U.S. corn, cotton and soybean production down in 2022

Production for corn, cotton and soybeans declined from last year, according to the 2022 Crop Production Annual Summary released by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Drought ravaged nearly every state during the year and it had impacts on harvested acres and yields.

U.S. corn growers produced 13.7 billion bushels, down 9% from 2021. Corn yield in the United States is estimated at 173.3 bushels per acre, 3.4 bushels below the 2021 record high yield of 176.7 bushels per acre. Area harvested for grain, at 79.2 million acres, is down 7% from 2021.

Soybean production for 2022 totaled 4.28 billion bushels, down 4% from 2021. The average soybean yield is estimated at 49.5 bushels per acre, 2.2 bushels below 2021, and 0.7 bushel below the Nov. 1 forecast.

For 2022, all cotton production is down 16% from 2021, at 14.7 million 480-pound bales. The U.S. yield is estimated at 947 pounds per acre, up 128 pounds from last year’s yield. An estimated 7.44 million acres were harvested, down 28% from last year.

Winter Wheat acres appear to be up this year. Planted area for harvest in 2023 is estimated at 37.0 million acres, up 11% from 2022.

The Grain Stocks report, corn stored as of Dec. 1, is estimated to be down 7% from Dec. 1, 2021. Soybean stocks were down 4% from a year earlier. Corn stored in all positions totaled 10.8 billion bushels, while soybeans totaled 3.02 billion bushels. All wheat stocks were down 7% from a year earlier. All wheat stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2022, totaled 1.28 billion bushels.

The full Crop Production 2022 Summary is available online at this link. The report contains year-end acreage, yield and production estimates for grains and hay; oilseeds; cotton, tobacco and sugar; dry beans, peas and lentils; and potatoes and miscellaneous crops.

Despite a national decline, soybean farmers in the Natural State had a better year as compared to 2021. Arkansas farmers harvested 3.15 million acres, up nearly 140,000 acres from 2021, according to the USDA. Yield from those acres is projected to top 53 bushels per acre, a state record.

Corn farmers in Arkansas didn’t fare as well. Farmers in the state harvested 690,000 of the 710,000 acres of corn planted in 2022 The number of acres planted was down 16.5% from last year. The state average yield was 176 bushels per acre, down 4.3% from the prior year’s 183 bushels per acre.

Cotton farmers in the state harvest an estimated 630,000 acres during the last growing season, a nearly 30% increase from 2021. The spike in acres was driven by higher prices. The heavily marketed December futures contract traded to a high of $1.3379 per pound in mid-May.

It was the highest price for cotton since 2011, according to agriculture economist Scott Stiles.