Total wheat production in Kansas came to 387.0 million bushels, harvested from 9.0 million acres, according to the Aug. 10 estimate released by Kansas Agricultural Statistics through the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Kansas Field Office, operated in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
The Kansas 2012 crop, the largest since 2003, is up 40% from 2011. At 43 bu per acre, it exceeds the past year’s drought-stricken yield of 35 bu per acre.
In early May, the 55th annual Hard Winter Wheat Tour organized by the Wheat Quality Council predicted a harvest of 403.9 million bushels.
Nationwide, all wheat production reached 2.27 billion bu, up 13% from 2011, and based on Aug. 1 conditions, the US yield is forecast at 46.5 bu per acre, up 2.8 bu from the past year.
Other interesting wheat facts:
- Wheat accounts for 7¢ of every $1 the consumer pays for bread.
- It takes 50,000 kernels of wheat to make one bushel.
- During harvest, 1.5 bu of wheat are lost per acre.
- Drought and high temperatures result in higher protein content than if wheat is grown under favorable conditions.