General: Tropical systems continued to damage Florida's field crops
throughout September while drier conditions prevailed by early
October. Around mid-September, Hurricane Ivan spun off tornadoes
in the Panhandle in addition to dumping torrential rainfall. Some outer
bands of rain from Ivan fell in scattered areas of the Peninsula. Intense
winds tossed crops and heavy rains flooded fields in areas affected by
the storm. Some fields were saturated with water from Hurricane
Frances which swept through the State a week prior. The continuous
precipitation caused soggy soils which hampered producers from
putting heavy equipment in the fields. Hence, peanut digging slowed
in the Panhandle. The storm delayed hay making and corn harvesting.
Jefferson County lost a devastating amount of the remaining pecan
crop with limb breakage and uprooted trees due to all of the catastrophic weather events. Most topsoil and subsoil moisture supplies
were surplus in the Panhandle and adequate to surplus over the
Peninsula.
Remnants of Hurricane Ivan crossed over the southern
Peninsula after mid-September and Hurricane Jeanne entered the east
coast of Florida on September 26. Drier weather in the Panhandle
aided the recovery of cotton losses from Hurricane Ivan; however, in
other areas muddy fields slowed cotton defoliation. Producers were
able to dig peanuts during the drier weather with harvest nearly a third
done by late September. Some soybeans were lost in the Panhandle
and northern Peninsula. In most areas, the tropical systems kept soil
moisture supplies adequate to surplus.
Drier conditions over most of the Peninsula and Panhandle
localities allowed field work to progress rapidly in early October with
only minimal scattered showers in some areas. Younger cotton acreage
showed less damage from the tropical storms. Peanuts were rated 90
percent in good condition by early October; in addition, growers were
able to speed up the digging of peanuts after the storms passed. Hay
quality diminished while producers continued to bale as fields dried
out. Some corn acreage was lost in Washington County. Soils were
able to dry out in some Panhandle and southeastern localities while a
few areas reported short to very short soil moisture levels. For the
most part, elsewhere, soil moisture was adequate to surplus with many
low lying areas still too wet to support any heavy equipment.
Peanuts: Production is expected to total 299,000,000 pounds versus
345,000,000 pounds in 2003. Harvested acreage is projected at
130,000 acres, down 5,000 acres or four percent from the September
forecast, but 13 percent above the previous year. The current yield is
2,300 pounds per acre opposed to 3,100 pounds per acre in August and
3,000 last year.
Sugarcane: Harvesting was significantly delayed due to hurricanes
passing over the area. Acreage expected for harvest is down 18,000
acres from last year to 420,000 acres this year. Yield is set at 36.0
tons per acre compared to last year's 39.3 tons per acre. Estimated
production is set at 15,120,000 tons, down 12 percent from last year.
Tobacco: Yield averaged 2,500 pounds per acre, the same as the
2003 yield. Production is set at 10,000,000 pounds compared with
11,000,000 pounds produced last year. Growers harvested 4,000 acres,
down 400 acres from the 4,400 acres pulled in 2003.
Pecans: Expected production for all varieties is set at 500,000
pounds, down 1,600,000 pounds from the 2,100,000 pounds produced
last year. Production of improved varieties is estimated at 200,000
pounds which declined by 300,000 pounds from 2003. Production of
native and seedling varieties is forecast at 300,000 pounds, down by
1,300,000 pounds from last year's 1,600,000 pounds.
Winter Potatoes: Despite the decrease in acreage, production as
well as yield increased from the previous year. Production was set at
1.57 million cwt up 13 percent from last year's 1.39 million cwt.
Producers delayed planting earlier this year due to a lack of available
contracts, along with wet weather. Acreage harvested at 5,500 acres
was down 5 percent from last year while yields averaged 285 cwt per
acre, an increase of 19 percent from last year's 240 cwt per acre.
