Illinois Is On Track To Beat Iowa Corn Yields

This growing season came with its challenges for farmers across Iowa.

First, farmers were feeling the effects of high fertilizer prices, then we had a little bit later start when it came to planting, and then parts of the state were hit with drought.

As we are getting into harvest, a lot of farmers in Iowa have been seeing the impacts of drought in their fields. Here in northeast Iowa, we were considered the garden spot of the state. Chad Hart, Ag Economist with Iowa State University says producers on the western side of the state have been seeing production numbers for crops drop.

Northeast Iowa was sort of a garden spot for the state. Right now, that's where we're seeing the strongest yields as we look across the state. The overall state average- USDA has its best guess of 200 bushels per acre for corn about 58 bushels on the soybean side and I'm expecting that we're seeing some stronger numbers up there to the northeast side.

According to an article in Iowa Capital Dispatch, USDA’s predictions state that Iowa farmers are currently expecting to see a yield of 200 bushels of corn per acre this year. Over in Illinois, farmers are predicted to see 210 bushels per acre.

More than half of Iowa was impacted by drought this growing season. However, in Illinois, only around ten percent of the state saw drought conditions, and even the areas that saw drought didn’t have it as dry as Iowa.

This puts Illinois in line to potentially match its record-high yields of 2018.

In the last 20 years, Illinois has beaten Iowa only seven times. But if Illinois does beat Iowa’s yield, does that mean Iowa will lose its position as the nation’s leader in corn?

Not necessarily.

Even if Illinois does beat Iowa in yield per acre, Iowa will still come out of this harvest with higher production.

Farmers in Iowa are expected to harvest 12.5 million acres while Illinois is expected to harvest 10.6 million acres. So, even if the current yield predictions hold true, Iowa’s overall production will still be about 12 percent higher than Illinois.