2016 USDA/NASS Crop Production Numbers Show Record Kansas Corn Crop

USDA/NASS released the Annual Crop Production Report today, showing some record crops and record grain stocks in Kansas.

KANSAS CORN

Record Crop–In 2016, Kansas corn farmers produced 699 million bushels of corn, a new record. That’s 17% bigger than the previous record crop of 598 million bushels set in 2009.

Lower yield–Yield was 142 bushels per acre, down from the 2015 yield of 148 bu/acre.

Big acreage increase–The big change was in harvested acres: up one million acres. We harvested 4.9 million acres of corn in Kansas, up from 3.9 million acres from 2015.

Importance of Market Development--As we consider this large crop, we are very aware of the low prices growers are facing. Kansas Corn continues to focus on the critical importance of market development to build demand for our corn through exports, ethanol and livestock.

U.S. Corn--Corn for grain production is estimated at 15.1 billion bushels, up 11 percent from the 2015 estimate. The average yield in the United States is estimated at 174.6 bushels per acre. This is 6.2 bushels above the 2015 average yield of 168.4 bushels per acre. Area harvested for grain is estimated at 86.7 million acres, up 7 percent from 2015.

Other Kansas Fall Crops

Kansas Grain Sorghum: 269 million bushels, down from 282 million bushels in 2015. Yield 91 bushels per acre, up from 88 bu/acre in 2015. Harvested acres, 2.95 million acres, down from 3.2 million acres in 2015.

Kansas Soybeans: 193 million bushels, up from 149 million bushels in 2015. Yield was 48 bu/acre, up from 38.5 bu/acre in 2015.  Soybean farmers harvested 4 million acres, up from 3.86 million acres in 2015.

RECORD GRAIN STOCKS

Kansas corn, soybeans and wheat all have record on-farm and off-farm stocks.

Record Kansas Corn Stocks–Kansas corn stocks in all positions on December 1, 2016 totaled 457 million bushels, up 11 percent from 2015 and a record high. Of the total, 155 million bushels are stored on farms, up 19 percent from last year and a record high. Off-farm stocks, at 302 million bushels, are up 8 percent from last year and a record high.

Wheat stored in all positions totaled 420 million bushels, up 29 percent from a year ago and a record high. On-farm stocks of 25.0 million bushels are up 47 percent from 2015 and a record high. Off-farm stocks of 395 million bushels are up 28 percent from last year and a record high.

Soybeans stored in all positions totaled 132 million bushels, up 24 percent from last year and a record high. On-farm stocks of 39.0 million bushels are up 56 percent from a year ago and a record high. Off-farm stocks, at 92.8 million bushels, are up 14 percent from 2015 and a record high.

Sorghum stored in all positions totaled 212 million bushels, down 5 percent from last year. On-farm stocks of 26.0 million are down 19 percent and off farm holdings of 186 million are down 3 percent from last year.