When deciding what to plant this year, more farmers than normal chose to side with soybeans. While planted corn acres are at their lowest level since 2010, at 88.9 million acres, soybean acres have reached a new record high of 85.1 million. This is 2 percent more than last year.
Unfortunately, heavy and persistent rains in parts of the Midwest have slowed plant development. Soybean emergence is at 89 percent, which is about 5 percent behind the five-year average for this point of summer.
States like Missouri and Illinois experienced the wettest Junes on record since the National Weather Service began keeping such data in the late 1800s. Our editorial team saw many water-logged fields firsthand during trips throughout the Midwest in June and July. In fact, so much rain fell in Missouri that a third of the intended soybean crop has gone unplanted. The heavy rain has also impacted corn conditions in some locations.
Still, in several states, including Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, a record number of soybean acres were planted. Illinois leads the nation in soybean acreage this year, with 10.1 million acres. That's 300,000 more acres than last year.
And, even though overall corn acres were down, the number of acres planted in 2015 across the nation sits as the sixth highest level on record. What the weather decides to do for the rest of the growing season will dictate yields and the number of acres actually harvested come fall.
