The USDA Crop Report released on Sept. 10 decreased the expected U.S. corn production for 2010, as compared to the August USDA estimates, and showed a slight increase in the expected 2010 soybean production, compared to the August estimates. USDA is now estimating the total 2010 corn production at 13.16 billion bushels, which is 2% below the 13.36-billion-bushel estimate in August. Total U.S. corn production was 13.1 billion bushels in 2009 and 12.1 billion bushels in 2008. The USDA report is estimating total soybean production in 2010 at 3.48 billion bushels, which is slight increase compared to the 3.43-billion-bushel estimate in August. Total U.S. soybean production was 3.36 billion bushels in 2009 and 2.96 billion bushels in 2008.
USDA is estimating that the 2010 average corn yield in the U.S. will be 162.5 bu./acre, which would be below the record U.S. average corn yield of 164.7 bu. in 2009. The September estimated corn yield is a decrease of 2.5 bu./acre from the August estimate. The decreased U.S. corn yield expectations by USDA are due to some less-than-favorable weather conditions during August in some portions of the Corn Belt and the northern Great Plains. The average U.S. soybean yield for 2010 is now estimated at 44.7 bu./acre, which would exceed the record U.S. soybean yield of 44 bu. in 2009, and is up 0.7 bu. from the August estimate.
Based on the Sept. 10 report, USDA is estimating the 2010 corn yield in Minnesota at 177 bu./acre, 1 bu. below the August estimate and slightly above the 2009 record corn yield of 174 bu. (also set in 2005). USDA is estimating the 2010 average corn yield in Iowa to be 179 bu., the same as the Aug. 1 estimate, but 3 bu. below the 2008 average state corn yield of 182 bu./acre. Illinois is projected to have a 2010 average corn yield of 174 bu./acre – a reduction of 6 bu. from the August estimate. Corn yields this year for Indiana are now estimated at 170 bu., a decline of 6 bu. from the August estimate, while Nebraska 2010 corn yields are estimated at 179 bu., down only 1 bu./acre compared to the August estimate.
The Sept. 10 USDA report estimated the 2010 Minnesota soybean yield at a record 46 bu./acre, an increase of 2 bu. from the Aug. 1 report and is 6 bu. higher than the 2009 state average soybean yield of 40 bu./acre. The previous record average Minnesota soybean was 45 bu./acre in 2005. The projected 2010 Iowa soybean yield is up 1 bu. from the Aug. 1 estimate, and is now projected at a record 52 bu./acre, and compares to a final average yield of 51 bu. in 2009. The estimated 2010 average soybean yield in Illinois is 51 bu./acre, which is up 2 bu. from the August estimate, while Indiana and Nebraska average soybean yields for 2010 are estimated at 50 and 55 bu., respectively.
Editor’s note: Kent Thiesse is a former University of Minnesota Extension educator and now is Vice President of MinnStar Bank, Lake Crystal, MN. You can contact him at 507-726-2137 or via e-mail at kent.thiesse@minnstarbank.com.