COLORADO HIGHLIGHTS 

Winter wheat production in Colorado, based on conditions as of May 1, 2018, is forecast at 83.60 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 4 percent below last year’s production of 86.86 million bushels and 20 percent below the 105.12 million bushel crop produced two years ago. Acreage for harvest, forecast at 2.20 million acres, is 180,000 acres more than a year ago.

Average yield is forecast at 38.0 bushels per acre, down 5.0 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 April 29, Colorado’s winter wheat crop condition was rated 6 percent very poor, 14 percent poor, 31 percent fair, 45 percent good, and 4 percent excellent, compared with 3 percent very poor, 13 percent poor, 37 percent fair, 42 percent good, and 5 percent excellent last year. 

Hay stocks on Colorado farms and ranches as of May 1, 2018 totaled 700,000 tons, up 40 percent from stocks of 500,000 tons on hand last year. Hay production for 2017 was 4.10 million tons, 15 percent higher than 2016 production. Disappearance from December 1, 2017 to May 1, 2018 was 1.05 million tons, compared with 1.15 million tons the same period a year earlier. 

UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS 

Winter wheat production is forecast at 1.19 billion bushels, down 6 percent from 2017. As of May 1, the United States yield is forecast at 48.1 bushels per acre, down 2.1 bushels from last year’s average yield of 50.2 bushels per acre. 

Hard Red Winter production, at 647 million bushels, is down 14 percent from a year ago. Soft Red Winter, at 315 million bushels, is up 8 percent from 2017. White Winter, at 229 million bushels, is up 1 percent from last year. Of the White Winter production, 21.2 million bushels are Hard White and 208 million bushels are Soft White. 

All hay stored on United States farms May 1, 2018 totaled 15.7 million tons, down 36 percent from a year ago. Disappearance from December 1, 2017 - May 1, 2018 totaled 70.6 million tons, compared with 71.4 million tons for the same period a year earlier.