Crop production, prices boost Illinois farm profits

Ag officials say farmers also notched their strongest profits in a decade as growing ethanol and biodiesel production helped drive up prices.

Officials today reported that the combination of a bumper crop and high prices is nearly uncharted territory for Illinois farmers. Typically, they see strong grain prices only when Mother Nature heightens demand by withering away yields.  

Just over 1.8 billion bushels of corn were harvested in Illinois last year, along with 482 million bushels of soybeans.

The corn harvest was second only to a record crop of just over two billion bushels in 2004. The record soybean harvest -- also in 2004 -- was about 495 million bushels.  

Facts and figures about major Illinois crops in 2006:  

CORN: Just over 1.8 billion bushels harvested, with an average yield of 163 bushels per acre. Total production was second only to the record of more than 2 billion bushels harvested in 2004. The average yield trailed only the record 180 bushels per acre in 2004 and 164 bushels in 2003. Nationally, corn growers averaged just over 149 bushels per acre.

SOYBEANS: About 482 million bushels harvested, with an average yield of 48 bushels per acre. Total production was second only to the record 495 million bushels harvested in 2004. The average yield also was the state's second-best ever, behind a record 50.5 bushels per acre average in 2004. The national average for soybeans was 42.7 bushels per acre.  

ILLINOIS' RANK: The state was second only to neighboring Iowa among U.S. corn and soybean producers. Iowa farmers produced just over 2 billion bushels of corn, averaging 166 bushels per acre, and about 510 million bushels of soybeans, with yields of 50.5 bushels per acre.

Source: www.wqad.com