Vermont leads New England in crop production

Vermont Business Magazine The USDA today released its 2021 New England Field Crop Summary. Vermont is just ahead of Maine in total acreage and well ahead of all the other New England states. Of the USDA categories reported, Vermont has the highest output in maple, dry hay, and alfalfa. Vermont also has more than the rest of the region combined in production of corn used for silage (77,000 acres and 1.5 million tons). While this puts Vermont ahead of most states, Wisconsin leads the nation by far with 890,000 acres and 19.1 million tons. For most crop categories the New England states fall well beneath most states in production.

This annual report contains crop production data for the past year for grains and oilseeds, sugar crops, cotton, tobacco, and others. Information on area planted and harvested, yield, and production is provided by type of crop, as well as the planted and harvested area, yield, and production of crops in the US cumulatively. An annual crop summary and annual weather summary is also included at the end of the report.

For maple production, Vermont production was noticably down despite a 4 percent increase in the number of taps. Vermont still produces the most of any state (1.5 million gallons) and nearly half the US total.

The 2021 United States maple syrup production totaled 3.42 million gallons, down 17 percent from the previous season. The number of taps totaled 13.3 million, up 2 percent from the 2020 total. Yield per tap was 0.257 gallon, down 0.057 gallon from the previous season.

After the 2021 season concluded, Vermont’s Ag Secretary Anson Tebbetts said, “Mother Nature was the story in 2021. Vermont maple producers were faced with wild weather changes, ups and downs, starts and stops. But as always Vermont producers rode the waves and produced another national leading high quality crop. We are proud of our sugar makers who are producing a natural sweetener that’s being served at breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

2021 NEW ENGLAND FIELD CROP SUMMARY

ALL DRY HAY

Connecticut hay production is estimated at 89 thousand tons, up 7% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.93 tons, up 0.13 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 46 thousand acres is the same as the previous year.

Maine hay production is estimated at 229 thousand tons, up 25% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.91 tons per acre, up 0.15 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 120 thousand acres, is up 15% from the previous year.

Massachusetts hay production is estimated at 80 thousand tons, down 25% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.45 tons per acre down 0.32 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 55 thousand acres, is down 8% from the previous year.

New Hampshire hay production is estimated at 62 thousand tons, down 19% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.48 tons per acre, down 0.35 ton per acre from the previous year. Harvested area, at 42 thousand acres, remains the same as the previous year.

Rhode Island hay production is estimated at 12 thousand tons, up 50% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.71 tons per acre, up 0.11 ton per acre from the previous year. Harvested area, at 7 thousand acres, is up 40% from the previous year.

Vermont hay production is estimated at 293 thousand tons, down 7% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.83 tons per acre, down 0.05 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 160 thousand acres, is down 4% from the previous year.

ALFALFA

Connecticut alfalfa hay production is estimated at 13 thousand tons, up 18% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 2.10 tons per acre, up 0.2 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 6 thousand acres, remains the same as the previous year.

Maine alfalfa production is estimated at 20 thousand tons, down 5% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 2.00 tons per acre, down 0.30 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 10 thousand acres, is up 11% from the previous year.

Massachusetts alfalfa production is estimated at 10 thousand tons, up 43% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.90 tons per acre, up 0.60 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 5 thousand acres remains the same as the previous year.

New Hampshire alfalfa production is estimated at 6 thousand tons, down 40% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 1.20 tons per acre, down 0.80 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 5 thousand acres remains the same as the previous year.

Rhode Island alfalfa production is estimated at 2 thousand tons, unchanged from 2020. Yield is estimated at 2.00 tons per acre, the same as the previous year. Harvested area, at 1 thousand acres, is unchanged from the previous year.

Vermont alfalfa production is estimated at 32 thousand tons, up 10% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 2.15 tons per acre, up 0.45 ton from the previous year. Harvested area, at 15 thousand acres, is down 12% from the previous year.

MAPLE SYRUP

Maine maple syrup production is estimated at 495 thousand gallons, down 16% from 2020. Yield per tap is estimated at .262 gallons, down .037 from the previous year. The number of taps is estimated at 1.89 million, down 4% from 2020.

New Hampshire maple syrup production is estimated at 127 thousand gallons, down 18% from 2020. Yield per tap is estimated at .240 gallons, down .051 from the previous year. The number of taps is estimated at 530 thousand, unchanged from 2020.

Vermont maple syrup production is estimated at 1.54 million gallons, down 21% from 2020. Yield per tap is estimated at .261 gallons, down .081 from the previous year. The number of taps is estimated at 5.90 million, up 4% from 2020.

OAT

Maine oat production is estimated at 1.48 million bushels, up 7% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 78 bushels per acre, up 15 bushels from the previous year. Harvested area, at 19 thousand acres is down 14% from the previous year.

BARLEY

Maine barley production is estimated at 820 thousand bushels, up 8% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 82 bushels per acre, up 28 bushels from the previous year. Harvested area, at 10 thousand acres, is down 29% from the previous year.

