10/01/08 Northwest wheat production up slightly from last year

Farm and Ranch October 1, 2008 USDA issued its Small Grain Summary for 2008 Tuesday showing updated and final wheat production numbers for this year. Knopf: "In the Pacific Northwest the wheat production is up slightly from a year ago. Idaho and Oregon both had increases in yield and although the harvested acres was not considerably greater, the result was an increase in production for the three states." That's David Knopf who heads up Washington State's field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service. PNW wheat production was pegged at 268.3 million bushels, up four percent from 2007. This despite the largest wheat producer in the region, Washington harvesting its smallest winter wheat crop since 1991. USDA economist Joe Glauber sums up the national production as well as quarterly stocks report also issued Tuesday. Glauber: "The wheat production number was a little higher than what the market expected particularly in the spring wheat assessment which shows spring wheat up about nine percent from last month's estimate. So that certainly wasn't expected and the market will take that into account. But that is offset by a lower stock number for wheat than some had thought suggesting stronger food and feed use last quarter." Total U.S. wheat production for 2008 is placed at 2.5 billion bushels. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.