Indiana’s top crops set record average yields

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected record high corn, soybean and winter wheat yields in Indiana, and a top wheat yield in Illinois in the 2023 crop production summary on Jan. 12.

Indiana

USDA set Indiana’s average corn yield at 203 bushels per acre, 13 above 2022 and 8 higher than the previous record set in 2021.

The harvested area for grain of 5.31 million acres is expected to produce nearly 1.078 billion bushels, compared to 974.7 million last year and about 50.3 million over the previous record.

The Hoosier State’s soybeans averaged a record 61 bushels per acre, 1 above the 2021 record and 3.5 bushels higher than last year. An estimated 334.28 million bushels of production is estimated from 5.48 million harvested acres.

Indiana had 5.83 million harvested acres last year for total production of 335.225 million bushels. During the previous record year, the state harvested 338.4 million bushels across 5.64 million acres.

Indiana’s winter wheat averaged a record high 92 bushels per acre, 7 above the previous top mark two years ago and 11 bushels higher than 2022.

Wheat production hit 30.82 million bushels from 335,000 acres. The state harvested 240,000 acres in 2022 and produced 19.44 million bushels.

Illinois

The state’s corn averaged 206 bushels per acre, 8 below the record high set in 2022 and total production of just over 2.276 billion bushels from 11.050 million acres. Illinois had 10.6 million harvested acres in 2022 and total production of over 2.268 billion bushels.

USDA pegged the Prairie State’s average soybean yield at 63 bushels per acre, matching last year’s mark and 2 below 2021.

Soybean production was set at 648.9 million bushels, 28.35 million below 2022. The soybean harvested area was 10.3 million acres, compared to 10.75 million a year ago.

Winter wheat in Illinois averaged a record high of 87 bushels per acre, 8 above the previous high, and produced 67.86 million bushels across 780,000 harvested acres.

Illinois farmers harvested 560,000 wheat acres a year ago, averaging 79 bushels per acre for a total production of 44.24 million bushels.

Iowa

A 201 bushel per acre corn yield was plugged in for Iowa by USDA, 1 higher than last year, total production of 2.523 billion bushels, after harvesting 2.47 billion in 2022. Harvested area totaled 12.55 million acres, 200,000 higher than a year ago.

The state’s soybeans averaged 58 bushels per acre across 9.88 million harvested acres, after averaging 58.5 bushels a year ago from 10.03 million acres. Iowa produced 573.04 million bushels of soybeans, 13.715 million lower than last year.

Nationwide

Corn for grain production in the United States was estimated at a record high 15.3 billion bushels, up 12% from the 2022 estimate.

The nation’s average corn yield was estimated at a record high 177.3 bushels per acre, 3.9 bushels above the 2022 yield of 173.4 bushels per acre, according to USDA.

Corn planted area, at 94.6 million acres, was up 7% from the 2022 estimate. Area harvested for grain was estimated at 86.5 million acres, 10% above up the 2022 estimate.

U.S. soybeans production in 2023 totaled 4.16 billion bushels, 2% lower than 2022. The average yield was estimated at 50.6 bushels per acre, 1 bushel above 2022.

Soybean planted area for the nation, at 83.6 million acres, was down 4% from the 2022 planted acreage. Soybean growers harvested 82.4 million acres, down 4% from 2022.

All wheat production in the United States totaled 1.81 billion bushels in 2023, up 10% from the 2022 total of 1.65 billion bushels.

Area harvested for grain totaled 37.3 million acres, 5% higher than the previous year. The U.S. yield was estimated at 48.6 bushels per acre, up 2.1 bushels from the previous year.

The nation’s winter wheat production for 2023 totaled 1.25 billion bushels, up 13% from the 2022 total of 1.10 billion bushels.

The U.S. average winter wheat yield of 50.6 bushels per acre was up 3.6 bushels from 2022. Area harvested for grain was estimated at 24.7 million acres, up 5% from 2022.