2020 Spring Farm Outlook

2020 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 19, 2020 Page 45 A nyone looking for the estimated Logan County soybean yield for 2019 will not find those numbers. Why is that and what does it mean to have no numbers, and what else can we extrapolate about the soybean harvest. The estimated harvest numbers are compiled by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) which have been gathered directly from farmers who file a report. Compiled information is then published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the Spring corn and soybean reports are estimated with the 2019 yields announced on Feb 20, 2020. Illinois’ estimated average for soybeans was 54.0 bushels per acre in 2019. While each of the counties adjacent Logan County 2019 estimated soybean yields were higher than the state average, the figures all reflected lower yields than in the year 2018: Why are the NASS ‘Yield Estimates’ important and what impacts might no numbers have for area farmers and the Ag industry? According to the USDA, the NASS reports help farmers decide production plans, “such as how much corn to plant, how many cattle to raise, and when to sell.” More broadly speaking the USDA states, “The statistical information on acreage, production, Continue 4 soybean estimate gets a ‘no report’ Logan County 2019 By Jan Youngquist Soybean yields average bushels per acre 2018 / 2019 2019 (estimated) 80.4 65.5 Menard County Sangamon 2018 (actual) 68.6 62.0 Mason NR 55.4 Logan 70.1 NR Tazewell 72.1 63.8 McLean 67.5 61.0 DeWitt 75.0 NR Macon 75.2 63.6