COLORADO HIGHLIGHTS 

Winter wheat production in Colorado, estimated at 41.04 million bushels, is down 58 percent from 2019, according to the September 1 Agricultural Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Winter wheat producers seeded 1.90 million acres in the fall of 2019 for harvest in 2020, down from 2.15 million acres seeded for the previous year’s crop and, and is the lowest winter wheat planted acreage since 1.71 million acres were seeded in 1945. Acreage harvested for grain decreased 480,000 acres from last year to 1.52 million acres in 2020, and is the lowest winter wheat harvested acres since 1.23 million acres in 1965. Winter wheat yield, at 27.0 bushels per acre, is down 22.0 bushels per acre from last year. 

Colorado’s barley seeded area, at 53,000 acres, is down 1,000 acres from last year. Harvested area, at 45,000 acres, is down 7,000 acres from 2019. Barley yield, at 145.0 bushels per acre, is up 7.0 bushels per acre from last year and equals the record yield set in 2018. Barley production in 2020 is estimated at 6.53 million bushels, down 9 percent from the previous year. 

UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS 

All wheat production totaled 1.83 billion bushels in 2020, down 5 percent from the revised 2019 total of 1.93 billion bushels. Area harvested for grain totaled 36.7 million acres, down 2 percent from the previous year. The United States yield was estimated at 49.7 bushels per acre, down 2.0 bushels from the previous year. The levels of production and changes from 2019 by type were: winter wheat, 1.17 billion bushels, down 11 percent; other spring wheat, 586 million bushels, up 4 percent; and Durum wheat, 68.8 million bushels, up 28 percent. 

Winter wheat production for 2020 totaled 1.17 billion bushels, down 11 percent from the revised 2019 total of 1.32 billion bushels. The United States yield, at 50.9 bushels per acre, was down 2.7 bushels from 2019. Area harvested for grain was estimated at a record low 23.0 million acres, down 6 percent from the previous year. A record low harvested acreage is estimated in California. Record high yields were estimated in Idaho, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and South Dakota for 2020. 

Barley production was estimated at 165 million bushels, down 4 percent from the revised 2019 total of 172 million bushels. The average yield, at 77.5 bushels per acre, was down 0.2 bushel from the previous year. Producers seeded 2.62 million acres in 2020, down 5 percent from 2019. Harvested area, at 2.13 million acres, was down 4 percent from 2019.