06/12/07 More red wheat acres; smaller cherry crop

Washington Ag June 12, 2007 Based on June 1st conditions, the Washington Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service says farmers in the state are expected to harvest 119.5 million bushels of winter wheat, slightly more than last year. That forecast is unchanged from last month and is still based on winter wheat yields of 66 bushels an acre. Chris Messer, Director of the Washington Field Office says timely early June showers helped moderate the effects of record breaking warm temperatures in many areas in May. Messer says they also have some preliminary results of their wheat varietal survey. Messer: "We are not quite complete but from the request of the industry we were able to give a preliminary indication that 70% of the total wheat acres planted for harvest in Washington is white and about 30 percent red. We will have the final results published in the July 12th report and all that will be available by variety on our website." Ag Statistics first estimate of Washington's sweet cherry crop pegs it at 155-thousand tons, down nine percent from 2006 but up 12 percent from 2005. Washington's Bartlett pear crop this year is estimated to be 160-thousand tons, down 4 percent from both the 2006 and 2005 seasons. I'm Bob Hoff.