US hay stocks total 14.2 million tons on May 1, down 34% from year-ago period and lowest May 1 stocks on record, USDA says

Nevin Barich

WASHINGTON , May 13, 2013 (press release) – Michigan’s first wheat production forecast of 2013 indicates a slightly smaller yield than last year according to Jay Johnson, Regional Director of the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Wheat appears to have over wintered well in most areas. Excessive rains in April has caused spotty drown out in some fields. Michigan wheat growers expect to harvest 550,000 acres, up 10,000 acres from last year. Wheat production in the State is expected to top 40 million bushels.

U.S. winter wheat production is forecast at 1.49 billion pounds, down 10 percent from 2012. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 32.7 million acres, down 6 percent from last year. As of May 1, the United States yield is forecast at 45.4 bushels per acre, down 1.8 bushels from the previous year.

Hay stocks on Michigan farms on May 1, 2013 were 140,000 tons, down 61% from this time last year. May 1, 2013 stocks were the lowest winter carry on record. Hay production was adversely affected by dry weather last year.

U.S. hay stocks on May 1, 2013 totaled 14.2 million tons, down 34 percent from a year ago. This is the lowest May 1 stocks on record. Disappearance from December 1, 2012-May 1, 2013 totaled 62.4 million tons, compared with 69.3 million tons for the same period a year earlier.

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