01/15/07 U.S. winter wheat plantings increase

Farm and Ranch January 15, 2007 U.S. farmers are estimated to have planted 44.1 million acres of winter wheat for the 2007 crop. That's the number reported by the USDA Friday and Dennis Smith of Archer Financial Services, says the nine percent increase over 2006 was right in line with trade expectations. Smith: "Last year we were at 40.5. So indeed planting more wheat acres in response to the big rise in prices we experienced late this summer and this fall." By class white winter wheat acres are estimated at 3.91 million up only two percent from last year. Hard red winter at 31.9 million is up nine percent. Soft red winter had the largest increase, up 13 percent at 8.3 million acres. In the Pacific Northwest, USDA says farmers in Washington actually kept winter wheat plantings the same as in 2006 at 1.85 million acres. Idaho had a four percent increase to 780-thousand acres. Oregon growers increased winter wheat plantings three percent to 780-thousand acres as well. USDA raised current marketing year ending stocks 34 million bushels from last month due largely to a reduced wheat export forecast because of slow sales. A million bushels was added to white wheat ending stocks now pegged at 46 million bushels, still down sharply from last marketing year. World wheat carryout was increased about one million tons in part because of increased production in Russia and the E.U.-25. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.