WASHINGTON — The National Agricultural Statistics Service of the US Department of Agriculture, in its quarterly Grain Stocks report issued March 31, said stocks of wheat held in all positions in the United States on March 1 totaled 1,314,269,000 bus, down 101,145,000 bus, or 7%, from 1,415,414,000 bus as the wheat inventory on March 1 2020. It was the smallest March 1 wheat holdings since 1,140,000,000 bus in 2015 and compared with the five-year average all-wheat March 1 inventory at 1,507 million bus. The average of pre-report trade estimates for March 1 all-wheat stocks was 1,272 million bus.
Of the March 1 US wheat inventory, 283,920,000 bus, or 22%, was held in storage on farms.
NASS estimated the disappearance of wheat during the December-February quarter at 388,421,000 bus, down 36,940,000 bus, or 9%, from 425,361,000 bus in the third quarter of 2019-20. Disappearance in the first nine months of 2020-21 totaled 1,539,835,000 bus, down 56,529,000 bus, or 4%, from 1,596,364,000 bus in June-February of 2019-20.
The largest regional March 1 wheat inventory was held in the hard red winter wheat states of the Southwest — Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Southwest wheat stocks totaled 503,157,000 bus, down 69,380,000 bus, or 12%, from 572,537,000 bus on March 1, 2020. The Southwest inventory comprised 38% of all US wheat stocks. Only 18,500,000 bus, or 4%, of all stocks in the region was held on farms.
December-February wheat usage in the Southwest totaled 90,531,000 bus, down 46,058,000 bus, or 34%, from 136,589,000 bus in the third quarter of 2019-20. June-February disappearance totaled 466,158,000 bus, down 20% from 581,704,000 bus in the first three quarters of 2019-20.
The second-largest March 1 regional wheat inventory was held in the spring wheat states of the Upper Midwest — Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. At 427,954,000 bus, Upper Midwest wheat stocks were down 4,336,000 bus, or 1%, from 432,290,000 bus on March 1, 2020. The Upper Midwest inventory comprised 33% of all US wheat stocks. Wheat stored on farms totaled 221,500,000 bus, or 52% of the region’s total. Upper Midwest on-farm wheat stocks accounted for 78% of all wheat stocks held on American farms.
Wheat disappearance in the Upper Midwest in the third quarter of 2020-21 totaled 142,619,000 bus, down 7,891,000 bus, or 5%, from 150,510,000 bus during the same span in 2019-20. June-February disappearance totaled 569,086,000 bus, up 3% from 552,522,000 bus in the first three quarters of 2019-20.
March 1 wheat stocks in the Central states, the most important region for soft red winter wheat, totaled 94,933,000 bus, down 13% from 109,624,000 bus a year earlier. Only 2% of the region’s stocks, 1,700,000 bus, was held on farms.
December-February wheat disappearance in the Central states totaled 36,512,000 bus, down 5,353,000 bus, or 13%, from 41,865,000 bus in the third quarter of 2019-20. June-February disappearance totaled 128,930,000 bus, down 10% from 142,968,000 bus in the first three quarters of 2019-20.
Wheat stocks held in the Pacific Northwest states — Idaho, Oregon and Washington — on March 1 totaled 181,874,000 bus, up 3,869,000 bus, or 2%, from 178,005,000 bus a year earlier. On-farm stocks at 34,700,000 bus accounted for 19% of the region’s March 1 holdings.
Wheat disappearance in the Pacific Northwest in December-February totaled 87,727,000 bus, up 17,353,000 bus, or 25%, from 70,374,000 bus in the third quarter of 2019-20. June-February disappearance totaled 244,334,000 bus, up 22% from 201,050,000 bus in the first three quarters of 2019-20.
NASS estimated March 1 durum stocks at 42,727,000 bus, down 8,671,000 bus, or 17%, from 51,398,000 bus a year earlier. Fifty-three percent of the March 1 durum inventory, 22,600,000 bus, was held on farms.
December-February durum disappearance was 18,912,000 bus, up 46% from 12,989,000 bus in the same quarter in 2019-20. Durum disappearance in the first three quarters of 2020-21 totaled 68,011,000 bus, up 18% from 57,531,000 bus in June-February 2019-20.