Louisiana Corn, Cotton Production Up Sharply

USDA released its latest crop production report Friday.  Here's how the Louisiana numbers came out.

Louisiana corn for grain production is forecast at 105 million bushels, up 57 percent from 2015. Based on conditions as of August 1, yield is expected to average 178 bushels per acre, up 7 bushels from last year. Producers expect to harvest 590,000 acres of corn for grain, up 200,000 acres from 2015.

All cotton production is forecast at 320,000 bales, up 69 percent, or 131,000 more bales than last year. Yield is expected to average 1,024 pounds per harvested acre, up 214 pounds from 2015. Producers expect to harvest 150,000 acres of cotton, a 38,000 acre increase from 2015.

Hay production is forecast at 1.01 million tons, down 6 percent from 2015. Based on conditions as of August 1, yield is expected to average 2.6 tons per acre, up 0.1 ton per acre from last year. Producers expect to harvest 390,000 acres of all hay, down 40,000 acres from 2015.

Total rice production for the state is forecast at 33 million hundredweight, up 15 percent from last year's production of 28.8 million hundredweight. Based on conditions as of August 1, the all rice yield for 2016 is forecast at 7,100 pounds per acre, up 160 pounds from last year. Louisiana producers expect to harvest 465,000 acres of rice, up 50,000 acres from 2015.

Sorghum for grain production in 2016 is forecast at 6.11 million bushels, down 3 percent from a year ago. Based on August 1 conditions, yield is expected to average 97 bushels per acre, up 12 bushels from 2015. Area for grain harvest, at 63,000 acres, is down 11,000 acres from 2015.

Soybeans production in 2016 is forecast at 61.5 million bushels, up 8 percent from last year. Based on August 1 conditions, yield is expected to average 50 bushels per acre, up 9 bushels from last year. Area for harvest, at 1.23 million acres, is down 165,000 acres from 2015.

ugarcane production is forecast at 13.6 million net tons, up 12 percent from a year ago. The yield is forecast at 31 net tons per acre, up 1.4 net tons per acre from last year. Area harvested for sugar and seed totaled 440,000 acres, up 30,000 acres from 2015.