Indiana Harvested Record Number of Corn and Soybeans in 2023

Jan 17, 2024

By Clayton Baumgarth

On Friday the USDA released its January World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which announced record yields in the nation’s corn crop production.

Average corn yields hit a record 177.3 bushels per acre with a total production of 15.34 billion bushels. Soybean yields were high but not record breaking, with a national average of 50.6 bushels per acre and a total production of 4.17 billion bushels reported.

In Indiana, Hoosier producers had record yields for corn and soybeans at 203 and 61 bushels per acre respectively.

Todd Davis, chief economist for the Indiana Farm Bureau, said the records were possible, despite challenging dryness, thanks to timely rains.

“You might hear farmers talking about million-dollar rains,” he said. “And we had those timely rains that helped the crops develop.”

Davis said strong crop genetics were another key factor that helped with overall crop yields.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.