Source: USDA'S NASS NC FIELD OFFICE, 2/11/19


"The 2018 hurricane season had a significant impact on NC farmers. All major crop commodities experienced large drops in production as compared to last year.” said Dee Webb, North Carolina State Statistician. “We know this has been a very stressful season for NC farmers and we want to thank them again for taking time to complete USDA/NASS surveys. Their voice and participation ensured quality data could be published and allowed everyone to better understand the impact of the 2018 hurricane season had on the NC farming industry.”

Corn for Grain
• North Carolina farmers harvested 830,000 acres of corn for grain in 2018, down 10,000 acres from 2017. • Yield averaged 113 bushels per acre, down 29 bushels from the record 142 bushels averaged in 2017. • Production at 93.8 million bushels was 21% lower than the 2017 total of 119.3 million.

Cotton • Cotton acres harvested in 2018 totaled 410,000, up 43,000 acres from the 367,000 harvested in 2017. • Yield averaged 820 pounds per acre, down 149 pounds per acre from last year. • Production at 700,000 bales was down 6% from the 741,000 bales produced in 2017.

Peanuts • North Carolina farmers harvested 98,000 acres of peanuts in 2018, 19,000 acres less than the 117,000 acres harvested in 2017. • Yield per acre at 3,900 pounds was down 200 pounds from the 2017 estimate. • Production at 382.2 million pounds was down 20% from 479.7 million pounds of peanuts produced in 2017.

Soybeans • Soybean acres harvested in 2018 totaled 1.57 million. This was down 12,000 acres from the 1.69 million acres harvested in 2017. • Yield averaged 34 bushels per acre. 6 bushels below the 2017 record of 40 bushels per acre. • Production totaled 53.4 million bushels, down 21% from last year’s production of 67.6 million bushels.

Sweet Potatoes • North Carolina farmers harvested 78,500 acres of sweet potatoes in 2018, down 11,000 acres from 2017. • Yield averaged 140 cwt. per acre, down 80 cwt. from 2017 record of 220 cwt. per acre. • Production at 11 million cwt. was down 44% from last year’s production of 19.7 million cwt.

Tobacco • North Carolina farmers harvested 152,800 acres of tobacco in 2018, down 11,100 acres from last year. • Burley tobacco yield averaged 1,500 pounds per acre while Flue-Cured tobacco yield averaged 1,650 pounds per acre. • Production was down 30% for flue-cured tobacco at 250.8 million pounds and down 22% for burley tobacco at 1.1 million pounds.

For the full report, click here.