The start of the US corn and soybean harvest is still weeks away but yield records are forecast to fall in several states this year.
Courtesy of the American Farm Bureau Federation, a breakdown of Monday’s USDA supply-demand update – which contained the first survey-based corn and soybean yield estimates for the 2024 growing season - reveals nine states are projected to have record corn yields this year, representing nearly one-quarter of the total number of estimating states.
All record-yield states are in the Midwest or Northwest, with Washington projected to have the highest yield in the country at a record 250 bu/acre, a 4.2% increase from 2023. Missouri has the largest year-over-year percentage increase at 18.3%, reaching 181 bu.
On the other hand, and as shown on the yield map below, states throughout the Southeast are facing lower corn yields than last year, with the largest year-over-year decline in drought-stricken South Carolina, down 36.7% to only 95 bu/acre.
As for soybeans, five states are projected to have record yields including Illinois (66 bu/acre), Indiana (62 bu, Ohio (59 bu), Mississippi (58 bu), Arkansas (57 bu) and Missouri (51 bu). Texas is projected to have the highest year-over-year percentage increase at 52%, reaching 38 bu. New Jersey is projected to have the largest year-over-year percentage decline at 20.9%, falling to 34 bu/acre.
