INDIANAPOLIS — Farmers rebounding from the ravaging drought of 2012 are projected to harvest a record amount of corn and a third-highest yield of soybeans nationwide, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Monday (Aug. 12). Indiana farmers are expected to bring in their second-highest bounty of corn.

“To say what a difference a year makes is a huge understatement. It's a big difference this year,” said Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Purdue Agriculture, at the Indiana State Fair, where a panel of agricultural experts analyzed the USDA's August crop production report, the first look at expected harvests for 2013. The panel was organized by Purdue Extension.

Indiana, which was among the first states in the country to emerge from the drought – some states farther west are still in it – is forecast to produce 979.4 million bushels of corn on yield of 166 bushels per acre, compared with 596.9 million on 99 last year. The production would be shy of a record of 980 million bushels set in 2007.

Indiana farmers are projected to bring in 261.5 million bushels of soybeans on an average yield of 50 per acre, compared with last year's 223.5 million on 43.5.