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Wheat harvest in full swing
Texas
It's that time again, and Texas Wheat harvest is well on its way. The first load of Wheat was taken in at Interstate Grain in Corpus Christi the week of April 18. Harvest was off to a slow start, with only five truck loads by April 28 from the Premont and Harlingen areas. By the 16 of May, harvest was in full swing in the southern part of Texas with Interstate Grain taking in 60-80 truck loads per day. Reports on the quality of the Wheat from South Texas are good with strong test weights averaging 61.0 lbs.; protein is down slightly with an average of 12 percent instead of the usual 13 percent for the area. Areas cutting include: The Hill Country and Valley areas, Dilly, Saginaw, Hondo and Seguin.
Harvest continues to move north, with the Ennis area, 60 miles south of Dallas, beginning harvest on May 23rd. It is too early to have an estimate on quality for this area, but overall bushels taken in will be down because of excessive moisture during planting. This area, as well as many areas of the state, had a stripe rust problem this year which will also affect the overall yield.
"The Texas Wheat Producers Board [TWPB] hopes the quality and yields hold up as harvest moves north. It would be great for producers to come out ahead this year," said David Moore, TWPB chairman and Dumas Wheat farmer.
The 2005 Texas winter Wheat crop is forecast at 105 million bushels, down 3 percent from 2004, but 9 percent higher than 2003. This forecast is unchanged from the April forecast.
According to a May 1 survey conducted by the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service, statewide yield is expected to average 30 bushels per acre, down 1 bushel from last year, but up 2 bushels from two years ago. Harvested acreage for grain, at 3.5 million acres, is identical to 2004.
"The Upper Panhandle is producing a much larger percentage of this year's crop. Conditions have been very good, however, an emerging rust problem will have to be closely monitored", reported State Director Robin Roark.
Production on the Northern High Plains is forecast at 57.0 million bushels, up 18 percent from last year. Winter Wheat production on the Low Plains is forecast at 23.7 million bushels, down 7 percent from last year. The Blacklands' production is estimated at 8.5 million bushels, down 45 percent from last year. Production on the Edwards Plateau is forecast at 6.4 million bushels, 40 percent higher than 2004.
United States winter Wheat production for 2005 is forecast at 1.59 billion bushels, up 6 percent from 2004. Yield is expected to average 45.4 bushels per acre, 1.9 bushels more than a year ago. Acreage to be harvested for grain is expected to total 35.1 million acres, up 2 percent from last season.
Date: 5/26/05
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