Ag Report
Released: January 14, 2000
Volume 00-01
 
                            Featured Statistics:
     Annual Crop Summary, 1999, Rice and Grain Stocks Storage Capacity,
           Hogs and Pigs, Cotton Ginnings, U.S. Sawtimber Prices,
                     Ag. Output, Expenses, and Income,
        U.S. Crop Area, Planted Acres, U.S. Farm Production Expenses
                             Price Highlights
  
                    Message from the State Statistician

This issue is the first issue of the year 2000 and, like everyone else, we
are trying to enhance our product. You will notice this issue contains
twice as many pages. We plan to continue with 8 pages for the foreseeable
future and will present a wider array of statistical information.

Some additional statistics will come from other government agencies that we
believe you will find useful. We also intend to include more graphs.

Several have asked for a better index to our Ag Reports on the Internet. We
have met that need with a new icon on our web site that links to the latest
official estimates for Mississippi. We are committed to updating those
tables within 4 hours of official release time in Washington, D.C. In most
cases we will update those tables far sooner.

You need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the tables, but instructions for
installing that reader are available on our web site. In addition to the
official estimates, you'll find the date we expect to post revised
estimates.

Another new feature on the web site is a procedure that allows you to
download estimates to load into a spreadsheet or data base on your personal
computer. You can select a commodity, identify the years for which you want
statistics and download a comma separated data file.

The web site is the best way for users to obtain statistics. The address is
www.usda.gov/ms/. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.

                   Mississippi Annual Crop Summary-1999

Mississippi Soybean production in 1999 amounted to 44.7 million bushels,
down 7 percent from 1998. Yield per acre, at 23.5 bushels, is down 0.5
bushels per acre from 1998. Producers harvested 1.90 million acres for
beans, a decrease of 5 percent from 1998. Corn production for grain is
estimated at 36.3 million bushels, down 16 percent from a year earlier.
Corn yield is estimated at a record high 117.0 bushels per acre compared to
last year's yield of 86.0 bushels per acre. There were 310,000 acres
harvested for grain, down 38 percent from 1998. Corn for silage production
amounted to 325,000 tons. The estimated corn silage yield was 13 tons per
acre, compared to 8 tons per acre in 1998.

Rice production amounted to 18.3 million hundredweight, up 17 percent from
1998. Yield per acre, at 5,650 pounds, is down 150 pounds per acre from
last year. Producers harvested 323,000 acres, an increase of 21 percent
from 1998. Cotton production, as of January 1, 2000, is forecast at 1.74
million bales, up 20 percent from 1998 and unchanged from the December 1,
forecast. The average yield per acre is forecast at 708 pounds per acre,
down 29 pounds from the previous year. Acreage harvested, at 1.18 million
acres, is up 26 percent from 1998. Winter Wheat seeded for 2000 is
estimated at 210,000 acres, up 17 percent from last year, and up 31 percent
from 1998.

           Mississippi Crop Acreage, Yield, and Production, 1998 and 1999

                                       Area
                      Area Planted   Harvested     Yield         Production
   Crop          Unit                
                      1998   1999   1998   1999  1998    1999   1998     1999

                             1,000 Acres                        1,000 Units
 Soybeans         bu  2,050   1,950 2,000  1,900  24.0   23.5  48,000   44,650
 All Cotton 1/ 3/ bale  950   1,200   940  1,180   737  708/4   1,444  1,740/4
  Cottonseed 2/   ton                                             561      676
  Rice, All 3/    cwt   270     325   268    323 5,800  5,650  15,544   18,250
 Sorghum, All            40      40
     Grain        bu                   36     56  65.0   87.0*  2,340    4,872
     Silage       ton                   3      3   8.0    9.0     24        27
 Corn, All              550     340
     Grain        bu                  500    310  86.0  117.0* 43,000   36,270
     Silage       ton                  30     25   8.0   13.0     240      325
 Hay, All         ton                 790    850   2.2    1.9   1,738    1,615
 Wheat, All       bu    160     180   150    165  45.0   50.0*  6,750    8,250
 Sweetpotatoes    cwt   9.8    10.5   9.7   10.3 140.0  140.0   1,358    1,442
 
*  Record high.
1/ Production ginned and to be ginned. 480-lb. net weight bales.
2/ Estimates based on 3-year average lint-seed ratio.
3/ Yield in pounds per acre.
4/ Production and yield forecast.

                                Rice Stocks

Mississippi: Rough rice stocks in all positions on December 1, 1999,
totaled 11.4 million hundredweight, up 30 percent from December 1, 1998.

