The guessing games have begun to get a handle on the size of the 2024 hard red winter wheat crop- with USDA releasing their May first estimates in the latest USDA Crop Production report.
Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays talked with state statistician Troy Marshall of the USDA’s NASS after the report was released on Friday, May 10th- and you can hear their conversation by clicking on the listen bar below:
Marshall says USDA sees a 96.2 million bushel wheat crop for 2024 in Oklahoma- up 40% from a year ago. That’s based on 2.6 million acres that they believe will be harvested a May first estimated 37 bushels per acre average. That compares to 68.6 million bushels produced in 2023.
Marshall says that the USDA number falls right in the middle between the two numbers that were mentioned at the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association meeting on Tuesday. The Extension and Grain Elevator scouting reports totaled 86 million bushels while the Elevator Manager and others that were in attendance at the meeting in downtown Oklahoma City came up with a 102 million bushel guess.
The Kansas wheat crop will also be a lot larger in the number of bushels if the USDA estimates are realized. They predict a 267.9 million bushel wheat crop in Kansas, 33% larger than the 201 million bushel wheat crop of a year ago. The Kansas crop is based on a 38 bushel per acre yield with 7.05 million acres expected to be harvested for grain this season.
Finally, our neighbors to the south in Texas are looking at a slightly smaller wheat crop in 2024 versus 2023. The May first estimate is for a production of 71.4 million bushels versus 77.7 million bushels harvested in 2023.
Click here for the USDA Crop Production report for May 2024.
