COLORADO HIGHLIGHTS 

Based on August 1 conditions, corn production in Colorado is forecast at 183.00 million bushels, according to the August 1 Agricultural Yield Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. This forecast is up 17 percent from last year’s 156.00 million bushels. The 1.22 million acres expected to be harvested for grain this year is up 20,000 acres from the June estimate and 20,000 acres above the 1.20 million acres harvested a year ago. Average yield is expected to increase 20.0 bushels per acre from last year to 150.0 bushels per acre. As of August 4, Colorado’s corn crop condition was rated 4 percent poor, 22 percent fair, 63 percent good, and 11 percent excellent. Corn silking was 77 percent complete, compared with 82 percent last year and the 5-year average of 79 percent. 

Sorghum production in 2019 is forecast at 16.75 million bushels, down 3 percent from the 17.23 million bushels harvested a year earlier. Growers expect to harvest 335,000 acres this year, up from the 325,000 acres harvested last year. Average yield is forecast at 50.0 bushels per acre, 3.0 bushels per acre below last year’s final yield. As of August 4, the sorghum crop condition was rated 1 percent very poor, 2 percent poor, 33 percent fair, 54 percent good, and 10 percent excellent. Sorghum headed was 40 percent complete, compared with 59 percent last year and the 5-year average of 41 percent. 

Barley production is forecast at 10.63 million bushels, up 6 percent from the July 1 forecast and up 41 percent from last year’s crop. Area for harvest in 2019, at 77,000 acres, is up 25,000 acres from the 52,000 acres harvested last year. Barley yield is forecast at 138.0 bushels per acre, up 8.0 bushels per acre from the July 1 forecast but 7.0 bushels per acre below last year. As of August 4, the barley crop condition was rated 2 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 15 percent fair, 54 percent good, and 25 percent excellent. Barley harvest was 5 percent complete, compared with 8 percent last year and the 5-year average of 14 percent. 

Winter wheat production is forecast at 98.90 million bushels, up 5 percent from the July 1 forecast and up 41 percent from the 70.20 million bushels produced last year. Area for harvest is expected to total 2.15 million acres, 200,000 acres more than the 1.95 million acres harvested in 2018. As of August 1, the average yield is forecast at 46.0 bushels per acre, up 2.0 bushels per acre from the July 1 forecast and 10.0 bushels per acre above last year’s final yield. As of August 4, Colorado’s winter wheat harvest was 92 percent complete, compared with 99 percent last year and the 5-year average of 97 percent. 

Colorado farmers and ranchers expect to harvest 730,000 acres of alfalfa hay this year, unchanged acres from 2018. They also expect to harvest 730,000 acres of other hay in 2019, up 40,000 acres from last year. Alfalfa production is forecast at 2.70 million tons, up 9 percent from the 2.48 million tons produced in 2018. Other hay production is forecast at 1.24 million tons, up 9 percent from the 1.14 million tons produced a year ago. Yields are expected to average 3.70 tons per acre for alfalfa and 1.70 tons per acre for other hay, compared to last year’s yields of 3.40 tons per acre for alfalfa hay and 1.65 tons per acre for other hay. 

Dry bean production for 2019 is forecast at 677,000 hundredweight, up 1 percent from the 668,000 hundredweight produced a year earlier. Yields are expected to average 1,880 pounds per acre, down from 2,120 pounds per acre last year. Growers expect to harvest 36,000 acres this year, up 4,500 acres from 31,500 acres last year. 

Sugarbeet production is forecast at 767,000 tons, down 8 percent from the 831,000 tons produced in 2018. Growers expect to harvest 24,500 acres this year compared with 25,500 acres a year ago. Yields are expected to average 31.3 tons per acre, down from 32.6 tons per acre a year ago. 

Colorado peach production for 2019 is forecast at 17,000 tons, up 13 percent from last year’s production of 15,000 tons. 

UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS 

Corn production for grain is forecast at 13.9 billion bushels, down 4 percent from 2018. Based on conditions as of August 1, yields are expected to average 169.5 bushels per harvested acre, down 6.9 bushels from 2018. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 82.0 million acres, down 2 percent from the previous forecast, but up less than 1 percent from 2018. Area planted for all purposes totaled 90.0 million acres, down 2 percent from the previous estimate but up 1 percent from 2018. 

Sorghum production is forecast at 354 million bushels, down 3 percent from last year. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 4.79 million acres, up 4 percent from the previous forecast, but down 5 percent from 2018. Based on August 1 conditions, yield is forecast at 73.9 bushels per acre, 1.8 bushels above the 2018 yield of 72.1 bushels per acre. 

Barley production is forecast at 172 million bushels, up 1 percent from the previous forecast and up 12 percent from 2018. Based on conditions as of August 1, the average yield for the United States is forecast at 73.9 bushels per acre, up 0.6 bushel from the previous forecast but down 3.5 bushels from 2018. Area harvested for grain, is forecast at 2.33 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast, but up 18 percent from 2018. 

All wheat production for grain is forecast at 1.98 billion bushels, up 3 percent from the previous forecast and up 5 percent from 2018. Based on August 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 51.6 bushels per harvested acre, up 1.6 bushel from the previous forecast, and up 4.0 bushels from 2018. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 38.4 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast, but down 3 percent from 2018. 

Winter wheat production for grain is forecast at 1.33 billion bushels, up 3 percent from the previous forecast and up 12 percent from 2018. Based on August 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 53.2 bushels per harvested acre, up 1.4 bushels from last month, and up 5.3 bushels from 2018. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 24.9 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast, but up 1 percent from 2018. Hard Red Winter production, at 840 million bushels, is up 4 percent from the previous forecast. Soft Red Winter, at 257 million bushels, is down 1 percent from the previous forecast. White Winter, at 229 million bushels, is up 1 percent from the previous forecast. Of the White Winter production, 24.6 million bushels are Hard White and 204 million bushels are Soft White. 

Production of alfalfa and alfalfa mixture dry hay for 2019 is forecast at 55.4 million tons, up 5 percent from 2018. Based on August 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 3.29 tons per acre, up 0.12 ton from last year. Harvested area is forecast at 16.8 million acres, unchanged from the June forecast, but up 1 percent from 2018. 

Production of other hay is forecast at 75.7 million tons, up 7 percent from 2018. Based on August 1 conditions, the United States yield is expected to average 2.11 tons per acre, up 0.15 ton from last year. If realized, this would represent a new record high for the United States, surpassing the previous record of 2.09 tons per acre in 2016. Harvested area is forecast at 35.9 million acres, unchanged from the June forecast, but down 1 percent from 2018. 

Production of dry edible beans is forecast at 24.6 million cwt, down 34 percent from 2018. Area planted is estimated at 1.33 million acres, up 2 percent from the previous forecast but down 36 percent from 2018. Area harvested is forecast at 1.28 million acres, up 2 percent from the previous forecast but 36 percent below 2018. The average United States yield is forecast at 1,919 pounds per acre, an increase of 59 pounds from last season. Beginning in 2019, estimates no longer include chickpeas. 

Production of sugarbeets for the 2019 crop year is forecast at 34.8 million tons, up 5 percent from last year. Producers expect to harvest 1.12 million acres, up 2 percent from last year. Yield is forecast at 31.1 tons per acre, an increase of 0.8 ton from last year. 

United States peach production is forecast at 733,500 tons, up 13 percent from 2018.