Wisconsin corn, soybean

yields easily surpass

national averages

Based on Nov. 1 reports that strongly reflect actual harvest data, Wisconsin has unofficially set a record high for its corn crop in 2011 and has had average yields for both corn and soybeans that were well above the national average. The crop production report was issued by the Wisconsin field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Field counts in Wisconsin indicated a record high average of 28,950 corn ears per acre - up by 650 from 2010. Along with an increase of 180,000 acres of corn harvested for grain for a total of 3.28 million acres, Wisconsin's projected corn crop of 2011 is 524.8 million bushels - a 4.5-percent increase from 2010.

Despite the increase in corn ears per acre, Wisconsin's average corn yields were 160 bushels per acre this year compared to the record high of 162 bushels in 2010. This was well above the 146.7 bushel average and, among the top corn growing states, trailed only the 171 bushel per acre average in Iowa and matched the 160 bushel average in Minnesota.

Among the Upper Midwest states, the 2011 corn crop is down by 1 percent in Illinois, 5 percent in Minnesota and 8 percent in Indiana due to decreases in per acre yields compared to 2010. Michigan is up by 3 percent and Iowa by 8 percent - thanks to a six-bushel per acre yield increase and a 600,000 increase in acres to 13.65 million.

Including a one-percent decrease from the estimate published in October, a national corn crop of just over 12.309 billion bushels is forecast. This is down by one percent from 2010. The final numbers on the 2011 corn harvest will be released in January.

Soybean production was down in all of the Upper Midwest states due to decreases in both the yield per acre and the number of acres. Wisconsin's 2011 average of 47 bushels per acre - down from 50.5 in 2010 - looked good in comparison with the national average of 41.3 bushels for the year and, as with corn, trailed only Iowa, which was at 50.5 bushels, for the top average yield in the United States.

With a harvest of 1.6 million acres, down by 30,000 acres from 2010, Wisconsin had an estimated soybean crop of 75.2 million bushels this year - down by 9 percent from last year. National soybean production is also projected to drop by 9 percent to 3.045 billion bushels, which would be the second smallest crop since 2003.

As with corn, Iowa leads in soybean production with an estimated 467.63 million bushels from 9.26 million harvested acres in 2011. But this is down 6 percent due mainly to a cutback of 470,000 harvested acres from 2010.

Compared to 2010, soybean production was down by 13 percent in Illinois and 14 percent in Indiana for this year. Most of this decline is due to average per acre yield decreases of 5.5 bushels to 46 in Illinois and 6.5 bushels to 42 in Indiana. Soybean production was also off by 15 percent in Minnesota as per acre yields fell by 5 bushels to 40 and harvested acres declined by 300,000 and by 4 percent in Michigan due a reduction of 100,000 in harvested acres.