Peanuts: Production is forecast at 4.13 billion pounds, down 7
percent from last month and down fractionally from 2003. Area for
harvest is expected to total 1.39 million acres, down fractionally from
September but up 6 percent from last year. Yields are expected to
average 2,972 pounds per acre, down 216 pounds from September and
down 187 pounds from 2003. Production in the Southeast States
(Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina) is expected to total
2.76 billion pounds, down 10 percent from September and down
fractionally from last year. Expected area for harvest, at 968,000 acres,
is down 1 percent from September but up 13 percent from 2003.
Yields in the 4-State region are expected to average 2,852 pounds per
acre, 313 pounds below September and 386 pounds below last year.
Cotton: Upland cotton harvested area, at 13.0 million acres, is the
same as last month but 10 percent above 2003. Based on additional
survey and administrative data, Alabama expects to harvest 10,000
acres less than September, while Mississippi harvested area increased
by 10,000 acres. During the month of September, three Hurricanes
(Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne) crossed over the Southeast. Damage
reported included plants that were blown over and twisted, and cotton
that was knocked out of the bolls. Producers were concerned that the
bolls may become hard locked if they received more rain. Alabama,
Florida, and Georgia producers expanded defoliation with the return of
drier weather conditions at the end of September.
Sugarcane: Production of sugarcane for sugar and seed in 2004 is
forecast at 30.3 million tons, 4 percent below the September forecast
and 10 percent below 2003. Sugarcane growers intend to harvest
961,600 acres for sugar and seed during the 2004 crop year, unchanged
from September but 3 percent less than last year's final harvested area.
Yield is forecast at 31.5 tons per acre, 1.5 tons below the previous
forecast and 2.5 tons below the 2003 yield.
Flue-Cured Tobacco: Flue-cured production is expected to total
513 million pounds, up less than 1 percent since last month and up 12
percent since last year. Growers plan to harvest 229,400 acres in 2004,
down 1 percent from September and 2 percent below 2003. Yields are
expected to average 2,237 pounds per acre, 22 pounds higher than last
month and 280 pounds above a year ago.
Pecans: Utilized production is forecast at 189 million pounds
(in-shell basis), down 33 percent from last year's crop but 9 percent
above the 2002 crop. The current crop is expected to be lower than last
year's due to the alternate bearing pattern typical of pecans. In addition
to being a low year in this cycle, the Southeastern States generally
noted high disease pressure early in the growing season caused by
excessive rainfall, followed by widespread damage to trees and nuts
due to the hurricanes and tropical storms in August and September.
Western growing areas reported some drought and insect concerns, but
overall a good, low year crop.
Winter Potatoes: Production for 2004 is revised to 4.82 million cwt, up 38 percent from the April forecast and 20 percent above 2003. Harvested area of 18,500 acres in the 2 winter potato States (California and Florida) is 32 percent above the April 1 forecast and 29 percent more than last year. The average yield of 260 cwt per acre is up 10 cwt from the April forecast but 22 cwt below 2003.
