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Crop production down across most commodities

Missouri farmers moved acres from corn to soybeans, but soybeans held on in terms of production.

Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri Ruralist

January 25, 2023

1 Min Read
 soybeans falling from combine auger into grain cart
FILL IT UP: Soybeans were the bright spot for many Missouri farmers this growing season. Not only did they get better than expected yields despite dry conditions, but also prices remained good for the commodity.BanksPhotos/Getty Images

Crop production numbers for 2022 are in, and for Missouri, and it was an up-and-down year across commodities.

The USDA Missouri Statistics Service reported 2022 planted, harvested and total production for six commodities in the state — corn, soybean, cotton, rice, winter wheat, oats and hay. For the most part, while harvested acres may have increased in the majority of crops, production was down. Delays in planting and dry weather likely contributed to lower production in Missouri.

The exception was cotton, where both acres and yield were up.

Here is the breakdown of last year’s growing season:

About the Author(s)

Mindy Ward

Editor, Missouri Ruralist

Mindy resides on a small farm just outside of Holstein, Mo, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism, she worked briefly at a public relations firm in Kansas City. Her husband’s career led the couple north to Minnesota.

There, she reported on large-scale production of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, and dairy, as well as, biofuels for The Land. After 10 years, the couple returned to Missouri and she began covering agriculture in the Show-Me State.

“In all my 15 years of writing about agriculture, I have found some of the most progressive thinkers are farmers,” she says. “They are constantly searching for ways to do more with less, improve their land and leave their legacy to the next generation.”

Mindy and her husband, Stacy, together with their daughters, Elisa and Cassidy, operate Showtime Farms in southern Warren County. The family spends a great deal of time caring for and showing Dorset, Oxford and crossbred sheep.

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