COLORADO HIGHLIGHTS

The 2020 corn for grain crop is estimated at 123.00 million bushels, 23 percent below last year’s production of 159.90 million bushels, according to the December 1 Agricultural Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. The average yield of 116.0 bushels per acre is 7.0 bushels per acre below the yield realized last year. Area harvested for grain in 2020, at 1.06 million acres, is 240,000 acres below last year. Acreage cut for corn silage is estimated at 230,000 acres, up 55,000 acres from last year, with production estimated at 5.29 million tons, compared with 4.20 million tons produced last year. 

Sorghum for grain production is estimated at 5.10 million bushels, down 60 percent from the previous year. Average yield is estimated at 20.0 bushels per acre, down 21.0 bushels per acre from last year. Producers harvested 255,000 acres for grain, down 55,000 acres from last year’s area harvested. Acreage cut for sorghum silage is estimated at 23,000 acres, up 5,000 acres from last year, with production estimated at 253,000 tons compared with 306,000 tons produced last year. 

Colorado’s barley seeded area, at 53,000 acres, is down 1,000 acres from last year. Harvested area, at 45,000 acres, is down 7,000 acres from 2019. Barley yield, at 145.0 bushels per acre, is up 7.0 bushels per acre from last year and equals the record yield set in 2018. Barley production in 2020 is estimated at 6.53 million bushels, down 9 percent from the previous year. 

Winter wheat production in Colorado, estimated at 41.04 million bushels, is down 58 percent from 2019. Winter wheat producers seeded 1.90 million acres in the fall of 2019 for harvest in 2020, down from 2.15 million acres seeded for the previous year’s crop, and is the lowest winter wheat planted acreage since 1.71 million acres were seeded in 1945. Acreage harvested for grain decreased 480,000 acres from last year to 1.52 million acres in 2020, and is the lowest winter wheat harvested acres since 1.23 million acres in 1965. Winter wheat yield, at 27.0 bushels per acre, is down 22.0 bushels per acre from last year. 

Proso millet production in the state is estimated at 4.50 million bushels, down from 11.84 million bushels produced last year. Farmers harvested 310,000 acres of proso millet, down 10,000 acres from the previous year. Yield decreased 22.5 bushels per acre from last year to 14.5 bushels per acre. 

All hay production for 2020 is estimated at 3.30 million tons, down 19 percent from the 2019 total. Alfalfa hay production is estimated at 2.38 million tons from 700,000 acres harvested, down 321,000 tons from 2019. Average yield for the 2020 crop is 3.40 tons per acre, 0.30 ton per acre below last year. All other hay production totaled 918,000 tons from 680,000 acres harvested, down 433,000 tons from 2019. The average yield of 1.35 tons per acre is 0.50 ton per acre below last year. New seedings of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures in Colorado are estimated at 75,000 acres, down 6 percent from 2019. 

As of December 1, producers in Colorado were storing 1.70 million tons of all hay, down 15 percent from the 2.00 million tons stored last year. 

All sunflower production is estimated at 46.11 million pounds from 49,000 acres harvested. Yield is estimated at 941 pounds per acre, down from the 1,080 pounds attained last year. Production of oil varieties decreased 40 percent from the previous year to 26.56 million pounds and production of non-oil varieties increased 27 percent from the previous year to 19.55 million pounds. 

The state’s sugarbeet crop of 742,000 tons for 2020 is down 1 percent from the 746,000 tons produced in 2019. Producers harvested 23,700 acres in 2020, down from 24,300 acres in 2019. Average yield is estimated at 31.3 tons per acre, 0.6 ton per acre above 2019. 

Colorado potato growers produced an estimated 23.13 million hundredweight of potatoes this year, up 18 percent from last year’s crop. Average yield, at 430 hundredweight per acre, increased 44 hundredweight per acre from the yield attained last year. The harvested area, estimated at 53,800 acres is up from the 51,000 acres harvested last year. 

Dry edible bean production is set at 1.07 million hundredweight, 75 percent above the 2019 crop of 610,000 hundredweight. Average yield is estimated at 2,060 pounds per acre, 220 pounds per acre above last year. Harvested area, at 52,000 acres, is 18,800 acres more than last year. 

Winter wheat seedings last fall for the 2021 crop year are estimated at 1.95 million acres, up 3 percent from last year. 

UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS 

Corn for grain production in 2020 was estimated at 14.2 billion bushels, up 4 percent from the 2019 estimate. The average yield in the United States was estimated at 172.0 bushels per acre, 4.5 bushels above the 2019 yield of 167.5 bushels per acre. Area harvested for grain was estimated at 82.5 million acres, up 1 percent from the 2019 estimate. Corn silage production was estimated at 138 million tons for 2020, up 3 percent from the 2019 estimate. The United States silage yield was estimated at 20.5 tons per acre, up 0.3 ton from 2019. Area harvested for silage was estimated at 6.72 million acres, up 2 percent from the 2019 estimate. 

Sorghum grain production in 2020 was estimated at 373 million bushels, up 9 percent from the 2019 total. Planted area for 2020 was estimated at 5.88 million acres, up 12 percent from 2019. Area harvested for grain, at 5.10 million acres, was up 9 percent from 2019. Grain yield was estimated at 73.2 bushels per acre, up 0.2 bushel from 2019. Sorghum silage production was estimated at 3.13 million tons, down 22 percent from 2019. Area harvested for silage was estimated at 239,000 acres, down 29 percent from the previous year. Silage yield averaged 13.1 tons per acre, up 1.2 ton per acre from 2019. 

Barley production was estimated at 165 million bushels, down 4 percent from the revised 2019 total of 172 million bushels. The average yield, at 77.5 bushels per acre, was down 0.2 bushel from the previous year. Producers seeded 2.62 million acres in 2020, down 5 percent from 2019. Harvested area, at 2.13 million acres, was down 4 percent from 2019. 

All wheat production totaled 1.83 billion bushels in 2020, down 5 percent from the 2019 total of 1.93 billion bushels. Area harvested for grain totaled 36.7 million acres, down 2 percent from the previous year. The United States yield was estimated at 49.7 bushels per acre, down 2.0 bushels from the previous year. The levels of production and changes from 2019 by type were: winter wheat, 1.17 billion bushels, down 11 percent; other spring wheat, 586 million bushels, up 4 percent; and Durum wheat, 68.8 million bushels, up 28 percent. Winter wheat production for 2020 totaled 1.17 billion bushels, down 11 percent from the 2019 total of 1.32 billion bushels. The United States yield, at 50.9 bushels per acre, was down 2.7 bushels from 2019. Area harvested for grain was estimated at a record low 23.0 million acres, down 6 percent from the previous year. 

Production of proso millet in 2020 totaled 9.21 million bushels, down 45 percent from the 2019 production of 16.6 million bushels. Area planted to proso millet in the United States was estimated at 609,000 acres, up 103,000 acres (or 20 percent) from 2019. Area harvested in the United States, at 484,000 acres, was up 19,000 acres (or 4 percent) from the 2019 harvested estimate. The average yield for 2019 was estimated at 19.0 bushels per acre, down 16.7 bushels from 2019. 

Production of all dry hay for 2020 was estimated at 126.8 million tons, down 2 percent from the 2019 total. Area harvested was estimated at 52.2 million acres, down less than 1 percent from 2019. The average yield, at 2.43 tons per acre, was down 0.03 ton from 2019. Production of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures in 2020 was estimated at 53.1 million tons, down 3 percent from the 2019 total. Harvested area, at 16.2 million acres, was 3 percent below 2019. Harvested area has been trending lower, but has leveled off in recent years. Average yield was estimated at 3.27 tons per acre, down 0.01 ton from 2019. Production of all other hay in 2020 totaled 73.7 million tons, down less than 1 percent from the 2019 total. Harvested area, at 36.0 million acres, was up 1 percent from 2019. Average yield was estimated at 2.05 tons per acre, down 0.02 ton from 2019. This is the fifth highest yield on record, with four of the five occurring in the last six years. Growers seeded 2.18 million acres of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures during 2020, down 12 percent from 2019. New seedings of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures are normally harvested for the first time in the year following planting. 

All hay stored on United States farms as of December 1, 2020 totaled 84.0 million tons, down 1 percent from December 1, 2019, which is the third lowest December 1 stocks since 1977. Disappearance from May 1, 2020 - December 1, 2020 totaled 63.2 million tons, up 7 percent from the same period in 2019. 

The 2020 sunflower production totaled 2.98 billion pounds, up 52 percent from 2019. The United States average yield per acre of 1,790 pounds increased 230 pounds from 2019. Planted area, at 1.72 million acres, was 27 percent above the previous year. Area harvested increased 33 percent from 2019 to 1.67 million acres. United States production of oil-type sunflower varieties, at 2.62 billion pounds, increased 48 percent from 2019. Compared with the previous year, harvested acres were up 28 percent and the average yield increased by 241 pounds to 1,802 pounds per acre. Production of non-oil sunflower varieties was estimated at 365 million pounds, an increase of 92 percent from 2019. Area harvested, at 213,200 acres, was up 74 percent from 2019. The average yield increased by 157 pounds from 2019 to 1,712 pounds per acre. 

Sugarbeet production for 2020 was estimated at 33.6 million tons, up 17 percent from the previous year’s revised production. Growers in the 11 major sugarbeet-producing States planted 1.16 million acres, up 3 percent from the 2019 revised area. Harvested area, at 1.14 million acres, was up 17 percent from the previous year. Estimated yield, at 29.4 tons per acre, was up 0.2 ton from last year. 

Production of potatoes in 2020 was estimated at 414 million cwt, down 2 percent from the 2019 crop. The average yield, at 453 cwt per acre, was unchanged from the previous year. Planted acres, at 921,000 acres, was down 4 percent from last year. Harvested area, at 914,100 acres, was down 2 percent from the previous year. 

United States dry edible bean production was estimated at 33.0 million cwt for 2020, up 59 percent from the previous year for comparable States. Planted area was estimated at 1.74 million acres, up 35 percent from 2019. Harvested area was estimated at 1.68 million acres, up 43 percent from the previous year for comparable States. The average United States yield for dry edible beans for the 2020 season is 1,966 pounds per acre, up 197 from 2019. 

Winter wheat planted area for harvest in 2021 is estimated at 32.0 million acres, up 5 percent from 2020 and up 2 percent from 2019. This represents the fourth lowest United States acreage on record.