UNITED STATES (18 September)
The 2003 wheat harvest was virtually complete by the first week of September, with the last of the spring wheat crops being gathered in late August. The aggregate wheat output for the year was officially estimated at 62.4 million tonnes in September, unchanged from a month earlier, which is 42 percent higher than in 2002. As of mid-September, it was reported that about 16 percent of next year's winter wheat crop had been planted, which was on pace with last year, but a bit ahead of the five-year average. The 2003 coarse-grain output is also forecast to rebound from last year’s drought-reduced level to about 276 million tonnes, which would be about 13 percent up from last year. The latest forecasts for maize and sorghum are slightly down from earlier expectations following hot and dry weather across much of the Great Plains and the northern Corn Belt during most of August. The forecast for 2003 paddy rice production remains at around 9 million tonnes, 8 percent down from the previous year.