Small adjustments in ‘I’ state yield estimates

WASHINGTON — Minimal changes were made in “I” state corn and soybean average yields in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nov. 14 crop production report.

Illinois

USDA’s projected the Prairie State’s average corn yield at 221 bushels per acre, 2 bushels above the September estimate. The 11 million harvested acres are estimated to produce 2.431 billion bushels, compared to just over 2.311 billion produced from 2024’s average of 217 bushels per acre across 10.65 million acres.

Illinois’ average soybean yield was unchanged from September at 65 bushels per acre. If realized, the state would harvest 663 million bushels across 10.2 million acres.

Last year, Illinois averaged 64 bushels per acre from 10.75 million harvested acres, resulting in the production of 688 million bushels.

Indiana

The crop production report included a 1 bushel per acre increase from the previous report for Indiana’s corn to 206 bushels.

The state is expected to produce nearly 1.082 billion bushels from its 5.25 million harvested acres, after harvesting 999.9 million bushels from 5.05 million acres in 2024, averaging 198 bushels per acre.

Indiana’s average soybean yield was lowered from the September report by 2 bushels to 59 bushels per acre, resulting in production of 320.37 million bushels harvested from 5.43 million acres.

The 2024 soybeans also averaged 59 bushels per acre with a harvested area of 5.78 million acres and production at just over 341 million bushels.

Iowa

The USDA lowered Iowa’s projected average corn yield by 3 bushels from September to 216 bushels per acre for total production of 2.808 billion bushels from 13 million harvested acres.

Iowa averaged 211 bushels per acre last year across 12.45 million harvested acres with production of nearly 2.627 billion bushels.

Iowa’s average soybean yield was unchanged at 65 bushels per acre, producing 609.7 million bushels from 9.38 million acres.

The state averaged 60 bushels per acre in 2024, bringing in 597.6 million bushels across 9.96 million acres.

Nationwide

The 2025 corn area harvested for grain, forecast at 90 million acres, is unchanged from the previous forecast, but up 8% from last year.

U.S. production for grain is projected at 16.8 billion bushels, down less than 1% from the previous forecast, but up 12% from last year. If realized, this would be the highest grain production on record for the United States.

Based on conditions as of Nov. 1, the nation’s corn yield is forecast at a record high 186 bushels per acre, down 0.7 bushel from the September estimate, but up 6.7 bushels from last year’s final estimate of 179.3 bushels per acre.

The U.S. soybean production is forecast at 4.25 billion bushels, down 1% from the previous estimate and 3% lower than last year.

Based on conditions as of Nov. 1, the nation’s soybean yields are expected to average a record high 53 bushels per acre, down 0.5 bushel from the previous forecast, but up 2.3 bushels from last year.

Area harvested for beans in the United States is forecast at 80.3 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast and down 7% from last year.

Survey Procedure

Objective yield and farm operator surveys were conducted between Oct. 25 and Nov. 9 to gather information on expected yield as of Nov. 1.

Beginning in September, the objective yield surveys for corn and soybeans were conducted in the major producing states that usually account for about 75% of the U.S. production.

Randomly selected plots were revisited to make current counts. The counts made within each sample plot depend on the crop and the maturity of that crop.

In all cases, plant counts are recorded along with other measurements that provide information to forecast the number of ears or pods and their weight.

The counts are used with similar data from previous years to develop a projected biological yield. The average harvesting loss is subtracted to obtain a net yield. The plots are revisited each month until crop maturity when the fruit is harvested and weighed.

After the farm operator has harvested the sample field, another plot is sampled to obtain current year harvesting loss. The farm operator survey was conducted primarily by telephone with some use of mail, internet and personal interviewers.

Approximately 6,690 producers were interviewed during the survey period and asked questions about probable yield.