Illinois crop production

USDA-NASS released monthly information on Illinois crop production on Thursday.

Corn: Planted area is estimated at 11.00 million acres, down 2 percent from last year. Harvested area, forecast at 10.85 million acres, is down 1 percent from 2017. Based on October 1 conditions, the Illinois corn yield is forecast at a record 212 bushels per acre, down 2 bushels from last month but up 11 bushels from 2017. Production is forecast at 2.30 billion bushels, up 5 percent from last year’s production. If realized, this would be the second highest production on record.

Soybeans: Planted area is estimated at 10.8 million acres, up 2 percent from last year. Harvested area, forecast at 10.75 million acres, is up 2 percent from 2017. Based on October 1 conditions, the Illinois soybean yield is forecast at a record high 66 bushels per acre, up 8 bushels from 2017. Production is forecast at 710 million bushels, up 16 percent from 2017 and the highest production level on record for Illinois.

Alfalfa hay: Harvested area, forecast at 210,000 acres, is down 5 percent from 2017. Based on October 1 conditions, the Illinois alfalfa hay yield is forecast at 3.60 tons per acre, down 0.60 ton from the previous year. Production is forecast at 756,000 tons, 18 percent below 2017.

Other hay: Harvested area, forecast at 260,000 acres, is down 4 percent from 2017. Based on October 1 conditions, the Illinois other hay yield is forecast at 2.70 tons per acre, up 0.10 ton from the previous year. Production is estimated at 702,000 tons, unchanged from 2017.