The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS, of USDA) issued their Crop Production report this morning, and it should be NO SURPRISE to those reading the Weather Trends discussions that corn production and yield expectations are up, and soybean and cotton expectations are down vs. last year.  While final numbers will surely vary, NASS estimates that corn production will be 13.1 billion bushels, which is 24% higher than the 2006 crop.  Their yield expectations are for an average yield of 152.8 bushels/acre, which is 3.7 bu ac more than 2006.  The large increase in planted acres combined with favorable weather account for this.  The increase in corn acres obviously took away from soybean acres, as 2007 soybean production is estimated at 2.63 billion bushels, which is an 18% decrease from last year.  Yield expectations are at 41.5 bu ac, down 1.2 bu ac from 2006.  Finally, cotton production is estimated at 17.3 million bales, which is down from 21.6 mln bales last year; yield expectations are at 783 pounds/acre, vs. 814 in 2006.  Of the four major growing states, AR, GA and MS all are showing a significant decrease in overall production; TX is the only major state with an expected production increase vs. last year.

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