Across the Midwest, a lack of extreme heat helped boost the nation’s corn yield to a new record.
The nation’s soybean yield was down 6 percent from 2016, but production reached a record level due to record high acreage, according to a crop production report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
U.S. corn growers produced 14.6 billion bushels, down 4 percent from 2016. Corn yield in the U.S. is estimated at a record 176.6 bushels per acre, 2.0 bushels more than last year’s average yield. Area harvested, at 82.7 million acres, is down 5 percent from 2016.
Soybean production totaled a record 4.39 billion bushels, up 2 percent from 2016. With record levels across much of the southern United States, the average yield is estimated at 49.1 bushels per acre, 2.9 bushels below last year’s record yield. Harvested area in 2017, at a record 89.5 million acres, is up 8 percent from 2016.