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