Crop Insurance Today Second Quarter 2019 - 10

Figure 6 Fall 2018 (Sept-Nov): Statewide Precipitation and Temperature Ranks, 1895-2018
Statewide Precipitation Ranks

Statewide Average Temperature Ranks

Period: 1895-2018

September-November 2018

Record
Driest
(1)

Much
Below
Average

Below
Average

Near
Average

Above
Average

Much
Above
Average

Record
Wettest
(122)

Record
Coldest
(1)

Much
Below
Average

Below
Average

Near
Average

Above
Average

Much
Above
Average

Record
Warmest
(122)

Source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/us-maps

cent above the 10-year average. On October 10,
Hurricane Michael, the third strongest storm on
record, made landfall near Panama City, Florida.
With winds near 155 mph and an accompanying storm surge, the Michael devastated much
of western Florida, southwestern Georgia and
southeastern Alabama. The damage in the region
was most significant for timber, cotton and pecans acres. While excess moisture continued to
dominate weather patterns in the East, Central
and Southern Plains, dry conditions prevailed in
the West. Warmer temperatures also persisted in
the Southeast while lower than normal temperatures, and an early snow, prevailed in the Plains
and Midwest (Figure 6).
Weather conditions moderated in November
as winter-like cool weather began to signal the
change in seasons. Wet weather continued across
the Central and Eastern United States while drier conditions developed in southern Florida and
the southern Plains. Drier conditions remained
in the West contributing to the historic wildfire
outbreak in California. The Camp Fire in northern California became the nation's most deadly
with 85 fatalities reported in Butte County. By
the end of the month, early season winter storms
were causing difficult travel conditions for the
central Plains and lower Great Lakes region. The
wet weather and lower temperatures resulted in
significant fieldwork delay, with the rate of harvest progress for crops like cotton and soybeans
falling behind all of the previous 25 years.
[The information sources for this section were:
National Agricultural Statistics Service, ISSN:
10

SECONDQUARTER2019

1057-7823, Crop Production 2018 Summary,
February 2019; and Monthly Crop Production,
ISSN: 1936 - 3737
https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/
publications/tm70mv177?locale=en]

Crop Production Summary

Production of most major commodities increased in 2018 from the previous year except for
corn, cotton, and winter wheat (Table 1). Slightly
lower yields and harvested area resulted in a decline in U.S. corn production in 2018. A modest
increase in barley acreage, along with much improved yields, resulted in an eight percent increase
in production over 2017. A small increase in acreage and yields resulted in a less than one percent

increase in overall sorghum production. Despite a
small decline in acreage, near record yields resulted in a new record soybean crop in 2018.
All wheat production increased from 2017
based on increases in acreage and yields; however, the change was driven by increased production of spring wheat and durum as winter
wheat production fell due to a decline in yield
and record low harvested acreage. Upland cotton
suffered a bad year, with production declining by
13 percent from 2017. U.S. rice production increased a substantial 26 percent over 2017, resulting from modestly higher yields and a significant
increase in acreage.
In 2018, the area of corn harvested for grain
was estimated to be 81.7 million acres, down one

Table 1 Crop Yields and Production
2017 2018 2017 2018
CROPS
YIELD

YIELD

Bu./Harv. Ac. Bu./Harv. Ac.

Corn
Barley
Grain Sorghum
Soybeans
All Wheat
Winter Wheat
Other Spring Wheat
Durum

176.6
73
71.1
49.3
46.4
50.2
41
26

176.4
77.4
72.1
51.6
47.6
47.9
48.3
39.3

Lbs./Harv. Ac.

Upland Cotton

895
7,507

% CHANGE IN

PRODUCTION

Mill. Bu.

14,604
143
362
4,412
1,741
1,270
416
55

14,420
153
365
4,544
1,884
1,184
623
77

-1.3
7.0
0.8
3.0
8.2
-6.8
49.8
40.0

17,596

-13.0

178,228 224,211

25.8

1,000 Bales

821

Lbs./Harv. Ac.

Rice

PRODUCTION PRODUCTION

20,223
1,000 Cwt.

7,692

Source: NASS Crop Production Annual Summary, February 2019

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/us-maps https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/tm70m177?locale=en] https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/tm70m177?locale=en]

Crop Insurance Today Second Quarter 2019

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