Georgia farmers are forecast to produce 25 percent more cotton and 30 percent more peanuts in 2014 according to the August Crop Production report from the USDA's National Agriculture Statistics Service.
The state's cotton growers increased planting by 100,000 acres and NASS projects 2.9 million 480-pound bales in 2014, up 580,000 bales from the final 2013 Georgia production.
Georgia's peanut growers also increased acreage, offsetting an expected 180 pounds per acre decline in yields. The NASS forecast production of 2.465 billion pounds in 2014 would be 578 million more than the 2013 production of 1.89 billion pounds.
The acreage increases in cotton and peanuts were offset by acreage decreases in corn and wheat. Georgia corn growers are expected to harvest 335,000 acres for grain in 2014, down from 465,000 in 2013. The result is an expected 33 percent production decline, from 81,375,000 bushels in 2013 to 54,270,000 bushels in 2014. The state's farmers harvested 250,000 acres in wheat in 2014 (winter wheat planted in fall 2013), down from 350,000 acres in 2013. The state's wheat production is projected at 13.75 million bushels in 2014, down from 21 million bushels in 2013.
The NASS projects the Georgia tobacco crop to increase by 44 percent, from 22.4 million pounds in 2013 to 32.2 million pounds in 2014. This is due to an anticipated 9.4 percent increase in harvested acres combined with an expected yield increase of 550 pounds per acre.
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