NASS updates for pulses, peanuts, rice, sorghum and sugar show mixed results

NASS made a series of smaller but consequential revisions across specialty crops. Anthony Krillman said chickpea planted and harvested area were lowered and production is expected to fall nearly 15% from last year; lentil acreage was lowered more than 16% with production forecast down about 23%. Dry edible peas were raised more than 8% versus the prior estimate with production up roughly 13% from 2025. Peanuts showed a small acreage decrease and production near 5,270,000,000 pounds, down 2.8% from the previous forecast and down 26.6% from last year.

Rice planted and harvested area were lowered slightly and are down about 25% from last season; rice yield was reported at 7,690 pounds per acre and production was down about 23.5% year-over-year. Krillman also released the first forecast for 2027 California navel oranges: 1,680,000 tons (42,000,000 boxes), up 2.4% from the prior season.