United States: Rough rice stocks in all positions on December 1, 1999,
totaled 140 million hundredweight, up 16 percent from the total on December
1, 1998. Stocks held on farms totaled 50.8 million hundredweight and
off-farm stocks totaled 89.2 million hundredweight. Long grain varieties
accounted for 70 percent of the total rough rice; medium grain, 28 percent;
and short grain varieties, 2 percent.

Milled rice stocks on December 1, 1999, totaled 4.59 million hundredweight,
down 15 percent from a year ago. Milled rice stocks were comprised of 3.57
million hundredweight of whole kernel rice and 1.02 million hundredweight
of second heads, screenings, and brewers rice.

December 1, 1998-1999 Stocks of Grain in All Positions, Mississippi and U.S.
 
                           1998                             1999
    Crop          On        Off    Total All     On          Off    Total All
                Farms     Farms1   Positions    Farms      Farms1   Positions
 Mississippi                         1,000 Bushels
 Wheat, All          *          *          *          *          *          *
 Corn                *     11,757          *          *     10,875          *
 Oats                           *          *                     *          *
 Sorghum             *        460          *          *          *          *
 Soybeans            *     17,046          *          *     18,184          *
 United
 Wheat, All     680,200  1,215,481  1,895,681   648,800  1,230,184  1,878,984
 Corn         5,320,000  2,731,846  8,051,846 5,180,000  2,839,860  8,019,860
 Oats            81,500     61,835    143,335    82,100     53,973    136,073
 Sorghum         95,900    239,416    335,316    89,300    259,264    348,564
 Soybeans     1,187,000    999,440  2,186,440 1,150,000  1,032,192  2,182,192
 
* "Off farms unallocated" includes state data not published to avoid disclosure
   of individual operations; "On farms unallocated" includes minor producing
   states' data not published separately.
1/ Includes stocks at mills, elevators, warehouses, terminals, and processors.

                           Grain Storage Capacity

Mississippi had 87 off-farm storage facilities on December 1, 1999, with a
capacity of 60.5 million bushels, down 1 percent from December 1, 1998.
On-farm storage capacity was estimated at 60.0 million bushels, unchanged
from December 1, 1998.

At the U.S. level, there were 9,995 off-farm facilities on December 1,
1999, with a capacity of 8.09 billion bushels, down 3 percent from December
1, 1998. On-farm storage capacity in the U.S. was estimated at 11.2 billion
bushels, up slightly from December 1, 1998.

                               Hogs and Pigs

Mississippi's inventory of hogs and pigs was estimated at 280,000 head on
December 1, 1999, up 2 percent from a year earlier and 27 percent above
December 1, 1997. The number kept for breeding hogs, at 26,000, was 13
percent below a year ago and 7 percent below two years ago. Market hogs, at
254,000 head, were 4 percent above a year ago and 32 percent above 1997.
Mississippi's pig crop for 1999 totaled 522,000 head, the same as a year
earlier. Sows farrowing during 1999 totaled 57,500 head, 3 percent below
1998. Pigs per litter averaged 9.08 during the year compared with 8.86
during 1998.

   All Hogs and Pigs: Number on Farms and Operations with Hogs, Selected
                              States and U.S.

                       On Hand December 1, 1999
                                Market Hogs by Weight Groups          Number of
                                                                     Operations
  State                                                               with Hogs
                Total Breeding  Market Under 60  60-119 120-179   180   during
                                         Pounds   Pounds  Pounds Pounds  1999
                                                                 & Over
                                          1,000 Head                   Number
 Alabama          175      15     160        51      38      35    36     500
 Arkansas         710     110     600       210     140     140   110    1100
 Louisiana         29       4      25         9       7       4     5     600
 Mississipp       280      26     254        45      71      70    68   1,800
 Tennessee        250      30     220        70      60      40    50   1,700
 Texas            870      80     790       280     190     160   160   4,600
 United States 59,407   6,244  53,164    19,298  13,106  11,073 9,687  98,460
 

       Cotton Ginnings: Running Bales Ginned (Excluding Linters) Prior to
     December 15, Selected States, and United States, Crop Years 1996-1999

