ILLINOIS
FARM REPORT

RELEASED: March 26, 2001 IFR-01-04

Illinois
Agricultural
Statistics Service

P.O. Box 19283, Springfield, IL 62794
Phone: (217) 492-4295
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Illinois Department of Agriculture
http://www.agr.state.il.us/agstats.htm

VOL. 22, NO. 4

Highlights
Crop Values
Farm Labor
Number of Farms
Layers & Egg Production
Agricultural Prices
Milk Production

CROP VALUES

SEASON AVERAGE PRICE & VALUE OF PRODUCTION OF PRINCIPAL CROPS, ILLINOIS & UNITED STATES, 1998-2000
Crop	Illinois			United States
Crop	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
	- Price in dollars per unit, value in thousand dollars -
Corn for Grain
Season avg. price per bushel	2.04	1.91	1.90	1.94	1.82	1.85
Value of production	3,005,838	2,847,810	3,170,245	18,922,084	17,103,991	18,621,160
Soybeans for Beans
Season avg. price per bushel	5.01	4.75	4.85	4.93	4.63	4.75
Value of production	2,325,642	2,104,725	2,230,030	13,493,891	12,205,352	13,073,497
Winter Wheat for Grain
Season avg. price per bushel	2.35	2.11	2.20	2.52	2.29	2.55
Value of production	135,360	127,866	115,368	4,740,361	3,870,955	3,986,686
Sorghum for Grain
Season avg. price per bushel	1.90	1.79	1.85	1.66	1.57	1.75
Value of production	15,044	16,495	14,939	905,468	937,406	822,598
Oats for Grain
Season avg. price per bushel	1.52	1.30	1.30	1.10	1.10	1.05
Value of production	5,958	5,538	5,220	199,748	169,576	164,555
Alfalfa Hay
Season avg. price per bushel	89.50	84.00	84.00	88.10	80.20	87.00
Value of production	225,540	168,000	159,600	6,951,140	6,338,797	6,505,437
Other Hay
Season avg. price per ton	66.00	62.00	64.00	71.80	66.80	69.00
Value of production	57,750	45,570	49,280	4,655,594	4,675,576	4,674,265
Potatoes - Summer
Season avg. price per ton	5.25	5.20	5.30	5.56	5.77	4.95
Value of production	7,460	8,554	9,832	2,635,279	2,745,712	2,539,561
Sweet Corn - Processing
Season avg. price per ton	90.10	96.20	110.00	73.30	71.10	73.40
Value of production	8,231	9,293	10,968	238,748	234,418	231,600
Sweet Corn - Fresh Market
Season avg. price per cwt.	17.60	20.50	23.50	17.20	17.20	18.30
Value of production	9,328	10,886	12,502	452,410	443,276	474,016
Snap Beans - Processing
Season avg. price per ton	201.00	197.00	243.00	172.00	173.00	163.00
Value of production	7,857	9,756	11,225	125,373	134,501	136,098
Pumpkins - Fresh Market and Processing
Season avg. price per cwt.	1/	1/	3.37	1/	1/	11.40
Value of production	1/	1/	12,267	1/	1/	101,597
Apples - Commercial Crop 2/
Season avg. price per pound	0.186	0.214	0.284	0.122	0.148	0.150
Value of production	6,500	9,109	10,377	1,316,172	1,549,815	1,553,536
Peaches - Total Crop 2/
Season avg. price per pound	0.433	0.389	0.412	0.192	0.190	0.196
Value of production	5,846	6,613	8,240	446,534	462,836	495,067
1/ Not estimated. 2/ Utilized production.

FARM LABOR

HIRED WORKERS: NUMBER & HOURS WORKED, BY REGIONS, JANUARY 7-13, 2001 1/
REGION 2/	Hired
	Number of workers	Expected to be employed		Number of hours worked
	Number of workers	150 day or more	149 days or less	Number of hours worked
	Thousands
LAKE	38	34	4	34.6
CORNBELT I	34	29	5	36.9
CORNBELT II	14	13	1	37.3
U.S.	678	560	118	36.9

HIRED WORKERS: WAGE RATES FOR TYPE OF WORKERS & ALL HIRED WORKERS, BY REGIONS, JANUARY 7-13, 2001 1/
REGION 2/	Type of worker			Wage rates for all hired workers
REGION 2/	Field	Livestock	Field & livestock combined	Wage rates for all hired workers
	Dollars per hour
LAKE	9.12	8.26	8.57	9.53
CORNBELT I	8.58	9.06	8.88	10.10
CORNBELT II	7.86	8.61	8.49	9.05
U.S.	7.71	8.09	7.85	8.65
1/ Excludes agricultural service workers. 2/ Regions consist of the following: LAKE: MI, MN, WI; CORNBELT I: IL, IN, OH; CORNBELT II: IA, MO; UNITED STATES: Excludes Alaska.

