U.S. Wheat Acreage Smallest Since 1919
Wheat acreage planted in the U.S. is expected to fall to 45.657 million acres this year, according to the latest annual Acreage Report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on June 30. This area is 4.497 million acres, or 9 percent smaller than the 50.154 million acres of wheat planted in 2016, and the smallest acreage for the country since 1919.
Abandonment rates continue to run in the double digits. Wheat harvested area for this year is estimated at 38.115 million acres - a decline of 5.775 million acres, or 13 percent from the year before, indicating an abandonment rate of 16.5 percent. In 2016 the abandonment rate stood at 12.5 percent.
Spring wheat acreage (excluding durum) fell to 10,899 million acres from March estimates of 11.308 million acres, while acreage of other-spring wheat fell 6 percent year-on-year to 11.605 million acres - the smallest area for other-spring wheat since 1972. Furthermore, spring wheat acreage in North Dakota, the top spring wheat producing state in the U.S., fell to 5.25 million acres, reflecting a year-on-year decline of 13 percent.
Planted durum acreage is predicted 1.919 million acres - down 20 percent year-on-year, while winter wheat acreage fell 9 percent year on year to 32.839 million acres - the second smallest acreage since 1909.
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