                                     Running Bales Ginned
         State
                          1996         1997        1998         1999
   All Cotton
       Alabama            712,100     468,900      524,600     595,550
       Arizona            666,350     615,350      410,550     509,350
       Arkansas         1,570,100   1,611,550    1,172,250   1,388,400
       California       2,302,800   2,398,350    1,281,900   1,793,100
       Florida            114,050     102,400       64,450     104,450
       Georgia          1,873,250   1,546,900    1,350,850   1,392,400
       Louisiana        1,291,750   1,000,950      652,350     918,600
       Mississippi      1,813,600   1,757,100    1,393,000   1,678,800
       Missouri           551,900     545,500      337,500     450,500
       New Mexico          80,350      67,600       55,200      54,350
       North Carolina     886,000     825,700    1,001,000     718,600
       Oklahoma            85,350     162,650      122,900     116,600
       South Carolina     416,900     356,350      326,600     249,400
       Tennessee          658,200     641,450      529,500     573,850
       Texas            3,373,750   4,434,000    3,202,200   4,257,950
       Virginia           131,300     127,650      133,550     125,900
   United States       16,527,750  16,662,400   12,558,400  14,927,800

            U.S. Average Stumpage Price for Sawtimber Sold from
               National Forests, by Selected Species, 1988-97

                                     Western All Eastern Oak, White,
       Dougulas- Southern Ponderosa   Hem-      Hard-     Red and      Maple
 Year   Fir/1     Pine/2   Pine/3    lock/4    woods/5    Black/5     Sugar/6
                                              

                           Dollars per 1,000 bd. ft.
 1988   256.00   141.90    182.10    162.90    151.30      146.30       108.40
 1989   389.80   131.40    292.00    223.30    135.80      178.90       128.60
 1990   466.40   126.70    252.20    203.00    146.10      188.30       135.30
 1991   395.00   166.10    237.60    164.10    160.10      163.60       120.70
 1992   477.20   198.40    292.30    164.60    166.60      211.20       144.60
 1993   317.75   217.21    535.17    363.66    264.06      194.57       219.52
 1994   652.36   265.85    291.35    334.80    352.07      317.40       313.37
 1995   453.54   248.49    149.94    297.09    313.92      296.59       285.57
 1996   453.04   251.05    269.97    289.30    312.57      264.44       213.20
 1997   331.40   307.30    270.20    211.30    286.88      264.50       357.12

1/  Western Washington and western Oregon.
2/  Southern region.
3/  Pacific Southwest region. Includes Jeffrey pine.
4/  Pacific Northwest region.
5/  Eastern and Southern regions.
6/  Eastern region.

                    Crop Area, United States, 1989 - 99

              Principal Crops                                 
                                                 Commercial    Fruits and  
           Area Harvested                Area    Vegetables,    Planted     
 Year  Feed      Food                   Planted   Harvested       Nuts,
      Grains/1  Grains/2    Total/3     Total/3   Area/4     Bearing Area                 
                      
                           1,000 acres
             
 1990  89,517    72,301      307,768/5  326,337/5     2,671.5      3,504.7                    
 1991  91,921    60,979        303,499    325,517     2,643.8      3,486.4
 1992  95,908    66,284        306,750    326,579     3,323.2      3,586.6
 1993  82,405    65,926        295,690    319,717     3,260.2      3,677.0
 1994  92,071    65,493        308,245    324,053     3,531.9      3,748.4
 1995  82,694    64,433        301,778    318,735     3,432.3      3,825.6
 1996  93,817    65,968        313,549    334,049     3,371.8      3,919.2
 1997  90,840    66,259        318,293    332,743     3,272.7      4,003.7
 1998  88,931    62,737        311,545    330,043     3,299.8      3,954.1
 1999  86,292    57,854        313,645    328,784       ---          ---

---  Data not available
1/   Corn for grain, oats, barley and sorghum.
2/   Wheat, rye and rice.
3/   Crops included are corn, sorghum, oats, barley, winter wheat, durum
     wheat, other spring wheat, rye, rice, soybeans, peanuts, sunflower, 
     cotton, dry edible beans, potatoes, canola, proso millet, and sugarbeets.
     Harvested acreage for all hay, tobacco, and sugarcane are used in 
     computing total area planted. Includes double cropped acres and 
     unharvested small grains planted as cover crops.
4/   Area Harvested includes area for processing and fresh market,
     including any partially harvested or not harvested because of low prices
     or other economic factor.
5/   Excludes canola.

