The 2014 Oklahoma Cotton Crop will be much better than a year ago- with production expected to more than double the dismal crop of 2013. However, the latest USDA Crop production numbers shows that hot and dry conditions in late July and all of August really hurt the upside potential of the crop, with Uncle Sam reducing the predicted size of the crop by 55,000 bales from August to September.
The 2014 crop is now estimated to be 320,000 bales, more than twice as many bales as was ginned in 2013 when Oklahoma farmers saw their cotton crop result in 154,000 bales being produced. Both the number of acres expected to be harvested as well as the yield of lint per acre are both well up from 2013 with 210,000 acres of cotton are expected to be harvested this season- and the current yield is being called 731 pounds of lint per acre. That's off from 818 pounds that was the expectation based on the August report.
The other spring planted crop that has really jumped higher in 2014 versus 2013 is the grain sorghum crop. With an increase of 60,000 acres over a year ago when it comes to harvested acres predicted- Oklahoma farmers are set to harvest 21.78 million bushels of grain sorghum this year, up 47% from last year's overall production of 14.85 million bushels.
Many of the grain sorghum acres grown this year came at the expense of corn in the state. There are 40,000 fewer acres of corn to be harvested this year than last- and even with a five bushel per acre increase in production this year (150 bushels per acre)- overall production is called 40.5 million bushels- off ten percent from 2013.
Oklahoma soybean production is called 9.145 million bushels, off about ten percent from 2013, while the Oklahoma Peanut crop is down nine percent from 2013 at 54.5 million pounds.
Nationally, Corn production is forecast at 14.4 billion bushels, up 3 percent from both the August forecast and from 2013. Based on conditions as of September 1, yields are expected to average 171.7 bushels per acre, up 4.3 bushels from the August forecast and 12.9 bushels above the 2013 average. If realized, this will be the highest yield and production on record for the United States. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 83.8 million acres, unchanged from the August forecast but down 4 percent from 2013.
Soybean production is forecast at a record 3.91 billion bushels, up 3 percent from August and up 19 percent from last year. Based on September 1 conditions, yields are expected to average a record high 46.6 bushels per acre, up 1.2 bushels from last month and up 3.3 bushels from last year. Area for harvest in the United States is forecast at a record 84.1 million acres, unchanged from August but up 11 percent from last year.
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