US: 2006 Soybeans Set Record, Maize Strong And Growing

By Scott C. Lucas|15 January 2007

The final production count of soybeans showed the US growing its largest-ever crop, according to the Crop Production 2006 Summary released by the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS). For maize, 2006 production was the third best on record, while cotton declined 10% after reaching a record high in 2005.

The 3.19-billion-bushel soybean crop was 2% larger than the previous record set in 2004 and 4% larger than 2005. Nationwide, the harvested area was up 5% from 2005, to 74.6 million acres, while the nationwide average yield per acre, at 42.7 bushels, was down slightly from last year’s record.

Several states had record yields, including Louisiana, Michigan, New York, and South Carolina. Kentucky and Ohio, meanwhile, tied their previous yield records.

2006 maize production, at 10.5 billion bushels, was 5% less than 2005 and 11% less than the record set in 2004. While the average yield of 149.1 bushels per acre was up slightly from 2005, farmers planted fewer maize acres last spring as high fuel and fertilizer costs precipitated a switch to less input-intensive crops. Following two consecutive record-setting years, US upland cotton production declined in 2006. The 21-million-bale crop was 10% smaller than 2005’s record. Harvested acres declined 8% from 2005, to 12.4 million acres, while yield was down 14 pounds per acre, to 811 pounds. Rice production totaled 194 million hundredweight, down 13% from 2005. The 2.82 million acres harvested was down 16%, while yields were up slightly, to 6,868 pounds per acre. US sugarbeet production reached a record-high 33.8 million tons in 2005, up 23% from 2005. Tobacco production was up 13% to 727 million pounds.

Several other major crops saw production declines from 2005, including: sorghum, down 29% to 277 million bushels; oats, down 18% to a record-low 93.8 million bushels; barley, down 15% to 180 million bushels; all wheat, down 14% to 1.81 billion bushels; and all hay, down 6% to 142 million tons.