Bumper harvests forecast for corn, soybeans

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Good growing conditions this summer could lead to record state corn and soybean harvests this fall, according to the state's agricultural statistician.

"The moisture supply and cooler than normal temperature has not stressed the plants from beginning to end, and I think we're reaching their potential," Gene Danekas, director of the Missouri Agriculture Statistics Service, said Monday.

With the harvest just getting under way, Missouri corn production is forecast at 418 million bushels based on Sept. 1 conditions, according to the statistics office, which is a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That forecast is about 5.5 percent higher than the 2000 record of 396 million bushels and 38 percent above last year's crop.

The expected corn yield of 144 bushels per acre is just a bit higher than the 2000 record of 143 bushels per acre.

Agronomy specialist Gerald Bryan with the Cape Girardeau County University of Missouri Extension said that locally, the corn harvest is looking good, but he's not yet certain that it will exceed last year's yield, which was outstanding. While the overall production may not hit last year's mark, he said, this year's weather was more favorable over a wider area than last years. That should push the average yield above that of a year ago.

Soybean production is forecast at 188 million bushels, slightly higher than the 2001 record of 186 million bushels and 31 percent higher than last year, the agricultural service said. Soybean yields are forecast at 38 bushels an acre, which would tie the record set in 1992, 1994 and 2001.

Too early to tell

As for Southeast Missouri's soybean crop, Bryan said it's too early to tell because many have yet to be harvested. He said although weather has been favorable, a soil-based disease called sudden death syndrome may limit this area's yield. The syndrome restricts the flow of nutrients in the plants and has become commonplace in southern Missouri over the past few seasons. The disease feeds off the same favorable weather as its host.

That notwithstanding, Bryan expects the area's soybean yield to still be very good.

Rice yields also are forecast to set a record at 6,350 pounds an acre, up 220 pounds from the previous high in 2003. Total rice production is projected at 12.3 million hundredweight, up 18 percent from last year.

While helping other crops, cooler temperatures appear to be negatively affecting cotton, the agricultural office said. Cotton production is forecast at 660,000 bales, 6 percent below last year. Yields are expected to average 823 pounds per acre, down 26 pounds from last year.

Commercial potato production is forecast at 1.73 million hundredweight, down 8 percent from last year.

Staff writer Tony Rehagen contributed to this report.

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Agricultural Statistics: http://agebb.missouri.edu/mass