2022 was a hard year for farmers. Between high input prices, transportation uncertainties, and drought, many were worried about what harvest may bring.

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According to the 2022 Crop Production Annual Summary, corn production across the United States was down nine percent from 2021. Nationally, corn growers produced 13.73 billion bushels in 2022 whereas corn production in 2021 was 15.1 billion bushels.

Soybean production nationwide was also down in 2022. Production yielded 4.28 billion bushels, which is down four percent from 2021.

Iowa’s 2022 corn production was down when compared to 2021. In 2022, Iowa farmers produced 2.48 billion bushels, which is down from the 2.53 billion bushels produced in 2021.

Illinois, which is number two in corn production, saw an increase in corn in 2022. In 2022, farmers in Illinois produced 2.26 billion bushels, up from the 2.19 billion bushels produced in 2021.

Looking at the soybean side, production in Iowa and Illinois both went down. Iowa produced 586.755 million bushels of soybeans in 2022 which is down from  631.89 million bushels in 2021. In Illinois, production was  677.25 million bushels in 2022 which is down from 683.15 million bushels produced in 2021.

So, what happened?

Iowa had a much dryer growing year than Illinois did.

Looking at the 2021 and 2022 drought data, Iowa dealt with a higher percentage of drought areas than its eastern neighbor. These dry conditions worsened in some of the more critical parts of the growing season.

Drought Monitor for Illinois from 2021-2022

U.S. Drought Monitor
U.S. Drought Monitor
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Compared to the Drought Monitor for Iowa from 2021-2022

U.S. Drought Monitor
U.S. Drought Monitor
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