Naig comments on crop production summary

   Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented on the 2024 Iowa Crop Production Annual Summary released by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

   The national summary and state summaries are released in January each year.

   “Iowa’s resilient farmers battled another year of rollercoaster weather conditions,” said Secretary Naig.

   “The spring started with the lingering historic drought and a record number of tornadoes, summer brought devastating floods and other severe weather, and dry conditions led to an uninterrupted fall harvest. Despite those challenges, Iowa’s hardworking and innovative farmers once again produced another robust corn and soybean crop.

   “Strong productivity must be met with strong market demand. The combination of low commodity prices and high input costs means Iowa’s ag economy remains soft. We must continue to build new and expand existing markets for our products and that will remain my focus in the year ahead.”

   At 211 bushels per acre and 2.63 billion bushels of production, this year’s Iowa corn crop ranks as the highest ever yield and second largest production in state history and helped drive the national corn yield of 179.3 bushels per acre to an all-time record.

   At 60 bushels per acre and 598 million bushels of production, this year’s soybean crop ranked as the third highest yield and second highest production in Iowa history.