NASS releases Wyoming Annual Crop Production Report

The 2021 corn for grain crop is estimated at 10.43 million bushels, 58 percent above last year’s production of 6.59 million bushels, according to the Dec. 1 Agricultural Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The average yield of 132 bushels per acre is 10 bushels per acre above last year. 

Area harvested for grain in 2021, at 79,000 acres, is 25,000 acres above last year. Acreage cut for corn silage is estimated at 12,000 acres, down 13,000 acres from last year, with production estimated at 276,000 tons compared with 500,000 tons produced last year, and the lowest corn silage production in Wyoming since 1959 when 242,000 tons were produced.

Wyoming’s barley seeded area, at 82,000 acres, is up 3,000 acres from last year. Harvested area, at 70,000 acres, is up 3,000 acres from 2020. Barley yield, at 91 bushels per acre, is down five bushels per acre from last year and the lowest yield since 89 bushels per acre in 2013. Barley production in 2021 is estimated at 6.37 million bushels, down one percent from the previous year.

Winter wheat production in Wyoming, estimated at 3.04 million bushels, is up 30 percent from 2020. Winter wheat producers seeded 115,000 acres in the fall of 2020 for harvest in 2021, down from 120,000 acres seeded for the previous year’s crop, and the lowest since 112,000 acres were seeded in 1938. Acreage harvested for grain increased 5,000 acres from last year to 95,000 acres in 2021. Winter wheat yield, at 32 bushels per acre, is up six bushels per acre from last year.

All hay production for 2021 is estimated at 1.97 million tons, down 27 percent from the 2020 total, and the lowest all hay production since 2012. Alfalfa hay production is estimated at 1.32 million tons from 470,000 acres harvested, down 575,000 tons from 2020, and the lowest alfalfa hay production since 2014. Average yield for the 2021 crop is 2.8 tons per acre, 0.3 ton per acre below last year.

All other hay production totaled 658,000 tons from 470,000 acres harvested, down 141,000 tons from 2020. The average yield of 1.4 tons per acre is 0.3 ton per acre below last year. New seedings of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures in Wyoming are estimated at 30,000 acres, up 20 percent from 2020.

As of Dec. 1, producers in Wyoming were storing 1.15 million tons of all hay, down 23 percent from the 1.50 million tons stored last year.

The state’s sugarbeet crop of 903,000 tons for 2021 is down less than one-half percent from the 906,000 tons produced in 2020. Producers harvested 30,600 acres in 2021, unchanged from 2020. Average yield is estimated at 29.5 tons per acre, 0.1 ton per acre below 2020.

Dry edible bean production is set at 378,000 hundredweight, 26 percent below the 2020 crop of 509,000 hundredweight. Average yield is estimated at 2,410 pounds per acre, 240 pounds per acre above last year. Harvested area, at 15,700 acres, is 7,800 acres less than last year. Pinto bean production in 2021 is 308,000 hundredweight, down 17 percent from last year.

Winter wheat seedings last fall for the 2022 crop year are estimated at 100,000 acres, down 13 percent from 2021 and the lowest winter wheat seedings since 1927 when 97,000 acres were seeded.