U.S. corn harvest largest on record

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio – U.S. farmers are on pace for the largest corn crop on record, as growers expect to harvest the most corn acres for grain since 1933.
According to the Oct. 1 crop forecast from the USDA, U.S. corn production is forecast at 13.3 billion bushels, 26 percent above 2006.
Yields are expected to average 154.7 bushels per acre. If realized, this would be the second-highest yield on record, behind the 160.4 bushel yield in 2004.
In Ohio. Ohio’s average corn yield is forecast at 150 bushels per acre, and the state’s corn growers expect to harvest 3.61 million acres in 2007 compared to the 2.96 million acres harvested one year ago.
The 2007 average soybean yield for Ohio is forecast at 46 bushels per acre, 1 bushel below the 2006 average state yield.
Total state production is forecast at 190 million bushels, down 13 percent from 2006. And that could be because harvested acreage is forecast at 4.13 million acres, down 490,000 acres from last year.
Ohio’s alfalfa 2007 production is down 29 percent from last year, as is all other hay production
Pa. numbers. In Pa., corn for grain production is forecast at 111.6 million bushels, 5 percent below last year’s crop. Acreage for grain harvest is expected to total 970,000 with an average yield of 115 bushels per acre.
Soybean production is expected to be 16.2 million bushels, down 5 percent from last year’s production. Harvested area is expected to be 415,000 acres and yield is estimated at 39 bushels per acre, down 1 bushel per acre from 2006.
U.S. picture. Nationwide, corn forecast yields are higher than last year across the Great Plains, central Corn Belt and Delta where adequate rainfall during much of the season provided favorable growing conditions.
Expected yields across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, Northeast and mid-Atlantic states are down from last year, as drought conditions during much of the growing season reduced soil moisture levels and stressed the crop.
Yield forecasts. U.S soybean production is forecast at 2.60 billion bushels, down 19 percent from last year’s record high.
Yields are expected to average 41.4 bushels per acre.
Yields are forecast lower in Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wisconsin and most of the Atlantic Coast States. Hot, dry conditions continued to cause most of the decline, especially in Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas.