COLORADO HIGHLIGHTS 

Winter wheat production in Colorado, based on conditions as of May 1, 2021, is forecast at 57.80 million bushels, according to the May 1 Agricultural Yield Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. This forecast is 41 percent above last year’s production of 41.04 million bushels but 41 percent below the 98.00 million bushel crop produced two years ago. Acreage for harvest, forecast at 1.70 million acres, is 180,000 acres more than a year ago. Average yield is forecast at 34.0 bushels per acre, up 7.0 bushels per acre from last year’s yield. Final yield will largely be determined by the combination of moisture and temperature conditions during May and June. 

As of May 2, Colorado’s winter wheat crop condition was rated 14 percent very poor, 17 percent poor, 37 percent fair, 28 percent good, and 4 percent excellent, compared with 16 percent very poor, 18 percent poor, 28 percent fair, 35 percent good, and 3 percent excellent last year. 

Hay stocks on Colorado farms and ranches as of May 1, 2021 totaled 230,000 tons, down 44 percent from stocks of 410,000 tons on hand last year and the lowest Colorado May 1 hay stocks since 230,000 tons in 2012. Hay production for 2020 was 3.30 million tons, 19 percent lower than 2019 production. Disappearance from December 1, 2020 to May 1, 2021 was 1.47 million tons, compared with 1.59 million tons the same period a year earlier. 

UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS 

Winter wheat production is forecast at 1.28 billion bushels, up 10 percent from 2020. As of May 1, the United States yield is forecast at 52.1 bushels per acre, up 1.2 bushels from last year’s average yield of 50.9 bushels per acre. Area expected to be harvested for grain is forecast at 24.6 million acres, up 7 percent from last year. Hard Red Winter production, at 731 million bushels, is up 11 percent from a year ago. Soft Red Winter, at 332 million bushels, is up 25 percent from 2020. White Winter, at 220 million bushels, is down 10 percent from last year. Of the White Winter production, 14.2 million bushels are Hard White and 206 million bushels are Soft White. 

All hay stored on United States farms as of May 1, 2021 totaled 18.0 million tons, down 12 percent from May 1, 2020. Disappearance from December 1, 2020 - May 1, 2021 totaled 66.0 million tons, up 3 percent from the same period a year earlier.