County Soybean Yields Compared in US
30 Mar 2023
MT. JULIET, Tenn. (DTN) -- When it comes to the nation's leading soybean-producing counties, Illinois claimed every spot in the Top 10. The state's average soybean yield for 2022 -- 63 bushels per acre (bpa) -- was 4.6 bpa higher than Iowa.
Only three non-Illinois counties made it into the Top 20. Two of those came from Iowa counties that border Illinois: Scott at 69.1 bpa and Dubuque at 68.6 bpa. Indiana's Decatur County, to the southeast of Indianapolis, also made it into the Top 20 with an average yield of 68.3 bpa.
This pattern is different than what was found in an examination of county corn yields, which had several counties in Idaho and Colorado make it into the Top 10. You can read more about those findings here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….
One pattern that is consistent between the two crops is that the worst yields were found in Southern Plains states suffering through drought conditions: Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Labette County, Kansas, and Grant County, Oklahoma, show up on the list of worst yields for both corn and soybeans, while Illinois' Stark and Macon counties made it onto the Top 10 list for both crops.
For context, we've included the number of planted acres. A few of the counties on the list with the lowest average yields had more planted acreage than some of the highest-yielding counties.
| 10 BEST COUNTY SOYBEAN YIELDS |
| | COUNTY | STATE | YIELD | ACREAGE |
| 1. | PIATT | IL | 74.2 | 120,500 |
| 2. | MACON | IL | 73.8 | 136,500 |
| 3. | SANGAMON | IL | 72.7 | 184,500 |
| 4. | SCOTT | IL | 72.1 | 52,500 |
| 5. | LOGAN | IL | 71.8 | 153,000 |
| 6. | TAZEWELL | IL | 71 | 125,000 |
| 7. | STARK | IL | 70.8 | 66,200 |
| 8. | MORGAN | IL | 70 | 123,000 |
| 9. | CHRISTIAN | IL | 69.5 | 186,000 |
| 10. | CHAMPAIGN | IL | 69.4 | 263,000 |
**
| 10 WORST COUNTY SOYBEAN YIELDS |
| | COUNTY | STATE | YIELD | ACREAGE |
| 1. | LABETTE | KS | 9.3 | 75,200 |
| 2. | HARPER | KS | 9.4 | 25,800 |
| 3. | COWLEY | KS | 9.5 | 89,800 |
| 4. | WASHINGTON | OK | 9.7 | 7,500 |
| 5. | MAYES | OK | 10.7 | 3,400 |
| 6. | MONTGOMERY | KS | 10.7 | 66,900 |
| 7. | NEOSHO | KS | 11.1 | 61,600 |
| 8. | NOBLE | OK | 11.2 | 30,200 |
| 9. | GRANT | OK | 11.7 | 81,500 |
| 10. | LAMAR | TX | 12 | 16,500 |
Katie Dehlinger can be reached at katie.dehlinger@dtn.com
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