USA: Barley acreage up 4.8% in 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued its small grains 2023 summary on September 29, showing a 10 per cent increase in all wheat production in 2023 of 1.81 billion bushels.

While oat production dipped one per cent at 57 million bushels, barley output rose six per cent at 185 million.

U.S. wheat in 2023 saw 49.757 million acres planted, expanding 8.3 per cent from the previous year. Harvested acres came in at 37.272 million, besting 2022 by five per cent. Yields increased from 46.5 bushels per acre 2022 to 48.6 in 2023.


Of the country’s wheat coming off the fields 1.248 billion bushels were winter wheat, up 13.1 per cent from 2022. The planted area was up 10.3 per cent from last year at 36.699 million, while the harvest acres grew 5.2 per cent at 24.683 million. Yields rose from 47 bu./ac. in 2022 to 50.6 this year.

Spring wheat tallied 504.9 million bushels, for a 4.6 per cent increase. U.S. farmers seeded 11.2 million acres, 3.2 per cent more than in 2022. Harvested acres of 10.95 million grew 5.1 per cent from the year before but yields dipped from 46.2 bu./ac. to 46.

Durum reaped 59.329 million bushels, down 7.3 per cent from a year ago. The planted acres increased 2.7 per cent from 2022 at 1.676 million and the harvested acres nudged up 1.5 per cent at 1.604 million. However, the yield decreased from 40.5 bu./ac. in 2022 to 37 this year.

Oat acres seeded in 2023 saw a slight decline from 2022 of one per cent at 2.555 million. While the harvested acres dropped 6.6 per cent at 831,000, yields improved from 64.8 bu./ac. in 2022 to 68.6 in 2023.

The amount of barley acres seeded in the U.S. rose 4.8 per cent in 2023 at 3.101 million and the harvested acres grew 4.5 per cent at 2.555 million. Yields were up from 71.6 bu./ac. in 2022 to 72.4 in 2023.

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