Louisiana Winter Wheat Planting up 21 Percent
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The National Agricultural Statistics Service says Louisiana farmers planted 21 percent more winter wheat last fall than they did the previous year – the biggest shift expected in any Louisiana crop. Louisiana field office director Nathan Crisp says farmers plan to plant more corn, rice, soybeans, and hay than they did in 2011, but cotton and sweet potato acreages are expected to decrease. Those changes range from 2 to 8 percent. Crisp notes that the figures reflect the economy and weather of March 1, and may change during the planting season. Farmers say they put in about 290,000 acres of winter wheat last fall – up 50,000 acres from plantings for last year’s crop. Nationally, farmers planted 41.7 million acres of winter wheat, up 3 percent from a year earlier.
