USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has released a slew of data detailing yield results from Michigan and across the country, along with year-end stock figures and wheat planting estimates for the year ahead.
Michigan corn, soybean and sugarbeet growers all reported lower yields in 2022 than the prior year, according to NASS.
Corn
The state’s average corn yield was 168 bushels per acre, down 6 bushels from 2021. Production was 336 million bushels from 2 million acres, with acres harvested for grain up 10,000 from the year before.
Nationally, yield estimates were slightly higher at 173.3 bushels per acre, but still down 3.4 bushels from 2021 — which was a record year. Corn for grain production in the United States was estimated at 13.7 billion bushels, down 9 percent from the 2021 estimate.
Estimated yields in 2022 were down from the previous year across the Southern Plains, Southeast, and West Coast. Record-high yields were estimated in Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Corn planted area, at 88.6 million acres, was down 5 percent from the 2021 estimate.
Soybeans
There were 2.24 million acres of soybeans harvested across the state last year, with an average yield of 47 bushels per acre — down 4 bushels from 2021. There were 2.24 million acres harvested in 2022, up from 2.14 million acres the year before.
National soybean production in totaled 4.28 billion bushels last year — down 4 percent from 2021 — with the average yields estimated at 49.5 bushels per acre, 2.2 bushels below 2021.
At 87.5 million acres the planted area across the country was up less than 1 percent from the 2021 planted acreage. Record-high planted acreage was estimated in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, and Ohio, while Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Nebraska had record-high harvested acreage.
Sugarbeets
Growers reported an average yield of 28.8 tons per acre in 2022, down 8.6 tons per acre from the prior year. Harvested acreage for sugarbeets fell slightly in the state last year, dropping by 4,000 acres to 138,000.
At 3.97 million tons, the overall sugarbeet harvest for the state fell more than 1.3 million tons last year from the record high set in 2021.
Grain Stocks
Michigan corn stocks totaled 285 million bushels on Dec. 1, 2022, 8 percent higher than a year earlier, with about 68 percent of the corn stored on farms. The first quarter disappearance was 89.9 million bushels, compared with 107 million bushels a year earlier.
At the same time, soybean stocks were 76.4 million bushels — 3 percent lower than stocks a year earlier. Farm stocks of soybeans were 34 million bushels. The first quarter indicated disappearance was 35.4 million bushels compared with 38.1 million bushels a year ago.
December wheat stocks were 28.3 million bushels, 22 percent below a year ago. Second quarter indicated disappearance was 8.31 million bushels, compared with 6.85 million bushels last year. About 90 percent of wheat stocks were in commercial storage.
Winter Wheat Planting Skyrockets
NASS estimates Michigan winter wheat seeded area for 2023 at 670,000 acres, an increase of 46 percent from last year.
Wheat seeding began on time in Michigan in mid-September and progressed on-schedule throughout the fall, being virtually finished by Nov. 15. As of Nov. 20, 98 percent percent of the wheat had emerged — which is better than the five-year average — with two-thirds of the wheat crop rated in good to excellent condition at the time.
U.S. winter wheat planted area for harvest in 2023 is estimated at 37 million acres, up 11 percent from 2022.