GRAPHIC: Corn and soybean production could approach record highs this year

Corn harvest begins on the Ken Dalenberg farm north of Mansfield, IL on Monday, September 13, 2021.

Darrell Hoemann/The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Corn harvest begins on the Ken Dalenberg farm north of Mansfield, IL on Monday, September 13, 2021.

Darrell Hoemann/The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

The USDA is predicting these will be the second- and third-highest harvests on record for the two crops, after high yields across the Midwest.

This year, the amount of corn and soybeans produced is expected to be the second- and third-highest, respectively, on record. 

This article is republished from The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Read the original article here.

High yields in both crops are expected in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

The federal government predicts there will be 15 billion bushels of corn and 4.37 billion bushels of soybeans produced this year — a 5.7% increase from 2020.

The top two states by crop production, Iowa and Illinois, are expected to produce 7.4% and 8.4% more corn and 19.7% and 11.6% more soybeans, respectively.

However, extreme weather might affect production in other states.

“Hurricane Ida’s impacts, which included flooding rains, damaging winds, power outages, and a coastal storm surge, were still being assessed,” the USDA said in its report.

The late-August hurricane became the strongest storm to hit Louisiana’s coastline and moved through the state’s sugarcane, rice and cotton fields.

Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agriculture Data Fellow, Investigate Midwest is an Agriculture Fellow at The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.