Drastically Lower Grape Yields Predicted for Some Midwest States

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has released its first estimate of the United States grape harvest yield in its August Crop Production report.  Despite this year’s frosts that struck many states and the ongoing drought the overall US grape production estimate is only 1% less than last year’s at 7.30 million tons. However, 90% of this harvest forecast figure is for California where grape production went up compared to last year by nearly 10%. Many Midwest states are not included in the estimate. For those that are mentioned, all the harvest forecasts are down on last year, some drastically and worse than expected by winemakers and experts previously consulted by Midwest Wine Press. While Missouri’s crop is forecast to be only 2% less than last year’s, Michigan’s is predicted to be 60% down and Ohio’s grape harvest is forecast at 50% lower than 2011. For more, see page 25 of the full report: http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProd/CropProd-08-10-2012.pdf

United States grape production for 2012 is forecast at 7.30 million tons, down 1 percent from last year