NUMBER OF FARMS

The number of farms in Illinois for 2000 is 78,000, a decrease from the 1999 estimate of 79,000. The decrease was distributed between the small farms (sales less than $10,000 a year) and the medium-sizedfarms (sales between $10,000 and $100,000 a year), each dropping 500. The number of large farms (sales greater than $100,000 a year) remained unchanged at 24,000.

NUMBER OF FARMS BY ECONOMIC SALES CLASS, ILLINOIS, 1998-2000
Year	$1,000 to $9,999	$10,000 to $99,999	$100,000 and over	Total
	Number
2000	28,000	26,000	24,000	78,000
1999	28,500	26,500	24,000	79,000
1998	27,700	27,800	23,500	79,000

LAYERS AND EGG PRODUCTION

LAYERS & EGG PRODUCTION, ILLINOIS & UNITED STATES, DECEMBER 2000-FEBRUARY 2001
	Illinois
	December		January		February 1/
	1999	2000	2000	2001	2000	2001
Average Number of Layers on hand (thousand)	3,432	3,387	3,511	3,036	3,607	2,946

Eggs produced (million)	80	73	77	65	75	59
	United States
Average Number of Layers on hand (thousand)	328,828	331,962	328,557	333,283	329,843	335,538

Eggs produced (million)	7,279	7,279	7,157	7,217	6,648	6,519
1/ Preliminary.

AGRICULTURAL PRICES

February prices received by Illinois farmers for all commodities decreased to 79 percent of the base. This is two points less than the revised January figure but two points above February 2000. The current year's base is computed by multiplying the average production for the five-year period by the average price for each year. These five years are summed and then divided by five to arrive at an average (base) for the period. The current five-year average production is then multiplied by the current price and divided by the average for the five years to arrive at the current index. The February All Crops index, at 72 percent of the base, is three points below the revised January number, and is unchanged from February 2000. Prices decreased for corn, soybeans and wheat. The All Livestock index is at 102 percent of the base, one point higher than the revised January figure. The price of all livestock increased in all categories; all hogs, barrows and gilts, all cattle, calves and steers and heifers. The hog-corn ratio is at 19.2.

The U.S. preliminary All Farm Products Index of Prices Received in February was 99 based on 1990-92=100, up two points from the January index. Higher prices for lettuce, broilers, oranges and hogs were partially offset by lower prices for strawberries, soybeans, corn and tomatoes. Compared with February 2000, the All Farm Products Index was six points higher. Price increases from February 2000 for cattle, lettuce, milk and broilers were partially offset by lower prices for soybeans, corn, grapefruit and potatoes.

INDEX OF PRICES RECEIVED BY FARMERS
Commodity	Jan. 2000	Feb. 2000	Jan. 2001	Feb. 15, 2001
ILLINOIS	1994-98=100		1995-99=100
All Farm Products	77	77	81*	79
All Crops	72	72	75*	72
Food grains	60	65	68*	70
Feed grains/hay	73	73	77*	74
Soybeans	71	72	74*	71
All Livestock	91	93	101*	102
Meat animals	93	96	105*	106
Dairy products	84	81	83*	83

UNITED STATES	1990-92=100
Prices Received	91	93	97*	99
All Crops	89	92	94*	97
Food grains	85	85	93*	91
Feed grains/hay	84	88	89*	89
Oilseeds	82	86	84*	78
All Livestock	94	94	100*	102
Meat animals	90	91	97*	98
Dairy products	92	90	101*	100
Prices Paid	118	119	124*	126
Parity Ratio 1/	77	78	78*	79
1/ Prices received index divided by prices paid index. * Revised.

