In USDA’s November crop report the agency put soybean yields in Wisconsin at 54 bushels per acre, down just 1 bushel from 2021. They projected record corn yields for the state at 182 bushels per acre, up 2 bushels from last year. Yield results from the field are backing up that forecast.
For North Lake, Wisconsin farmer William Morris the results of this year’s soybean harvest have been unexpected, but welcome, especially with the weather extremes during the season. “So, this year our soybean yields seemed to be above average. We actually were very surprised. We were not figuring on an above average soybean crop with the way the weather was. We had a very cool September and a few big rains, but they were at the right time.”
The lack of disease on his soybeans was also a contributing factor to those strong yields. Morris says, “In soybeans it was no more than our normal years. I would call it a low-pressure soybean disease year.”
For corn, USDA is projecting record yields in Wisconsin this year and that trend was certainly evident at Morris’s farm. He says disease pressure was low and they didn’t see much tip back. “Corn yields are above average as well. The only difference between an above average crop this year and a normal above average crop is we have higher harvest moisture this year. And we’re probably looking at 5 to 10 bushels above average yields.”
And he says corn yields would have been even higher, if test weights would have been closer to normal. “This year the test weights on corn are average. We’re running 56-to-57-pound corn this year, last year we were well above average. We were mostly 59-to-60-pound corn last year.”
The corn was also wet, with moisture levels 3% to 4% higher than previous falls. But that means some extra drying costs. Morris says, “Well corn the last couple years we’ve become accustomed to 20, 21% even some teens. This year we’re probably 23% to 25% right now.”
But despite the ups and downs of the season Morris says 2022 will be a profitable one for his farm. “In the end it turned out to be a very good year that gives us a lot of hope for next year.”
