USDA: Illinois farmers finished 2021 with record year for soybeans

Posted on January 12, 2022
Mark Schleusener, state statistician, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, says Mother Nature gets some of the credit for big numbers for corn and soybeans in 2021. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois farmers finished 2021 with a record year for soybeans, and led the nation with that crop. The soybean total was 64 bushels per acre, totaling 673 million.

They were number two to Iowa in corn, with 2.2 billion bushels, or 202 per acre.

Mark Schleusener, Illinois state statistician for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, says Mother Nature deserves some of the credit.

“Timely rain is probably the best way to describe it,” he said. “In general, a little bit too much rain for the corn yield, where people worked earlier –  let’s say, August and September – farmers were expecting higher yields.” 

Dryness in September and October held things down, Schleusener adds.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…