LOUISVILLE, Ky. –  While Kentucky corn and soybeans continue to be in mostly good condition, the Bluegrass State’s winter wheat production is up 42 percent from 2020, which is the largest production since 2016, according to the USDA.

“Growers shattered the Kentucky wheat yield record,” said David Knopf, director of the USDA’s NASS Eastern Mountain Regional Office in Louisville. “The new record is 87 bushels per acre, up from 80 (bushels) in 2016. Production ranks as the seventh largest crop in Kentucky history.”

The Sept. 30 USDA Small Grains Summary Report said Kentucky farmers harvested 30.5 million bushels of wheat during the summer of 2021, which was up 42 percent from the previous year, but which suffered from weather effects.

The report said yield is estimated at 87 bushels per acre, up 24 bushels from 2020. Farmers seeded 510,000 acres last fall, unchanged from 2020. Area harvested for grain totaled 350,000 acres. Acres for other uses totaled 160,000 acres, and was used as cover crop, cut as hay, chopped for silage, or abandoned.

In addition, production of all U.S. wheat totaled 1.65 billion bushels, down 10 percent from 2020. Grain area harvested totaled 37.2 million acres, up 1 percent from the previous year. The U.S. yield is estimated at 44.3 bushels per acre, down 5.4 bushels from last year.

The report also said the levels of production and changes from 2020 by type are winter wheat, 1.28 billion bushels, up 9 percent; other spring wheat, 331 million bushels, down 44 percent, and durum wheat, 37.3 million bushels, down 46 percent.

“Winter wheat planting has begun, and will move steadily forward,” said Kentucky’s Oct. 4 USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report, adding, “farmers harvested tobacco, corn, and soybeans” during the week ending Oct. 3.

Knopf said farmers made strong headway the week ending Oct. 3 “as conducive weather prevailed. That progress was stymied by the weekend as widespread precipitation moved in. With most of the tobacco crop cut at this point, housed tobacco is in mostly good condition. Tobacco houseburn was reported as 1 percent moderate, 8 percent light and 91 percent with none.”

The report said pasture condition is mostly good; however, heavy rain over the weekend may cause some damage due to livestock traffic.

The report added as nighttime temperatures cool, growth will slow, with hay supplies reported at 1 percent very short, 9 percent short, 75 percent adequate, and 15 percent surplus.

“There have been multiple reports of poor hay quality causing concern for livestock producers,” Knopf said. “A combination of weather and pest issues were cited as the impetus for the reduced quality.”

The report said Kentucky experienced above-normal temperatures and rainfall over the past week. “Harvest benefited from some dry and mild weather throughout much of the workweek,” the report said. “Skies ran mostly sunny across the Bluegrass State, and along with southerly flow in place, highs jumped into the upper 70s, to middle 80s each day.”

The report added rain held off until the weekend for most of the state, with some light showers across far Western Kentucky Oct. 1.

“Coverage turned widespread at times, most notably on Sunday (Oct. 3), with some pockets of moderate to heavy rainfall,” the report said. “Overall, the state averaged 0.93 inches for the week, most of which fell on Sunday. This number marked a third straight week that the state average has run above normal.”

The report said temperatures for the period averaged 70 degrees across the state, which was 7 degrees warmer than normal, and 6 degrees warmer than the previous period. “High temperatures averaged from 83 in the West, to 78 in the East,” the report said. “Low temperatures averaged from 62 degrees in the West, to 57 degrees in the East.”