Michigan growers had another great crop year, with new record yields realized for corn, soybeans, and sugarbeets, according to Marlo Johnson, Director of the USDA, NASS, Great Lakes Regional Office.

Ideal planting conditions in the spring allowed farmers to plant most crops well ahead of schedule, and the mild growing season provided excellent conditions for crops, allowing many farms to complete harvest well ahead of normal. Some highlights of the Crop Production Summary are as follows:  

•Michigan’s average corn for grain yield was 162 bushels, up 1 bushel from last year’s record high.

The numbers are in from last year’s harvest

Grain production, at 335 million bushels, was down slightly from last year due to decreased harvested acres. “While yields were lower than what had been forecast, they were still very good or excellent across most of the state’s principal corn-growing areas,” says Johnson.

•Silage yield, at 19 tons per acre, was down 1.5 tons from last year. 

•Soybean yield, at 49 bushels, was up 6.5 bushels per acre from last year and 3 bushels per acre above the previous record yield set in 2006.

•Soybean harvested acres at 2.02 million acres was down 20,000 acres from last year. Production, at 99 million bushels, was also a state record, up 14% from 2014.  

•Sugarbeet yield, at 31.7 tons per acre, was up 2.4 tons per acre from last year. Production, at 4.79 million tons, was a new state record, up 9% from 2014. Acreage harvested, at 151,000 acres, was up 1,000 acres from last year. 

•Dry bean production in the state totaled 5.53 million hundredweight, a 26% increase from the previous year. Yield per acre was 90 pounds more than 2014, and acres harvested was up by 46,000 acres, which resulted in a significant increase in production. Many dry bean growers reported above average yields, and there were few reports of significant water damage to the crop. 

•All hay production was 2.60 million tons, up 1% from last year. 

•Nationally, corn for grain production is estimated at 13.6 billion bushels, down slightly from the November forecast and down 4% from the 2014 estimate. The average yield in the United States is estimated at 168.4 bushels per acre. This is down 0.9 bushel from the November forecast and 2.6 bushels below the 2014 average yield of 171.0 bushels per acre.

•Area harvested for grain is estimated at 80.7 million acres, up slightly from the November forecast but down 3% from the 2014 acreage. 

National soybean production in 2015 totaled a record 3.93 billion bushels, down 1% from the November forecast but up slightly from 2014. The average yield per acre is estimated at a record high 48 bushels, 0.3 bushel below the November forecast but 0.5 bushel above the 2014 yield. Harvested area is down less than 1% from last year’s record acreage to 81.8 million acres.