Record low harvested acreage combined with lower crop ratings pushed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s winter wheat production estimate downward. All winter wheat production is forecast at 1.19 billion bushels, a 6 percent decline from 2017. As of May 1, the U.S. yield forecast of 48.1 bushels per acre is 2.1 bushels less than a year ago. The expected harvested area of 24.8 million acres is down 2 percent from last year and a record low. Hard red winter harvested acreage is down 5 percent from the previous year. Soft red winter harvested acreage is expected to be up 4% from last year.