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Web posted
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Corn harvest expected to set record in Kansas
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press Writer
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The state's farmers are expected to harvest a record-high corn harvest this fall, surpassing even the wheat crop, Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday.
In its monthly crop production report, the agency said the state is on track to cut 522.6 million bushels, up 1 percent from last year.
If realized, that would mean Kansas farmers would have cut more corn than wheat this year. The winter wheat crop harvested earlier this summer was 366.6 million bushels from 9.9 million planted wheat acres. About 8.6 million wheat acres were actually harvested for grain.
Statisticians noted that growers sowed 4.1 million acres into corn in Kansas this year, up 5 percent from a year ago. That is the highest planted corn acreage since 1936, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said.
An estimated 3.9 million of those corn acres are expected to be harvested come fall.
The anticipated huge corn crop comes despite lower yields. The agency forecast average corn yields of 134 bushels per acre, down 6 bushels from a year ago.
The agency also issued forecasts for other major Kansas fall crops:
-- Sorghum grain production was forecast at 209 million bushels, down 1 percent from last year. Yields are expected to average 76 bushels per acre, about 4 bushels below last year. The 2.85 million planted sorghum acres are up 50,000 acres from last season. About 2.75 million acres are expected to be harvested.
-- Soybean production was estimated to come in at 108.5 million bushels, up 29 percent from last year. Kansas farmers are expected to harvest 22 percent more acres into soybean this year, totaling 3.10 million acres.
The report was based on crop conditions on Sept. 1.
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On the Net:
Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Kansas/index.asp
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