2012 PRESS RELEASES
Click here to e-mail this page to a friend.
January 12, 2012
CORN, SOYBEAN, PEANUT AND TOBACCO YIELDS UP IN VIRGINIA IN 2011
~Corn production up 93 percent over 2010, soybean production up 53 percent, hay up 42 percent; Virginia peanuts produce record yield, up 80 percent from 2010 ~
Contact: Elaine J. Lidholm, 804.786.7686
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced today that corn for grain yields averaged 118 bushels per acre, up 51 bushels from the previous year’s yield. Production is estimated at 40.1 million bushels, 93 percent above the 2010 production. Corn for grain harvested area was 340,000 acres, up 30,000 acres from last year. Corn silage harvested acreage totaled 130,000 acres, with an average yield of 16.5 tons per acre.
Soybean yields averaged 39 bushels per acre, up 13.0 bushels from last year. A total of 550,000 acres were harvested for grain, an increase of 10,000 from last year’s soybean acreage. Soybean production is estimated at 21.5 million bushels, 53 percent more than last year’s production.
Virginia’s peanut producers harvested 16,000 acres, down 2,000 acres from 2010. Peanut yields averaged 3,800 pounds per acre, up 1,920 pounds per acre from last year. This is a record yield surpassing the previous record of 3,700 pounds in 2009. Peanut production is estimated at 60.8 million pounds, up 80 percent from the 2010 production.
Cotton production is estimated at 165,000 bales, up 32 percent from 2010. The cotton yield forecast is 689 pounds per acre, down 43 pounds from last year’s yield. Producers harvested 115,000 acres in 2011, an increase of 33,000 acres from last year.
Flue-cured tobacco yields averaged 2,400 pounds per acre, up 120 pounds per acre from last year’s yield of 2,280. Virginia’s production is expected to total 46.8 million pounds, up 17 percent from last year. Burley tobacco yields averaged 1,900 pounds per acre, the same as 2010. Fire-cured tobacco yields are estimated at 1,900 pounds per acre, down 190 pounds from last year. Burley production is estimated at 3.8 million pounds, up 25 percent from 2010. Fire-cured tobacco production is estimated at 760 thousand pounds, down 56 percent from last year.
All hay production in Virginia is estimated at 3.1 million tons, up 42 percent from last year. Alfalfa production is 288 thousand tons, up 57 percent from last year’s total. All other hay production is at 2.8 million tons, up 41 percent from last year.
Virginia wheat producers planted 340,000 acres of winter wheat, an increase of 70,000 acres from last year and an increase of 160,000 acres from 2 years ago.
U.S. production for corn was down one percent from 2011. National soybean production was down eight percent but was still the sixth largest on record.
The Virginia Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Services prepared the data for this report.