The Associated Press | Posted: Thursday, April 6, 2006 12:00 am
POWELL, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming farmers expect to plant about the same amount of barley and more sugar beets this year compared to the past couple years, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
Wyoming's 2006 barley acreage is expected to total 75,000 acres, said Jerry Thorson, of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service in Cheyenne.
The projected barley acreage is essentially unchanged from last year, but 15,000 acres less than in 2004.
However, Wyoming producers intend to plant around 39,000 acres of sugar beets, which would be 2,800 acres more than last year and 2,600 acres more than in 2004, Thorson said.
If the weather cooperates, Wyoming could see one of the largest sugar beet crops in recent memory.
Mark Bjornestad, senior agriculturalist with Western Sugar Cooperative in Lovell, said his company earlier this year extended an option allowing for producers to plant more beets.
"It looks like beet acreage will be up this year, though we're in the middle of contracting right now and won't know exactly where we're at for some time," Bjornestad said.
Even though no more barley is being put in the ground this year, the outlook for the crop that will be harvested is good, said Jim Gill, Powell area ag extension agent.
"It certainly has potential," he said.
Dry bean plantings in Wyoming this year are expected to total 30,000 acres, down 4,000 acres from 2005, but around 5,000 acres more than in 2004.
The total acreage of all hay expected to be harvested in the state in 2005 is 1.2 million acres, 5 percent more than last year, 21 percent above 2004's crop and about on par with the 2003 acreage.
Overall planting intentions in Wyoming of all crops are down 4 percent from both last year and 2004, Thorson said.
Information from: The Powell Tribune, http://www.powelltribune.com