California Durum wheat production in 2009 is forecast at 13.5 million bushels on 135,000 harvested acres, down from 16.2 million bushels on 155,000 harvested acres in 2008, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

California Durum yields as of June 1, averaged 100 bushels per acre, compared to 105 bushels in 2008. California reported scattered incidents of stripe rust with little to no impact on yield.

Arizona’s 2009 Durum wheat harvest is predicted at 13.1 million bushels on 125,000 harvested acres, compared to 14.6 million on 149,000 harvested acres in 2008. Yields in 2009 are forecast at 105 bushels/acre, up from 98 bushels/acre last year.

The harvest in Arizona, as of May 31, was slightly ahead of last year, but equal to the 5-year average, NASS says.

U.S. winter wheat production is forecast at 1.49 billion bushels, down less than 1 percent from the May 1 forecast and down 20 percent from 2008. Based on June 1 conditions, the U.S. yield is forecast at 43.9 bushels per acre, down .3 bushel from the previous forecast and down 3.3 bushels from last year.

California 2009 winter wheat production is forecast at 21 million bushels on 280,000 harvested acres, down from 34 million bushels on 400,000 harvested acres last year. Yields for 2009 are forecast at 75 bushels/acre, down from 85 bushels/acre last year.