Michigan wheat growers expect the statewide yield to fall short of the record high, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Great lakes regional office.

Michigan producers expect to harvest 400,000 acres, down 170,000 acres from last year. Wheat production in the state is expected to be 34 million bushels. The yield forecast of 85 bushels per acre would be 4 bushels below the previous year. 

U.S winter wheat production is forecast at 1.25 billion bushels, down 25% from 2016. As of May 1, the U.S. 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.

Hay numbers
Hay stocks on Michigan farms on May 1 were 375,000 tons, down 15% from this time last year. All hay stored on U.S. farms, as of May 1, totaled 24.4 million tons, down 3% from the previous year.

Disappearance from Dec. 1 to May 1 totaled 71.4 million tons, compared with 69.9 million tons for the same period a year earlier.

Source: USDA NASS