By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the new growing season starts, last year’s farm crop figures are in and the news is mixed – but that may not be so bad, considering the economy.

Perhaps most surprising is the increase in farm numbers in 2010. According to the Kentucky field office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), there were 85,700 farms in Kentucky last year. A farm by countable definition is “any establishment from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were sold or would normally be sold during the year.”

That number represents an increase of 200 over 2009 figures and places the state fifth overall in the country in the number of farms. NASS information noted that Texas ranked first with 247,500, Missouri was second with 108,000, Iowa was third with 92,400 and Oklahoma was fourth with 86,500.

Total land used for farming did not change however, between 2009 and last year. That number stood at 14 million acres, or 55.1 percent of Kentucky’s total acreage. Nationally, there are an estimated 2.2 million farms comprising 920 million acres as of 2010 – an increase of 100,000 acres from 2009 figures.
As crops go, corn is the most valuable cash crop in the state, accounting for 36.6 percent of Kentucky’s total crop value of $2.27 billion. That is a decrease from 2009, when crops represented an estimated $2.44 billion.

Kentucky’s crop values rank 23rd nationally. U.S. crop production was worth $192.5 billion in 2010, an increase of 22 percent over 2009.

A NASS report noted the state’s soybean, hay, tobacco and wheat crops decreased in value last year. Tobacco has been on the decline for a number of years, but wheat numbers could go up in 2011, as last fall’s winter wheat planting increased by 90,000 acres over the previous year, with an estimated 480,000 acres. That increase is mirrored on a national level, with an estimated 41 million acres.

Western Kentucky counties led the way in crop production. Union was the top corn-producing county with 11.5 million bushels from 80,000 acres harvested in 2010. It also ranked third for soybean production, with 2.74 million bushels.
Christian County was second in corn production with just over 10.9 million bushels, followed by Henderson with 10.2 million, according to an NASS report.
Henderson County also topped soybean production, with three million bushels, while Daviess ranked second with 2.8 million.

In wheat production, Christian County is the top state producer with almost three million bushels of winter wheat last year. Logan was second with 2.3 million, while Todd was third with 1.45 million, according to the NASS report.
The 2011 season could prove to be bigger yet, but anything can happen in the span of a growing season. The University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture’s annual outlook report for the coming season states, “the outlook for tobacco is not encouraging and overall sales will continue to decline. For corn, soybeans and wheat, the outlook is very bullish.

“Given reasonably normal weather, gross receipts could surge another $300 million-$400 million. Early forecasts indicate corn could be the number-two source of cash receipts in 2011.”

If UK’s crystal ball is correct, total farm cash receipts could hit the $5 billion mark in 2011. This would be a first for the state and yet another sign the agricultural sector could indeed lead the way in economic recovery. If one thing is the determining factor, it will be the weather – and farmers are hoping for something a little more normal than the spring floods and fall drought of 2010.