WEST LAFAYETTE — The federal government expects Indiana and the nation to grow bumper crops of corn and soybeans for the second consecutive year, adding to already adequate supplies but further holding down prices farmers will get for their productivity.
Indiana farmers are on track to harvest 1.04 billion bushels of corn – a record for the second year in a row – surpassing 1.03 billion last year. Nationwide, farmers are projected to produce 14 billion bushels, eclipsing the previous record of 13.9 billion, also of last year. Indiana's soybean crop could reach 279.9 million bushels – third-largest for the state – compared with 264.7 million last year. Farmers nationwide could produce a record 3.82 billion bushels, up from last year's 3.29 billon.
“The markets were expecting huge crops, and the report certainly supports that assessment,” said Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of the Purdue University College of Agriculture. “Overall good weather across the nation has provided just about ideal growing conditions.”
