KANSAS CITY — Growers in 2021 intend to seed more area to wheat than in 2020, though it would be the fourth-smallest all-wheat planted area since records began in 1919.

All-wheat planted area was projected at 46,358,000 acres, up 5% from 44,349,000 acres seeded in 2020, up 1% from 46 million acres as projected by the USDA at its annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in February, and down 1% from the average of the past five years.

Area planted to spring wheat other than durum was projected at 11,740,000 acres, down 4% from 12,250,000 acres in 2020, and down 3% from the 2016-20 average. The total projection included about 10.9 million acres expected to be planted to hard red spring wheat. For the top other spring wheat production states, acreage compared with 2020 was projected to be down 3% in Minnesota, down 12% in Montana, and down 2% in North Dakota.

Durum planted area was forecast at 1,540,000 acres, down 9% from 1,684,000 acres in 2020. In the top two production states, durum acres were forecast to rise 3% in Montana and decrease 18% in North Dakota, both compared with 2020. Durum acres were estimated up 2% in Arizona but down 17% in California.

Winter wheat planted for harvest in 2021 was estimated at 33,078,000 acres. The total was up 3% from the USDA’s January estimate, up 9% from 30,415,000 acres in 2020 and up 1% from the 2016-20 average. Of the total, hard red winter area was estimated at about 23.2 million acres, soft red winter at 6.42 million acres and white winter at 3.48 million acres.

The top hard red winter wheat production state, Kansas, was expected to seed 7,300,000 acres to winter wheat in 2021, up 11% from 2020.