Bill Young, OSU professor emeritus and extension agronomist in seed production, has recently updated Oregon’s grass and forage legume seed crop production statistics for the 2013 crop year. This report provides a wealth of useful information about quantity of seed produced, crop yields, and economic value of these seed crops in Oregon.

Here is a summary of the findings from Dr. Young:

In brief, the combined value for all grass and legume seed crops in the 2012-13 crop year ($461,693,000) increased 13.6% over the value of production in 2011-12. Oregon growers harvested 415,916 acres of grass seed crops in 2013, an increase of just 7,916 acres (+1.9%) over last year. However, the estimated value of all grass seed species increased by 12.7% due to the improved prices received by grower.  Legume seed crop acreage declined slightly (-1.6%) from the 2011-12 crop year, but the $44,067,000 value marked a new high for this industry.  Further details are examined in Dr. Young’s “Narrative Discussion” and its accompanying tables.

Here is a link to the report on OSU’s Seed Crops page:

2013 Grass and Legume Seed Crop Estimates

You can follow the links on the Seed Crops page to find information about this past year’s seed crops and comparisons to previous crop years. Historical reports are also archived at this page.