0.5 percent of anticipated national production.
Winter wheat is planted in the fall, grows until the onset of winter and cold weather, then becomes dormant under snow cover. It continues growing the following spring and is usually harvested in late spring and early summer, according to the website of King Arthur Flour Co.
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