NASS Highlights 2019 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey - Wheat

NASS Highlights

•

May 2020

No. 2020-5

2019 AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL USE SURVEY

AGRICULTURAL
Wheat USE
CHEMICAL
Eighteen states . . .

The 2019 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey of wheat producers collected
data about fertilizer and pesticide use as well as pest management practices
in growing wheat. NASS conducted the survey in 18 states that together
accounted for 91 percent of the 45.1 million acres planted to wheat in the
United States in 2019, including 87 percent of winter wheat acres, 100 percent
of spring wheat
Fig. 1. States in the 2019 Wheat Chemical Use Survey
and 99.6 percent
of durum wheat
acres. (Fig. 1 and
box on p. 2)
The data are for
the 2019 crop
year, the one-year
period beginning
Winter Wheat
after the 2018
Spring* Wheat
harvest and
Spring* & Winter Wheat
ending after the
Durum Wheat
Durum, Spring* & Winter Wheat
*Spring wheat does not include durum.
2019 harvest.

AGRICULTURAL
CHEMICAL USE

. . . accounted for 91 percent
of the 45.1 million U.S. acres
planted to wheat in 2019.

About the Survey
The Agricultural Chemical Use
Program of USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
is the federal government’s official
source of statistics about on-farm and
post-harvest commercial fertilizer and
pesticide use and pest management
practices. NASS conducts field crop
agricultural chemical use surveys in
cooperation with USDA’s Economic
Research Service as part of the
Agricultural Resource Management
Survey. NASS conducted the wheat
chemical use survey in the fall of 2019.

Access the Data
Access 2019 and earlier wheat
chemical use data through the
Quick Stats database
(http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov).
• In Program, select “Survey”
• In Sector, select “Environmental”
• In Group, select “Field Crops”
• In Commodity, select “Wheat”
• Select your category, data item,
geographic level, and year
For pre-defined Quick Stats queries,
go to http://bit.ly/AgChem and click
“Data Tables” under the 2019 Barley,
Cotton, Sorghum, and Wheat heading.
For methodology information, click
“Methodology.”

Fertilizer Use
Fertilizer
refers to a soilenriching input
that contains
one or more
plant nutrients,
primarily nitrogen
(N), phosphate
(P₂O₅), and potash
(K₂O). For the 2019
crop year, farmers
applied nitrogen
to nearly all acres
planted to spring
and durum wheat.
(Table 1)

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

Table 1. Fertilizer Applied to Wheat Planted Acres, 2019 Crop Year

Winter
Nitrogen (N)
Phosphate (P2O5)
Potash (K2O)
Spring (excl durum)
Nitrogen (N)
Phosphate (P2O5)
Potash (K2O)
Durum
Nitrogen (N)
Phosphate (P2O5)
Potash (K2O)
a

% of
Acres with
Nutrient ª

Avg. Rate
for Year
(lbs/acre)

Total
Applied
(mil lbs)

88
63
15

73
31
46

1,734.4
531.3
187.2

97
89
31

102
39
25

1,246.6
437.3
96.6

98
84
11

83
29
11

108.8
32.9
1.7

Acres with multiple nutrients are counted in each category.

www.nass.usda.gov

Pesticide Use

categories. Table 3 shows the most widely used practice
in each category.

In the surveyed states, farmers used 87 different pesticide
active ingredients on winter wheat acres, 63 different
ingredients on spring (excl durum) wheat acres, and 52
on durum wheat acres. These pesticide active ingredients
are classified as herbicides (targeting weeds), insecticides
(targeting insects), fungicides (targeting fungal disease),
and other. Herbicides were used most extensively, with
application to 66 percent of winter wheat planted acres,
97 percent of spring (excl durum) wheat acres, and 96
percent of durum wheat acres. (Fig. 2) Table 2 shows the
most widely applied herbicides for each wheat type.

Table 3. Top Practice in Pest Management Category, 2019
(% of wheat planted acres)

Fig. 2. Pesticides Applied to Wheat Planted Acres, 2019 Crop Year
(% of planted acres)

Winter

Prevention: Used no-till or minimum till
Avoidance: Rotated crops during past three years
Monitoring: Scouted for weeds (deliberately, or by
general observations while performing tasks)
Suppression: Maintained ground covers, mulches,
or other physical barriers
Suppression: Used pesticides with different
mechanisms of action
*Excluding durum.

Herbicides

66

Fungicides

22

Insecticides

8

97

Spring
(excl
durum)

46
8
96

Durum

• Prevention practices involve actions to keep a pest
population from infesting a crop or field.
• Avoidance practices use cultural measures to
mitigate or eliminate the detrimental effects of
pests.
• Monitoring practices observe or detect pests by
systematic sampling, counting, or other forms of
scouting.
• Suppression practices involve controlling or reducing
existing pest populations to mitigate crop damage.

Winter Spring* Durum
55
67
83
63
91
95
88

97

98

45

56

68

56

35

Surveyed States: Acres of Wheat Planted, 2019

2

Winter
U.S. Total (thousands of acres)

Table 2. Top Herbicides Applied to Wheat Planted Acres,
2019 Crop Year
Active
Ingredient

% of
Acres with
Ingredient ª

Avg. Rate
for Year
(lbs/acre)

Winter
2,4-D; 2-EHE
20
0.540
Metsulfuron-methyl
20
0.003
Spring
Fluroxypyr 1-MHE
46
0.089
Bromoxynil octanoate
37
0.155
Durum
Glyphosate isopropylamine salt
46
0.555
Bromoxynil octanoate
39
0.210
a
Acres with multiple ingredients are counted in each category.
b
Expressed in acid equivalent.

Total
Applied
(lbs)
2,924,000
16,000

b

526,000
721,000
339,000
108,000

Pest Management Practices
The survey asked growers to report on the practices
they used to manage pests, defined as weeds, insects,
or diseases. Wheat growers reported practices in four

b

Arizona
California
Colorado
Idaho
Illinois
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Dakota
Texas
Washington
Total, Surveyed States
(percent of U.S. Total)
Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Spring*

31,159.0 12,660.0
(percent of total)
6.9
2.3
2.1
22.1
1.7
1.8
6.4
3.4
0.3
1.6
13.5
2.4
2.8
14.4
5.6
87.4
(15 states)

Durum
1,334.0
2.5
2.2

3.6

11.5
22.9

41.2

52.9

54.0

5.1
4.0
100.0
(6 states)

99.6
(4 states)

*Excluding durum.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
www.nass.usda.gov