By Hope Kirwan
As harvest comes to an end in Wisconsin, growers are expected to see record corn yields this year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service
forecast an average of 184 bushels of corn per acre.
That's six bushels, or about 3 percent, higher than the previous record set in 2016 and almost 11 percent higher than what farmers saw last year.
Joe Lauer, an agronomy professor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said farmers were grateful for more normal weather patterns this year after an
extremely wet season in 2019.
"There's a little more peace of mind, if you will, in kind of going through what I just call an average normal production season," Lauer said. "We’re going to end up with record yields but it's just kind of easier psychologically to take."
Shawn Conley, soybean and wheat specialist for UW-Madison’s Division of Extension, said a lack of precipitation throughout the state at the end of summer caused the USDA to lower their forecasted yields to 53 bushels per acre. That’s six bushels, or almost 13 percent, higher than last year.
But Conley said most farmers were happy to have the dry weather.
"That allowed farmers to have a lot of days in the field that they can push through and get their crops out of the field in a timely manner," Conley said.
Conley said the early planting and harvest allowed farmers to get their winter wheat crop planted on time, something many growers have struggled with the last few years. He expects to see a 15 percent increase in the number of wheat acres in 2020.
Conley said this year's high soybean yields and more favorable prices are a win for rural communities. But he said farm families are also dealing with the impacts of the pandemic, including an increasing number of COVID-19 cases in rural areas.
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