RELEASED: July 12, 2017                                                                                                             USDA-NASS

Tennessee Winter Wheat Production Forecast down 16 percent from 2016

According to the Tennessee Field Office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Tennessee farmers expect to produce 20.5 million bushels of winter wheat from 285,000 acres for harvest this season. At this level, production would be down 16 percent from 2016 and down 5 percent from the June forecast. Based upon crop conditions as of July 1, growers expect a yield of 72.0 bushels per acre, down 1.0 bushels from 2016 and down 1.0 bushels from last month’s forecast. As of July 3, 96% of the crop was harvested, compared to 93% last year and 86% for the five-year average.

Winter wheat production for the Nation was forecast at 1.28 billion bushels, up 2 percent from the June 1 forecast and down 23 percent from 2016. Based on July 1 conditions, the United States yield is forecast at 49.7 bushels per acre, up 0.8 bushel from last month and down 5.6 bushels from last year. The expected area to be harvested for grain or seed totals 25.8 million acres, down 15 percent from last year.