March 28, 2024

Record winter wheat yields in Illinois, Indiana: USDA

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated record average wheat yields in Illinois and Indiana in the small grains summary released Sept. 30.

Illinois’ winter wheat is projected to average a record 79 bushels per acre, 11 bushels above 2020 and 3 bushels above the previous record set in 2017.

Prairie State production is anticipated to reach 48.19 million bushels, a 36% increase from the previous year’s 35.36 million bushels. The harvested area in 2021 is estimated at 610,000 acres, compared to 520,000 acres a year ago.

The USDA estimates a statewide winter wheat record average of 85 bushels per acre in Indiana, a 15-bushel jump from 2020. The previous record of 81 bushels per acre was set in 2016.

Indiana’s total production is projected at 22.95 million bushels from 270,000 harvested acres. Indiana had 250,000 harvested winter wheat acres and production of 17.5 million bushels in 2020.

Nationwide

All wheat production totaled 1.65 billion bushels in 2021, down 10% from the 2020 total of 1.83 billion bushels. Area harvested for grain totaled 37.2 million acres, a 1% increase from the previous year.

The U.S. all wheat yield was estimated at 44.3 bushels per acre, down 5.4 bushels from the previous year.

U.S. winter wheat production for 2021 totaled 1.28 billion bushels, up 9% from the revised 2020 total of 1.17 billion bushels. The nationwide yield of 50.2 bushels per acre is 0.7 bushels lower than in 2020. Area harvested for grain was estimated at 25.5 million acres, an 11% increase from the previous year.

Tom Doran

Tom C. Doran

Field Editor