No. 285 June 1, 1949
INDIANA
CROPS AND LIVESTOCK
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
COOPERATING WITH
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
DEPARTMENT of agricultural statistics
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA       
INDIANA
An indicated yield of 22.5 bushels per acre for winter wheat makes the forecast of
40,298,000 bushels slightly above last month, and five percent above last year. The larger
acreage this year is the principal reason for production being 49 percent above the 1938-47
average.
Condition is very good throughout the state with yield differences largely due to quality
of land on which the crop is growing.  Harvest in the southwest may begin in mid-June.
The condition of oats is the highest since 1924 and the forecast is 67,074,000 bushels.
This is about 13 percent above last year and 57 percent more than the ten year average.
The condition is highest where the acreage is largest.
The barley forecast is 552,000 bushels. The crop is good but the acreage is again
lowered. Rye also shows a smaller acreage so the indicated yield of 14.0 bushels per acre
makes the forecast only 714,000 bushels or 54 percent of average.
Corn planting was well along by June 1, and was completed earlier than for several
years. The same situation is found in soybeans, in spite of planting interruptions by rains
the week of May 20th.
Fruit prospects are better than last year and seem to be close to 1947 crop in promise.
The June 1 forecast of peaches is 745,000 bushels compared with 559,000 last year, and
725,000 in 1947. The forecast of pears is 163,000 bushels or 15 percent above last year.
The first apple forecast will be made July 1, but the condition is better than last year.
Milk production in May was 359 million pounds, six million above May 1948, and 13
million above the 1938-47 average for May. Production per cow was at a new high level,
though grain fed was only slightly above last year. January to May production was 1,421
million pounds this year and 1,395 million last year.
Egg production per hundred layers at 1,897 eggs for May was high though below last
year. With little increase in layers May production was 232 million eggs this year, against
236 million last year. January to May production this year was 1,106 million eggs, and
last year 1,091 million eggs.
UNITED STATES
Production prospects on June 1 were more promising than usual, with the 1949 season
starting well. May weather in most areas provided a fine balance between favorable
periods for spring activities and timely rains that eased the situation as soils became dry.
Harvest of fall grains was underway in the South, but was delayed by wet fields in the
Southwest. Progress of the growing season was generally satisfactory to advanced,
though spring grains were late in the Missouri-Nebraska-Kansas area and dry soils were
a factor in Gulf coastal areas. Rains at the end of May and in early June have remedied
most of the dry situations.
Winter wheat production, estimated at 1,037 million bushels, exceeded by 1% percent
the level of earlier estimates as the crop advanced to maturity. Adding prospective spring
wheat production of 300 million bushels, the all wheat estimate is 1,337 million bushels,
second largest of record. Favorable conditions for development of grain in most winter
wheat areas tended to offset such factors as Western Wheat Mosaic disease in parts of
the central Great Plains, hail and storm damage in larger sections than usual, and adverse
weather for harvesting in the Southwest. Wet fields have delayed harvest in the portions
of Oklahoma and Texas where harvest usually is earliest, which may increase harvesting
losses because of lodging and rust damage.
Corn planting was nearly completed by June 1 in most areas, which is about the same
progress as in 1948 and slightly ahead of usual. Fields were well-prepared, most have
been cultivated and are clean, so that the corn crop has a very promising start. Planting
of soybeans and sorghums was also well advanced. Cotton was virtually all planted,
much had been chopped and cultivated so that fields were clean, a notable exception being
in wet portions of Oklahoma and northwestern Texas. Good progress was made with peanut planting. Tobacco setting also was well along except in Virginia, where cool weather
retarded plants. Sugarbeets were nearly all planted, with thinning and blocking in
progress. Rice was mostly seeded in good season, though some seeding was delayed until
the end of May in dry parts of Louisiana.
Spring wheat, oats and barley were sown under mostly satisfactory conditions at
desired dates and most late-sown fields had made rapid progress.   Spring seeding was