Crop Production: Acreage for harvest and forecasts of yield and production for Florida and United States as of October 1, 2004 with comparisons |
|||||||
Crop | Harvested acreage | Yield per acre | Unit | Production | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2003 |
For harvest 2004 |
2003 |
Indicated 2004 |
2003 |
Indicated 2004 |
||
Thousands | Units | Thousands | |||||
FLORIDA | |||||||
Cotton 1/ 2/ | -- | -- | -- | -- | 3/ | -- | -- |
Peanuts | 115.0 | 130.0 | 3,000 | 2,300 | Lbs. | 345,000 | 299,000 |
Pecans, All | -- | -- | -- | -- | Lbs. | 2,100 | 500 |
Improved Varieties | -- | -- | -- | -- | Lbs. | 500 | 200 |
Native and Seedling | -- | -- | -- | -- | Lbs. | 1,600 | 300 |
Potatoes: | |||||||
Winter 4/ | 5.8 | 5.5 | 240 | 285 | Cwt | 1,392 | 1,568 |
Spring 5/ | 28.6 | 22.5 | 280 | 249 | Cwt | 8,008 | 5,605 |
Sugarcane 5/ | 438.0 | 420.0 | 39.3 | 36.0 | Ton | 17,231 | 15,120 |
Tobacco, Type 14 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 2,500 | 2,500 | Lbs. | 11,000 | 10,000 |
UNITED STATES | |||||||
Corn for grain | 71,139 | 73,311 | 142.2 | 158.4 | Bu. | 10,113,887 | 11,613,226 |
Cotton, all 2/ | 12,003.4 | 13,223.0 | 730 | 782 | 3/ | 18,255.2 | 21,545.0 |
Other States 6/ | 172.0 | 174.0 | 576 | 607 | 3/ | 206.5 | 220.0 |
Hay, Alfalfa 5/ | 23,578 | 22,226 | 3.24 | 3.48 | Ton | 76,307 | 77,371 |
Hay, All Other 5/ | 39,764 | 39,363 | 2.03 | 2.25 | Ton | 80,816 | 88,549 |
Peanuts for nuts | 1,312.0 | 1,388.0 | 3,159 | 2,972 | Lbs. | 4,144,150 | 4,125,400 |
Pecans, All | -- | -- | -- | -- | Lbs. | 282,100 | 189,300 |
Improved Varieties | -- | -- | -- | -- | Lbs. | 202,900 | 129,650 |
Native and Seedling | -- | -- | -- | -- | Lbs. | 79,200 | 59,650 |
Potatoes: | |||||||
Winter 4/ | 14.3 | 18.5 | 282 | 260 | Cwt | 4,027 | 4,818 |
Spring 5/ | 84.7 | 71.7 | 288 | 266 | Cwt | 24,433 | 19,077 |
Summer 5/ | 58.7 | 55.1 | 320 | 336 | Cwt | 18,766 | 18,487 |
Fall 7/ | 1,090.9 | 1,022.8 | 376 | 7/ | Cwt | 410,588 | 7/ |
Rice | 2,997 | 3,334 | 6,645 | 6,763 | 8/ | 199,157 | 225,488 |
Sorghum for grain | 7,798 | 6,559 | 52.7 | 70.4 | Bu. | 411,237 | 461,857 |
Soybeans for beans | 72,476 | 73,990 | 33.9 | 42.0 | Bu. | 2,453,665 | 3,106,861 |
Sugarbeets | 1,347.9 | 1,326.0 | 22.7 | 21.7 | Ton | 30,583 | 28,840 |
Sugarcane for sugar and seed | 994.4 | 961.6 | 34.0 | 31.5 | Ton | 33,857 | 30,315 |
Tobacco, All | 411.2 | 409.6 | 1,952 | 2,156 | Lbs. | 802,654 | 883,168 |
Tobacco, Types 11 - 14 | 233.4 | 229.4 | 1,957 | 2,237 | Lbs. | 456,690 | 513,230 |
Tobacco, Type 14 | 31.4 | 28.0 | 2,242 | 2,029 | Lbs. | 70,400 | 56,800 |
Wheat, all 5/ | 52,839 | 50,556 | 44.2 | 42.0 | Bu. | 2,336,526 | 2,122,894 |
Winter 5/ | 36,541 | 34,825 | 46.7 | 42.8 | Bu. | 1,707,069 | 1,489,408 |
Durum 5/ | 2,869 | 2,521 | 33.7 | 35.3 | Bu. | 96,637 | 88,951 |
Other spring 5/ | 13,429 | 13,210 | 39.7 | 41.2 | Bu. | 532,820 | 544,535 |
1/ Florida cotton included in U.S.Other States. 2/ Includes both upland and Amer-Pima cotton. 3/ Yield in pounds, production in 480 pound net weight bales. 4/ 2004 crop revised. 5/ Estimates for current year carried forward from earlier forecast. 6/ Other States include FL and KS. Individual State level estimates will be published in the Crop Production 2004 Summary. 7/ First forecast in November. 8/ Yield in pounds, production in hundredweight. |