CROPS REVIEW 



The preliminary estimate of value of production in 1979 from corn silage, hay, tobacco and potatoes 

 totaled $52.3 million. Hay, at $20.0 million was the largest component of the total. Corn silage, at 

 $16.6 million, was second, followed by tobacco, at $10.8 million and potatoes at $4.9 million. 

 CORN SILAGE : 



Corn silage reached a record high production of 663,000 tons in 1979, slightly higher than the 660,000 

 tons produced the preceding year. Corn for silage was cut from 39,000 acres, with a yield of 17 tons per 

 acre, equalling the record high yield set in 1969. 

 HAY: 



Production of all hay in 1979 totaled 278,000 tons, a 6 percent increase from 1978. This hay was cut 

 from 115,000 acres yielding an average of 2.4 tons each. Alfalfa hay, cut from 26,000 acres, yielded 

 2.9 tons per acre, and totaled 75,000 tons, up 10 percent from the amount produced in 1978. Hay, other 

 than alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, totaled 203,000 tons, an increase of 5 percent from 1978. Yield of 

 other hay averaged 2.25 tons per acre in 1979, compared with 2.15 in 1978. 

 POTATOES: 



Potato production during 1979, at 748,000 hundredweight, was 8 percent less than in 1978, and placed 

 Massachusetts 22nd in the production of fall potatoes. Harvested acreage of potatoes totaled 3,400 in 

 1979, continuing a decline which began in the 1890's, from a level above 30,000 acres. Yield per acre, at 

 220 hundredweight, was slightly below the record high of 240 set in 1977. The value of production totaled 

 $4.7 million or an average of $6.50 per hundredweight, 5 percent less than the previous year's total value 

 of $5.1 mill ion. 

 TOBACCO : 



Shade tobacco production in the Commonwealth totaled 1,078,000 pounds in 1979, 4 percent less than 

 1978 production. Area harvested totaled 770 acres, down 10 percent from 1978. Yield v/as 1,400 pounds per 

 acre, compared with 1,300 pounds the preceding year. Acres harvested, at 770 in 1979, continues a decline 

 from the peak of 2,500 acres in 1965. At an average price of $8.50 per pound, the value of the crop 

 totaled over $9 million, an increase of 9 percent from the 1978 value. 



Havana seed tobacco production was estimated at 814,000 pounds in 1979, compared with 340,000 pounds 

 in 1978. Yield, at 1,850 pounds per acre, was down from the previous year average of 2,000. 



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