With a big assist from Mother Nature, Minnesota farmers are poised to set records for corn and soybean harvests for the second straight year.
U. S. Department of Agriculture forecasts released this week peg Minnesota corn production at 1.52 billion bushels, breaking the previous record of 1.43 billion bushels set in 2015. Based on conditions Nov. 1, the corn yield is expected to average 190 bushels per acre, an increase of two bushels per acre from last year, also a record.
Soybean production is expected to be 4 percent above last year's record crop, with average yields at 52 bushels per acre, also two bushels above 2015.
University of Minnesota Extension corn agronomist Jeff Coulter said the reason for the high yields is good farm management by producers and an exceptional growing season.
"A lot of it comes down to the weather," he said. "We've had fairly favorable amounts and distribution of rainfall throughout the entire growing season."
Some parts of southwestern Minnesota received too much rain in the spring, and the Waseca area received too much in the fall, but Coulter said most farmers across the state had adequate but not excessive rain when they needed it. Producers were also able to take advantage of a mild spring to plant crops early.
"The other thing is that temperatures were favorable," Coulter said. "It wasn't excessively hot and that can put stress on crops."
However, bountiful crops do not necessarily mean high profits for producers. Large stockpiles of grain and other such factors as a strong dollar and low oil prices have kept corn and soybean prices flat for the past couple of years — in many cases at or below the cost of production.