By Zachary Larson
Statewide estimates of the 2019 corn, soybeans, and wheat yields show some of the best on record.
The year 2019 was one for the record books for some Pennsylvania crops, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Production Summary. Although falling short of the record for corn, a new one was set for wheat while soybeans tied previous yield records.
The 2019 average wheat yield in the state was 73 bushels per acre, which surpasses the prior record of 72, set in 2017. In 2018, the estimate was 65 bushels with a five-year average from 2015 to 2019 of approximately 69 bushels per acre. The national average was approximately 52 bushels per acre, up from the 2017 and 2018 estimates of approximately 46 and 48 bushels, respectively.
Soybeans yields matched the state record of 49 bushels per acre set in 2013 and 2014 and was over four bushels higher than the 2018 estimate of 44.5. The average soybean yield in Pennsylvania over the past five years is approximately 46 bushels per acre. The national estimate of 47 bushels per acre were down from the 2017 and 2018 estimates of approximately 50 bushels.
While not breaking any records, Pennsylvania’s 2019 per acre corn yield of 153 bushels was well above average. It places third behind 2017’s record of 161 and just behind the 2014 average of 154. The average yield between 2015 to 2019 is 146 bushels per acre. Nationwide estimates were 168 bushels per acre, down approximately 9 bushels from 2017 and 2018.
For many areas of the state, growing conditions were conducive to record yields in 2019. Most places received adequate precipitation throughout the summer with few periods of extreme heat, which certainly helped last year’s corn and soybean crop. The weather was also cooperative for wheat harvest, with many growers having both yield and high-quality grain last year. Most weather-related issues in 2019 seemed to be with delayed corn planting due to wet conditions in a few regions across the state. Fortunately, for most areas of the state, the extreme spring and summer rains that wreaked havoc across the county were not an issue in Pennsylvania.
Our Crop Conditions Tour at the end of August showed that corn and soybeans were in good shape going into the fall and the corn and soybean reports I heard from across the state varied from above average to farm records. The consistently good conditions observed throughout the 2019 season were also reflected in yield forecasts that were within a few bushels of the final estimates. This is a quite a contrast to 2018, where the final average corn yield was 20 bushels less than the September forecast, reflecting the dismal conditions that came on in the fall of that year.
Source : psu.edu