Sixty-three percent of the U.S. spring wheat crop is in poor or very poor condition, according to U.S. Agriculture Department statistics. That’s bad news if you produce wheat beer or vodka, and is up dramatically from 6% at this time last year. It demonstrates the impact of the draught affecting North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.
Overall wheat production is forecast at 1.70 billion bushels, down 7% from 2020. Growers are expected to produce 1.32 billion bushels of winter wheat this year, down 3% from the previous forecast but up 13% from last year.
Durum wheat production is forecast at 34.7 million bushels, down 50% from 2020. All other spring wheat production is forecast at 343 million bushels, down 41% from last year. Based on Aug. 1 conditions, the U.S. all wheat yield is forecast at 44.5 bushels per acre, down 5.2 bushels from 2020.
On the other hand, producers who use corn have reason to smile: USDA forecasts soybean and corn production to be up from 2020 — soybeans up 5% and corn up 4%. As of Aug. 1, 62% of this year’s corn crop was reported in good or excellent condition, 10 percentage points above the same time last year.