07/13/05 Wheat stocks up; price outlook down

Farm and Ranch July 13, 2005 USDA reports issued Tuesday forecast U.S. winter wheat production this year down one percent from last month with hard red winter wheat accounting for the decline while soft red and soft white forecasts increased. As for spring wheat, Gerry Bange USDA World Outlook Board chairman, says the production projection is up. Bange: "And they showed spring wheat production to be very strong, up 89 million bushels from what the inter-agency committees had estimated last month. So this is our first real NASS estimate of spring wheat production. I might add that the spring wheat yields are very, very high this year matching the records that we saw last year." Total U.S. wheat production this year is pegged at 2.2 billion bushels. USDA says the increased production and increased carry in stocks will boost wheat carry over stocks next May to 700 million bushels, up from 540 million at the end of the 2004-2005 marketing year. White wheat ending stocks are forecast to balloon from 63 million to 100 million bushels. With increasing stocks USDA trimmed its price forecast with the midpoint of the national average price for wheat now at $2.85 a bushel, well below the $3.40 of the past crop year. Pacific Northwest winter wheat yields are forecast at a record 92 bushels in Idaho, 69 in Washington and 61 bushels in Oregon. Spring wheat yields in Idaho are pegged at a record 80 bushels, 57 bushels in Oregon and 45 in Washington. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.