Corn production down in Sangamon County, but soybean total rises

Weather-related losses drove Sangamon County corn production down nearly 22 percent last year to its lowest level since 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released Tuesday.

Soybean production, in contrast, was the highest in six years.

Unusually warm nights last summer caused most of the damage to corn, said Brad Schwab, director of the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service in Springfield.

“It was real wet in June,” he said. “Then in late July we had nights that didn’t fall below 70 degrees.”

Schwab said corn plants need cooler temperatures at night to allow kernels to mature properly, adding that the hot summer nights last year “put the plants in hurry-up mode.”

The 154.5-bushel-an-acre yield in Sangamon County was down from 189 bushels in 2009 and was the lowest per-acre figure since 2002.

Soybeans fared well, however. Total production came to more than 8.1 million bushels last year, up 30 percent from 2009. The average yield of 60.4 bushels an acre was the highest in the past decade, according to the federal figures.

Elsewhere in Illinois, Carroll County had the highest corn yields at 189.9 bushels an acre, while Piatt County had the highest soybean yields at 63.3 bushels an acre.

The statewide average for corn was 157 bushels an acre and for soybeans a record 51.5 bushels an acre.

Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536.

Sangamon County corn production (total and bushels per acre)

2000: 35.635 million; 174 bushels

2001: 34.376 million; 161 bushels

2002: 33.698 million; 152 bushels

2003: 43.417 million; 194 bushels

2004: 43,353 million; 192 bushels

2005: 41,067 million; 169 bushels

2006: 41.533 million; 174 bushels

2007: 53.829 million; 199 bushels

2008: 47.564 million; 184 bushels

2009: 48.573 million; 189 bushels

2010: 38.013 million; 154.5 bushels

Sangamon County soybean production (total and bushels per acre)

2000: 9.350 million; 48 bushels

2001: 8.923 million; 48 bushels

2002: 8.960 million; 51 bushels

2003: 8.241 million; 48 bushels

2004: 8.510 million; 54 bushels

2005: 7.547 million; 53 bushels

2006: 7.851 million; 54 bushels

2007: 6.165 million; 51 bushels

2008: 5.967 million; 51 bushels

2009: 6.269 million; 53 bushels

2010: 8.161 million; 60.4 bushels

(Source: http://www.sj-r.com/business/x1580327666/Illinois-corn-yield-decreases-10-percent)