October 16, 2003

USDA's Forecast for South Dakota Soybean, Corn Production

The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts South Dakota will produce 430.5 million bushels of corn this year.

USDA's Oct. 1 estimate is unchanged from last month and has actually gone up 42% higher than last year, when crops were hurt by drought.

Soybean production is pegged at 126 million bushels. That's 4% more than the September 1 estimate; 1% below last year's production.

The USDA says 4.2 million acres of soybeans and 4.1 million acres of corn will be harvested. Both figures are higher than the corresponding acreages in 2002.

The corn yield is predicted to be 105 bushels an acre, while soybeans could yield 30 bushels an acre.