PRICES RECEIVED BY FARMERS 1/
Commodity	Unit	Illinois				United States
Commodity	Unit	Jan. 2000	Feb. 2000	Jan. 2001	Feb. 15, 2001	Jan. 2000	Feb. 2000	Jan. 2001	Feb. 15, 2001
		Dollars
Corn	Bushels	1.97	2.03	1.97*	1.95	1.91	1.98	1.98*	1.92
Soybeans	Bushels	4.74	4.87	4.74*	4.50	4.62	4.79	4.68*	4.37
Sorghum	Cwt.	3.44	3.69	3.48*	3.70	2.86	3.06	3.37*	3.39
Wheat, all	Bushels	2.27	2.36	2.39*	2.35	2.51	2.54	2.85*	2.83
Oats	Bushels	1.30	1.10	1.50	1.50	1.20	1.27	1.20*	1.21
Hay, all baled	Tons	81.00	82.00	84.00	84.00	72.90	74.30	84.90*	86.80
Alfalfa hay, bld	Tons	85.00	87.00	89.00	89.00	76.00	77.00	91.30*	94.20
Other hay, bld	Tons	63.00	64.00	66.00	64.00	66.10	68.40	69.50*	71.20
Hogs, all	Cwt.	35.50	39.00	36.10*	37.40	36.80	39.90	37.20*	38.60
Barrows, Gilts	Cwt.	35.70	39.30	36.60*	38.00	37.00	40.10	37.60*	39.20
Sows	Cwt.	32.90	35.70	30.70*	30.80	32.80	36.00	31.20*	30.40
Beef cattle	Cwt.	66.90	67.00	76.20*	76.30	67.80	67.60	74.80*	74.70
Cows	Cwt.	33.20	35.00	37.50	40.40	35.90	37.10	39.00*	41.50
Steers, Heifers	Cwt.	67.60	67.70	77.00*	77.00	71.60	71.00	79.30*	78.40
Calves	Cwt.	114.00	117.00	109.00	111.00	103.00	105.00	108.00*	108.00
Milk cows	Head	1,300.00	2/	1,250.00	2/	1,330.00	2/	1,320.00*	2/
Milk, all	Cwt.	11.30	11.00	11.80*	11.50	12.00	11.80	13.20*	13.10
Milk, fluid	Cwt.	11.30	11.00	11.80	3/	12.00	11.90	13.20*	13.10
Milk, mfg.	Cwt.	11.20	10.80	11.80	3/	10.70	10.20	10.90*	11.10
Hog-corn ratio		18.0	19.2	18.3*	19.2	19.3	20.2	18.8*	20.1
1/ Prices received represents the average of all grades or classes at point of first sale and should not be confused with market quotations. 2/ Estimated in January, April, July and October. 3/ State prices not published. * Revised.

MILK PRODUCTION

Milk production during 2000 in Illinois totaled 2.09 billion pounds, up three percent from 1999. The number of milk cows on farms averaged 120,000, two percent fewer than 1999. Annual production per cow, at 17,450 pounds in 2000, increased nearly six percent from the previous year.

U.S. milk production during 2000 totaled 167.7 billion pounds, up three percent from the previous year. The production per cow, at 18,204, was two percent above the 1999 rate. The average number of milk cows, at 9.21 million head in 2000, was 54,000 head more than the previous year.

In January, 2001, milk production in Illinois totaled 173 million pounds, down seven million pounds from last year. The number of milk cows on farms averaged 118,000 head, down 2,000 from this same time in 2000. Milk per cow averaged two percent lower than a year ago, decreasing to 1,470 pounds.

Milk production during January in the 20 major States totaled 12.1 billion pounds, down two percent from January 2000. Production per cow averaged 1,550 pounds during January 2001, 29 pounds fewer than in January 2000. There was an average of 7.79 million head of milk cows in the 20 States during January 2001, up 27,000 head from 2000.

MILK PRODUCTION, ILLINOIS & UNITED STATES, JANUARY-DECEMBER 1999-2000
		Illinois			United States
		1999	2000	2000 as % of 1999	1999	2000	2000 as % of 1999
Milk Production:
Number of milk cows	Head (000)	123	120	98	9,156	9,210	101
Milk production per cow	Lbs.	16,496	17,450	106	17,772	18,204	102
Total milk production	Mil. lbs.	2,029	2,094	103	162,716	167,658	103

MILK PRODUCTION, ILLINOIS & 20 STATES, JANUARY 2000-2001
		Illinois			20 States
		2000	2001	2001 as % of 2000	2000	2001	2001 as % of 2000
Milk Production:
Number of milk cows	Head (000)	120	118	98	7,764	7,791	100
Milk production per cow	Lbs.	1,500	1,470	98	1,579	1,550	98
Total milk production	Mil. lbs.	180	173	96	12,259	12,073	98

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World Wide Web

The Illinois Agricultural Statistics Service has a home page at:

http://www.agr.state.il.us/agstats.htm
The NASS headquarters office home page can be found at:

http://www.usda.gov/nass/
There you can find reports issued by NASS as well as links to state statistical offices. You will also find many charts showing long term trends in agriculture.

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