U.S. rice production forecast to decline 7 percent in 2013/14

The 2013/14 (August/July) U.S. rice crop is projected at 185.1 million cwt (hundredweight, rough basis), 7 percent below a year earlier and 24 percent below the record 2010/11 crop. U.S. 2013/14 long-grain is projected at 126.5 million cwt, 12 percent below a year earlier, while combined medium- and short-grain production is projected at 58.5 million cwt, up 6 percent from a year earlier. Total area planted to rice is estimated at 2.49 million acres, 8 percent below a year earlier and the smallest U.S. rice planting since 1987/88. The decline is largely due to higher expected returns from alternative crops—such as corn and soybeans in the Mississippi Delta—and to weather problems in many parts of the South and water restrictions in Texas. Rice plantings are estimated to be higher than a year ago in Louisiana and Texas, unchanged in California and Mississippi, and lower in Arkansas and Missouri, with Arkansas accounting for the largest share of the decline. At a record 7,511 pounds per acre, the 2013/14 all rice average yield forecast is 62 pounds above 2012/13. Despite the decline in U.S. production, global rice production for 2013/14 is forecast at a record 476.8 million tons, primarily due to expanded area in Asia. This chart can be found in the. This chart can be found in the Rice Chart Gallery, with analysis in Rice Outlook: September 2013.

Download higher resolution chart (939 pixels by 729, 150 dpi)