Based on May 1 conditions, Nebraska's 2017 winter wheat crop is forecast at 51.5 million bushels, down 27% from last year's crop, according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Average yield is forecast at 51 bushels per acre, down 3 bushels from last year.
Acreage to be harvested for grain is estimated at 1.01 million acres, down 300,000 acres from last year. This would be 91% of the planted acres, below last year's 96%
harvested.
Nebraska's numbers reflect a similar drop in the US wheat crop. Nationally, winter wheat production is forecast at 1.25 billion bushels, down 25% from 2016. As of May 1, the United States yield is forecast at 48.8 bushels per acre, down 6.5 bushels from last year’s record yield of 55.3 bushels per acre.
Hard red winter production, at 737 million bushels, is down 32% from a year ago. Soft red winter, at 297 million bushels, is down 14% from 2016. White winter, at 212 million bushels, is down 13% from last year. Of the white winter production, 16.8 million bushels are hard white and 195 million bushels are soft white.
Nebraska May 1 hay stocks were listed at 1.30 million tons, down 10% from last year.