State grew more rice in ’18, less soy

Production for some crops in Arkansas increased in 2018, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Friday, weeks behind schedule because of the 35day partial government shutdown.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said Arkansas farmers harvested 1.43 million acres of rice, up from 1.1 million acres in 2017. Average per-acre yield was 7,520 pounds, up 30 pounds from 2017.

Arkansas farmers harvested 3.24 million acres of soybeans in 2018, down 7 percent from 2017. Average yield was estimated at 51 bushels an acre, tying a record set in 2017. Production totaled 165 million bushels, down 7 percent.

Farmers harvested 480,000 acres of cotton in 2018, up 10 percent, and averaged 1,150 pounds an acre, down 27 pounds from 2017. Production was estimated at 1.15 million bales, up 7 percent from 2017.

The corn harvest was up 8 percent, at 645,000 acres, with production of 117 million bushels.

The USDA reported reductions across the board — in harvest, yield and production — for hay and peanuts.

Hay production totaled 2.17 million tons, down 16 percent, from 1.2 million acres harvested. Peanut growers produced 115 million pounds, down 25 percent, off 23,000 acres. Arkansas had 29,000 acres of peanuts in 2107.

The USDA projected winter wheat plantings at 120,000 acres, a 31 percent decrease from 2017. That projection, if realized, would be the fewest acres of winter wheat in Arkansas since 1955, the department said.