POTATO

Maine potato production is estimated at 18.7 million cwt, up 39% from 2020. Yield is estimated at 350 cwt per acre, up 85 cwt from the previous year. Harvested area, at 53.5 thousand acres, is up 5% from the previous year.

Maple Syrup Taps, Yield, and Production – States and United States: 2019-2021
[Estimates for 2021 are carried forward from the June 2021 Crop Production". Any revisions will appear in the June 2022 "Crop Production"]"
Number of taps Number of taps Number of taps Yield per tap Yield per tap Yield per tap Production Production Production
State
2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021
(1,000 taps) (1,000 taps) (1,000 taps) (gallons) (gallons) (gallons) (1,000 gallons) (1,000 gallons) (1,000 gallons)
Maine 1950 1970 1890 0.267 0.299 0.262 520 590 495
Michigan 620 570 550 0.315 0.298 0.273 195 170 150
New Hampshire 540 530 530 0.274 0.291 0.24 148 154 127
New York 2800 2800 2900 0.293 0.287 0.223 820 804 647
Pennsylvania 680 740 715 0.231 0.241 0.231 157 178 165
Vermont 6000 5700 5900 0.345 0.342 0.261 2070 1950 1540
Wisconsin 800 780 850 0.338 0.34 0.353 270 265 300
United States 13390 13090 13335 0.312 0.314 0.257 4180 4111 3424
Crop Production 2021 Summary: Released January 12, 2022, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Principal Crops Area Planted and Harvested – States and United States: 2019-2021
[Crops included are corn, sorghum, oats, barley, rye, winter wheat, Durum wheat, other spring wheat, rice, soybeans, peanuts, sunflower, cotton, dry edible beans, chickpeas, potatoes, canola, proso millet, and sugarbeets. Harvested acreage is used for all hay, tobacco, and sugarcane in computing total area planted. Includes double cropped acres and unharvested small grains planted as cover crops]
Area planted Area planted Area planted Area harvested Area harvested Area harvested
State
2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021
(1,000 acres) (1,000 acres) (1,000 acres) (1,000 acres) (1,000 acres) (1,000 acres)
Alabama 2115 2130 2130 2045 2049 2048
Alaska 28 28 25 27 27 24
Arizona 637 579 598 628 571 593
Arkansas 6603 6891 7020 6427 6763 6883
California 2983 2660 2393 2567 2223 1996
Colorado 6091 5746 6235 5799 5029 5754
Connecticut 70 70 70 68 68 68
Delaware 435 440 422 415 412 388
Florida 1079 1097 1084 1060 1079 1068
Georgia 3359 3368 3393 3135 3178 3193
Idaho 4111 4112 4041 3956 3961 3875
Illinois 21590 22720 22830 21210 22485 22565
Indiana 11250 11950 11930 11070 11860 11830
Iowa 23935 24380 24390 23619 23763 24132
Kansas 23313 23519 24421 22467 22699 23780
Kentucky 5712 6074 6080 5552 5879 5890
Louisiana 3024 3088 3055 2949 3034 3012
Maine 228 226 238 221 218 228
Maryland 1556 1554 1537 1346 1306 1322
Massachusetts 65 74 69 62 72 66
Michigan 5552 6359 6377 5347 6250 6245
Minnesota 18350 19354 19471 17834 18978 19031
Mississippi 3822 4009 4238 3720 3939 4130
Missouri 12827 13408 13644 12367 13141 13299
Montana 9981 9920 9334 9381 9584 7948
Nebraska 19177 19780 19810 18778 19471 19453
Nevada 450 333 355 447 333 354
New Hampshire 61 55 55 60 54 53
New Jersey 282 305 299 272 296 290
New Mexico 833 745 775 550 498 468
New York 2591 2616 2754 2504 2549 2674
North Carolina 4400 4322 4399 4273 4119 4228
North Dakota 23223 20905 24085 21243 20315 22794
Ohio 8595 9945 9945 8340 9785 9785
Oklahoma 9390 9196 9553 7386 7035 7674
Oregon 1913 1920 1813 1881 1875 1769
Pennsylvania 3686 4042 3740 3495 3787 3384
Rhode Island 7 7 9 7 7 9
South Carolina 1428 1400 1477 1358 1344 1426
South Dakota 13816 15531 16693 13214 15134 15956
Tennessee 4836 4851 4963 4716 4736 4833
Texas 21516 21876 22796 16597 14598 17540
Utah 908 946 867 888 921 843
Vermont 241 252 245 237 247 237
Virginia 2609 2636 2505 2474 2490 2356
Washington 3560 3681 3720 3487 3603 3600
West Virginia 567 591 569 565 590 567
Wisconsin 7625 8110 8149 7068 7608 7632
Wyoming 1504 1433 1280 1456 1370 1242
United States 1/ 303073 310407 317163 284712 291487 298695

For the complete “Crop Production Summary” report, go to:

https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/k3569432s

The “Crop Production Summary” and all other NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov

NASS is the federal statistical agency responsible for producing official data about U.S. agriculture and is committed to providing

timely, accurate and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture.

Source: USDA, NASS. Northeastern Regional Field Office. Harrisburg, PA. 1.13.2021