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Local corn and soybean yields improved in 2020 by double-digit margins over the 2019 growing season, according to final county estimates released recently by USDA officials.
Local yields also topped the state averages.
Rock County corn production averaged 196.4 bushels per acre for 2020, up from 149.4 bushels per acre in 2019. The state average for 2020 was 192 bushels per acre.
The top five producing counties for corn yield in 2020 were Fairbault (216 bushels per acre), Dodge (210.4), Watonwan (209.1), Nicollet (207) and Wabasha (206.5).
Soybean yields also increased in 2020 to an average of 57.1 bushels per acre, up from 48.8 bushels per acre average in 2019. The state average for soybeans was 49 bushels per acre.
Fairbault County also led the state with the top soybean yield of 63.4 bushels per acre followed by Waseca (63.1), Nicollet (61.7), Brown (60.8) and Watonwan (60.5).
Rock County’s record-setting corn yields of 206.1 bushels per acre occurred in 2017. The top soybean yield was 61.9 bushels per acre set in 2016.
Average prices also climbed in 2020
Minnesota’s 2020 corn price averaged $4.20 per bushel, an increase of 94 cents from the last marketing year, according to the USDA crop value summary.
The average per bushel price for soybeans was $11.10 in 2020, an increase of $2.81 per bushel from 2019.
Overall Minnesota’s field crops were valued at $11.7 billion in 2020, the highest value since 2012 when crop values totaled more than 16 billion.
In 2019, crop values were the lowest since 2011 at $8 billion.