Missouri Wheat, Oats Output Increase Despite US Totals At Historic Lows

Wheat and oat output in Missouri this year increased, going against the national trend that saw more historic lows.  USDA’s annual small grains summary released Thursday found that Missouri farmers harvested 31.85 million bushels of wheat this past summer, a 39-percent jump from last year.  Yield increased by three bushels to 65 bushels per acre.  Harvested acres totaled 490,000, up nearly a third from last year’s total.  As with last year, nearly all of Missouri’s wheat was the soft red winter variety.  Nationwide, all wheat production dropped ten percent to 1.65 billion bushels, largely from drought conditions throughout the year that stymied spring wheat development.  Just 331 million bushels of spring wheat were harvested this year, down 44 percent from a year ago, while winter wheat totaled 1.28 billion, up nine percent.  Overall yield dropped 5.4 bushels per acre to 44.3.

Increased wheat production in Missouri means an increase in stockpiles to start September.  The quarterly grain stocks report, also released Thursday, indicated that 30.7 million bushels of wheat were on hand across the state, up 25 percent from last year.  6.5 million of that was on the farm.  Nationwide, wheat stocks came in lower than expected at 1.78 billion bushels, down 18 percent from a year ago.  About 418 million bushels were in farmers’ grain bins.  Disappearance during the summer increased two percent at 711 million bushels.

Missouri farmers more than doubled last year’s total harvest for oats, bringing in 900,000 bushels.  Yield jumped 17 bushels to 60 bushels per acre, and harvested acres increased by 50 percent to 15,000.  30 percent of oat acres planted were harvested, up slightly from last year and significantly better than 12 percent of oat acres in 2019.  Across the US, though, oats set a historic low of just 39.8 million bushels harvested this year, down 39 percent.  Yield also declined, averaging 61.3 bushels per acre, and harvested acreage totaling just 650,000 acres.