State Statistician On Significant Shift In Missouri’s Wheat Harvest Figure

Two months ago, USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service had forecast a 36-percent jump in Missouri’s wheat production for this year.  That turned out to be wildly off, as Missouri’s wheat producers ended up harvesting just 24.6 million bushels, a 23-percent drop on the year.  State statistician Bob Garino expressed disappointment in the figure as well as how it came about, pointing to two factors.

USDA’s August crop production report had called for 800,000 acres planted with 660,000 acres harvested, and a yield of 66 bushels per acre.  The small grains summary released late last month instead showed just 630,000 acres planted and 410,000 acres harvested, with yield down to 60 bushels per acre as drought conditions began to emerge.  Garino suggests one potential step to reduce the chance of another massive miss.

USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service will update their harvest forecast for corn and soybeans in the November crop production update, before turning their attention to the annual survey in January.  This year’s harvest will also be reflected in the upcoming Census of Agriculture, which USDA compiles every five years.