Increased acreage and higher yields for corn and soybeans led to record high soybean production and near-record high corn production in 2021, according to the Crop Production Annual Summary released on Jan. 12 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
U.S. corn growers produced 15.115 billion bushels, up 7 percent, or 53 million acres, from 2020, and the second highest on record. The average corn yield in the U.S. was estimated at a record high 177.0 bushels/acre, 5.6 bushels above the average 2020 yield, while area harvested for grain, at 85.4 million acres, was up 4 percent from 2020.
Soybean production for 2021 totaled a record-high 4.44 billion bushels, up 5 percent from 2020. The average soybean yield was estimated at 51.4 bushels/acre, 0.4 bushel above 2020 and the second highest on record, with record high yields reported in 21 states.
All cotton production for 2021 was up 21 percent from 2020, to 17.6 million 480-pound bales, with the average U.S. cotton yield estimated at 849 pounds/acre, up 2 pounds from last year. Harvested cotton area, at 9.97 million acres, was up 20 percent from last year.
Also released on Jan. 12 were the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), Winter Wheat and Canola Seedings, and Grain Stocks reports. The Winter Wheat and Canola Seedings report provides the first indicator of this year’s winter wheat acreage. Planted area for harvest in 2022 is estimated at 34.4 million acres, up 2 percent from 2021.
In the Grain Stocks report, corn stored as of Dec. 1, 2021, was estimated to be up 3 percent from Dec. 1, 2020, at 11.6 billion bushels, while soybean stocks were up 7 percent from a year earlier, at 3.15 billion bushels. All wheat stocks were down 18 percent from last year, at 1.39 billion bushels.
Most analysts described the latest WASDE report as a relatively ho-hum event. The largest surprise, according to Green Markets Research Director Alexis Maxwell, was a reported increase in corn ending stocks by 47 million bushels. “Even then, the market shrugged off the move and corn prices ended the day down only marginally,” Maxwell said.