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S.D. corn, soybean harvests hit new highs
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By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 01/14/2008 |
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Friday that South Dakota's corn and soybean production in 2007 hit record highs, with the state's corn crop contributing to a new U.S. production record of 13.1 billion bushels last year. Mark Stoller, manager of the Madison Farmers Elevator, reported that his operation had shipped or stored from 11 million to 12 million bushels of corn and soybeans from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.
Corn harvested for grain totaled 544.5 million bushels in South Dakota, beating the previous record of 540 million bushels in 2004. The corn production total was down 2 percent from the November forecast predicted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, but the 2007 corn harvest was up 74 percent from the previous year.
Farmers in the state harvested 4.5 million acres of corn for grain and averaged 121 bushels per acre, up 24 bushels per acre from 2006. Harvested corn acres were 40 percent higher than during 2006.
"About 95 percent of the corn and soybeans are getting delivered to ports in the Pacific Northwest," Stoller said. "From there, the grain is shipped to customers in Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China."
U.S. corn production in 2007 pushed past the previous record of 11.8 billion bushels that was set in 2004, and last year's corn harvest finished 24 percent higher than in 2006. Nationally, corn producers harvested 86.5 million acres for grain and averaged 151.1 bushels per acre -- the second-highest yield on record.
USDA officials attributed 2007's increased corn acres to farmers reacting to favorable prices, strong export sales and higher demand for ethanol.
The state's soybean production last year amounted to 133.6 million bushels, 6 percent higher than the NASS's November forecast and 2 percent higher than during 2006. The state's new record high was produced from an average yield of 42 bushels per acre, eight bushels higher than the 2006 average yield.
South Dakota farmers harvested 3.18 million acres of soybeans, down 17 percent from 2006. Soybean producers also planted fewer acres -- 3.2 million -- last year, down 19 percent from 2006.
Across the U.S., soybean production totaled 2.6 billion bushels, down 19 percent from a record 3.2 billion harvested in 2006. Soybean acres were down 16 percent nationally with 62.8 million acres harvested. Soybean yields in 2007 averaged 41.2 bushels per acre, down 1.5 bushels per acre from 2006.
In its preliminary December price report, the NASS office in Sioux Falls calculated that corn prices averaged $3.80 per bushel last month, 99 cents higher than the $2.81 per bushel price in December 2006. NASS officials also calculated that the December price for soybeans stood at $9.70 per bushel, $3.72 per bushel higher than the December 2006 price of $5.98.
Recent grain prices were affected by lower-than-expected wheat harvests in the U.S., Europe and Australia.
Stoller said that brokers in the grain markets have concerns about "perceived shortages in the world grain stocks."
"And for the last three to four months, the U.S. grain market has been very strong due to the low dollar, which makes our exports more attractive," Stoller said. "In turn, the farmers have had a good opportunity to market their crops."
The NASS reported last week that South Dakota corn stocks are up 35 percent from 2006 while soybean stocks are down 16 percent.
The state's grain stocks include grain stored on farms and in mills, elevators and government storage bins on Dec. 1, 2007. The grain stocks also include grain stored under the farmer-owned Grain Reserve Program in South Dakota.
The state's corn stocks stood at a record level -- 441.5 million bushels -- up from 326.1 million bushels in 2006. Current soybean stocks in South Dakota totaled 99.2 million bushels.
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