The USDA, NASS, Pacific Regional Office today released the crop production report for June. The latest survey, which was conducted during the last week of May and the first week of June, includes the following commodities:
Wheat – California’s 2014 Durum wheat harvested acreage is estimated at 55,000 acres. The yield is forecast at 3.00 tons per acre resulting in total production of 165,000 tons, an 18 percent decrease from 2013. Durum wheat experienced good growing conditions during the year. The Durum wheat harvest is well underway in Southern California with no significant disease or pest pressure.
California’s wheat other than Durum harvested acreage is estimated at 200,000 acres for 2014. The forecast yield is 2.40 tons per acre for a total production to 480,000 tons. Recent warm weather has been good for the wheat crop. Winter wheat for grain dried in preparation for harvest. Crop condition was rated 90 percent good to excellent.
Dried Plum (Prunes) – The 2014 California dried plum (prune) crop is forecast at 95,000 tons, up 12 percent from the 85,000 tons produced in 2013. The 2014 dried plum bloom was a bit longer than usual, with warm temperatures mostly toward the end.
Sweet Potato – California’s 2013 sweet potato production is estimated at 6.84 million hundredweight, 11 percent more than the 2012 production. Yields averaged 360 hundredweight from 19,000 acres harvested.
Hawaii Sugarcane – Hawaii’s 2013 sugarcane production for sugar and seed totaled 1.40 million tons, an increase of 7 percent from 2012. The average yield from the 17,700 acres harvested was 78.9 tons per acre.
Production forecasts are released on a monthly basis and do not reflect final production estimates. Late summer and fall harvests may change these estimates considerably. The next production forecast will be issued July 11, 2014.