01/15/07 Washington winter wheat acres static

Washington Ag January 15, 2007 Despite strong prices Washington farmers did not increase their plantings of winter wheat last fall over what they seeded in 2006. According to the Washington Agricultural Statistics Service growers planted 1.85 million acres of winter wheat and that is unchanged both from last year and 2005. And that's a surprise says Tom Mick, CEO of the Washington Wheat Commission. Mick: "It was very surprising to us. Our neighbors in Idaho and Oregon saw an increase. We saw a big increase in the Midwest and Washington was status quo. Before this report came out I was of the personal opinion that that our acres would be up somewhat especially with the attention hard red winter was getting last fall and we expect about normal acreage for soft white. So it was surprising. Now we are going to have to wait and see what the spring wheat acreage is going to show when it comes out." The Statistics Service says seeding of Washington's crop began late with some early concerns about moisture supplies. However, by the end of October, virtually all fields had been seeded and 79 percent of the acreage had emerged. Mick says he was a little concerned about the cold temperatures on wheat lacking snow cover. Nationally it is estimated winter wheat plantings are up nine percent over 2006 at 44.1 million acres. I'm Bob Hoff.