            Farm Production Expenses, United States, 1990 - 97 1/

              Item                      1990       1991       1992      1993
                                             Million dollars
 Total Production Expenses            153,302.1 153,279.3  152,940.4  160,506.0
    Feed Purchased                     20,387.8  19,332.8   20,133.0   21,431.2
    Livestock and Poultry Purchased    14,641.5  14,129.1   13,574.2   14,600.5
    Seeds Purchased                     4,517.8   5,113.3    4,913.4    5,162.9
    Fertilizer and Lime                 8,206.3   8,666.1    8,330.7    8,397.5
    Pesticides                          5,363.2   6,320.5    6,470.6    6,723.3
    Fuel and Oil                        5,789.7   5,607.5    5,298.4    5,349.8
    Other 1/                           32,798.8  34,170.2   33,463.5   37,485.3
    Interest                           13,437.2  12,119.1   11,137.5   10,821.5
    Contract and Hired Labor Expenses  14,118.8  13,902.8   14,008.1   15,004.0
    Net Rent to 
    Non-Operator Landlord 2/           10,047.5   9,913.3   11,177.5   10,999.7
    Capital Consumption                18,131.6  18,190.0   18,317.0   18,353.3
    Property Taxes                      5,861.9   5,814.7    6,117.0    6,177.0

              Item                      1994       1995       1996      1997
                                             Million dollars
 Total Production Expenses            167,503.5 174,119.9  182,439.3  188,443.2
    Feed Purchased                     22,631.2  23,829.3   25,234.2   25,231.6
    Livestock and Poultry Purchased    13,273.4  12,335.3   11,228.7   13,753.0
    Seed Purchased                      5,373.1   5,461.7    6,212.0    6,710.8
    Fertilizer and Lime                 9,179.7  10,032.8   10,934.0   10,933.4
    Pesticides                          7,225.0   7,726.5    8,526.3    8,827.3
    Fuel and Oil                        5,312.0   5,427.4    6,018.7    6,223.2
    Other 1/                           40,518.6  42,681.2   42,991.5   44,738.0
    Interest                           11,735.2  12,726.4   13,220.7   13,677.5
    Contract and Hired Labor Expenses  15,311.1  16,289.8   17,535.1   18,606.3
    Net rent to Non-Operator           11,774.3  11,799.5   14,300.6   13,243.3
    Landlord 2/
    Capital Consumption                18,694.9  19,098.8   19,419.1   19,520.2
    Property Taxes                      6,475.0   6,711.2    6,818.7    6,978.7

1/  Includes electricity, repair and maintenance, machine hire and
    customwork, marketing, storage and transportation, and miscellaneous
    expenses.
2/  Includes landlord capital consumption.
    Source: ERS, Farm Structure and Performance Branch, (202 694-5560.
    E-mail contact is rogers@econ.ag.gov.

                   Mississippi and U.S. Price Highlights

                              December 1998  November 1999  December 1999
       Commodity        Unit   Entire Month   Entire Month     Mid-Month
                                 MS    U.S.     MS    U.S.     MS     U.S.

 Corn                    bu       ---   2.00     ---   1.70     ---     1.72
 Cotton, Upland          lb      .611   .606    .436   .447  .442/1   .436/1
 Sorghum, Grain          cwt      ---   2.94     ---   2.58     ---     2.60
 Soybeans                bu      5.45   5.37    4.65   4.45    4.36     4.29
 Winter Wheat            bu       ---   2.68     ---   2.42     ---     2.18
 Rice, Rough             cwt      ---   9.06     ---   6.11     ---     6.14
 All Milk                cwt    19.00  18.00   18.20  14.30   14.00    12.40
     Fluid               cwt      ---  18.10   18.20  14.40     ---    12.40
     Manufacturing       cwt      ---  17.40     ---  11.00     ---    10.70
 All Beef Cattle         cwt      ---  56.80     ---  66.20     ---    66.40
     Cows                cwt      ---  30.80     ---  33.60     ---    34.70
     Calves              cwt      ---  80.20     ---  93.00     ---    97.80
     Steers & Heifers    cwt      ---  60.30     ---  70.90     ---    70.80
 All Hogs                cwt      ---  14.70     ---  33.40     ---    35.40
     Barrows & Gilts     cwt      ---  14.80     ---  33.80     ---    35.80
     Sows                cwt      ---  12.10     ---  24.80     ---    25.60
 Broilers, Live          lb      .380   .390    .370   .374     ---   .368/2
 Market Eggs             doz   .750/3 .629/3  .560/3 .490/3    .400     .433

--- Estimates not made.
1/  Based on sales during the first half of the month.
2/  Liveweight equivalent price.
3/  Mid-month price. Includes eggs sold retail by the producer.