Corn, wheat, soybeans top area crops

By Staff Report | Suffolk News-Herald

Published Monday, November 2, 2009

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has announced the state’s top 20 agricultural commodities for the 2008 production year.

“This list shows the tremendous diversity of Virginia agriculture, which is just one of the reasons our products are in such demand in the global marketplace,” said Todd P. Haymore, VDACS Commissioner. “Most of the powerhouse commodities have retained their top rankings, but there are some changes and one newcomer to the list, wine grapes.”

One of the biggest changes from 2007 was the movement of winter wheat. In 2007, the value of the wheat crop was not quite $65 million and it placed 12th in the rankings. In 2008, the value more than doubled, and the crop leaped from No. 12 to No. 7.

Broilers, Virginia’s top commodity for several years, retained their first-place ranking and increased in value from almost $559 million in 2007 to more than $563 million in 2008.

Other changes include the flip-flopping of corn for grain and soybeans. In 2007 soybeans ranked No. 6 and corn for grain No. 8. In 2008, they switched spots. While the acreage of corn was down in 2008 from 2007, there was a significant increase in yield between the years. Average yield in 2008 was 108 bushels per acres, compared to 86 bushels per acre in 2007. Also, the yearly average price was higher in 2008 at $4.50 per bushel, versus $4.39 a year earlier.

“Despite a global recession and the pressures that growers faced with high input costs, we had a good year in 2008,” Haymore said.

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