ILLINOIS
FARM REPORT

OCTOBER CROP REPORT

Illinois corn for grain is expected to yield 146 bushels per acre. This is six bushels above the September 1 estimate and five bushels above the 1998 yield. If realized, total production would equal 1.555 billion bushels. This is six percent above last year, and the largest production since 1994, and would be the third highest yield and production on record. Continued dry weather throughout September allowed corn harvest to progress quickly this year. As of October 3, 43 percent of the crop had been harvested. This compares to 31 percent for 1998 and 18 percent for the five-year average.

The October 1 forecast yield for soybeans is 42 bushels per acre, down one bushel from the September forecast, and two bushels below last year's yield. The expected production is 451.5 million bushels, three percent below last year's record 464.2 million bushels. September weather brought little rain across the state until late in the month. The southern region of the state continued to get missed by the rain showers and is still the most moisture deficient area in the state. Temperatures across the state were cooler than normal during the month. The crop has matured slightly ahead of normal and harvest began by mid-month. By October 3, 90 percent of the crop was shedding leaves, and 34 percent was harvested, similar to last year at 83 and 34 percent respectively and slightly ahead of the five-year average at 83 and 31 percent respectively.

The yield of sorghum for grain is forecast at 77 bushels per acre, unchanged from the September 1 forecast but three bushels above the 1998 yield. Production is expected to total 7.5 million bushels from an acreage of 97 thousand expected to be harvested for grain. The estimated production is six percent lower than in 1998.

The final yield estimate for the 1999 winter wheat crop is 60 bushels per acre, 12 bushels above last year's yield of 48, but one bushel below the record yield set in 1997. Acreage seeded in the fall of 1998 was 1.05 million, down 16 percent from the 1.25 million acres seeded in 1997. Farmers harvested 1.01 million acres for grain this year resulting in total production of 60.6 million bushels. This was a five percent increase from the 1998 production of 57.6 million bushels. The development of the crop was rapid this year with mild temperatures and excess moisture this spring. By July 11, 92 percent of the crop had been harvested, the highest percent harvested for that date since 1991 when 99 percent of the crop had been harvested.

The final oats estimate for 1999 places the production at 4.26 million bushels, nine percent above the 1998 production. Acreage harvested for grain, at 60 thousand, was 14 percent below 1998. The final yield, at 71 bushels per acre, was 15 bushels above last year.

The October 1 estimate for alfalfa hay yield is 3.9 tons per acre, up 0.3 ton from the August estimate but down 0.3 ton from the yield of 1998. Total production would be 1.95 million tons, down 23 percent from 1998. An estimated 500 thousand acres were cut in 1999, 17 percent below 1998.

All other hay production is estimated at 875 thousand tons, the same as last year. The yield of 2.5 tons per acre is 0.1 ton below the August estimate but equal to 1998. Harvested acreage, at 350 thousand, is unchanged from last year.

UNITED STATES CROP PRODUCTION

Corn for grain production is forecast at 9.47 billion bushels, up one percent from last month but down three percent from 1998. Based on October 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 133.5 bushels per acre, up 1.3 bushels from last month but down 0.9 bushels from a year ago. Acreage harvested and to be harvested for grain is forecast at 70.9 million acres, down 30,000 acres from last month and two percent from 1998. The October 1 Corn Objective Yield data indicate a record level ear count for the seven objective yield states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin). The previous record ears per acre was set in 1998. As of October 3, 94 percent of the acreage was reported mature in the 17 major states. This compares with 95 percent last year and 84 percent for the five-year average. Twenty-nine percent of the acreage was harvested, equal to one year ago but ahead of the five-year average of 19 percent. Temperatures were below normal in some areas of the Corn Belt, but generally dry weather provided ideal ripening conditions and allowed rapid harvest progress. The northern Corn Belt experienced frost in late-September, but little corn was damaged due to the advanced maturity of the crop.

Soybean production is forecast at 2.70 billion bushels, down three percent from September 1 and down two percent from last year's record of 2.74 billion bushels. The yield forecast, at 37.0 bushels per acre, decreased 0.9 bushels from last month and is 1.9 bushels below the 1998 final yield. Growers expect to harvest 72.8 million acres of soybeans, up three percent from 1998 but down one percent from the Septemberforecast. Acres expected for harvest were decreased by 475,000 acres in nine states due to abandonment or harvested for hay. The states with the largest acreage reductions are North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. As of October 3, the percent of the soybeans dropping leaves had reached 88 percent, one percentage point ahead of 1998 and ahead of the 82 percent five-year average. Crop maturity was most advanced in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio, where 96 percent or more of the crop had already dropped leaves. Despite some delays caused by rain, soybean harvest was progressing well ahead of normal as of October 3, with 32 percent of the acreage harvested, six percentage points ahead of normal but six percentage points behind last year's pace. Harvest was over 50 percent complete in Indiana, Louisiana and Ohio and over 30 percent complete in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and Minnesota. If realized, pod counts from the October Objective Yield survey will be the highest on record in Iowa and Nebraska. All other objective yield states, except for Minnesota, were showing fewer pods than 1998 final counts.

All wheat production totaled 2.32 billion bushels in 1999, up less than one percent from the last forecast, but down nine percent from 1998. Most of the production increase from the last forecast is due to the change in winter wheat production. Grain area is 54.3 million acres, down eight percent from last year. The U.S. yield is 42.7 bushels per acre, down half a bushel from last year's record high.

CASH RECEIPTS

Cash receipts during 1998 from farm marketings of Illinois commodities decreased 14 percent from 1997 to $7.74 billion. Crop cash receipts decreased 13 percent from 1997 to $6.17 billion while livestock cash receipts decreased 18 percent to $1.58 billion. Corn accounted for 37.7 percent of the total cash receipts and totaled $2.9 billion, 13 percent less than during 1997. Cash receipts for soybeans were13 percent below 1997 to $2.64 billion and accounted for 34.1 percent of the total cash receipts. Hogs cash receipts fell to $679 million, 33 percent less than 1997 and 8.8 percent of the total. Cattle totaled $474 million, 6.1 percent of the total cash receipts and six percent below the 1997 cash receipts.

FARM PRODUCTION EXPENDITURES

U.S. farm production expenditures totaled $183.6 billion in 1998, up 0.2 percent from the revised 1997 total of $183.2 billion. The largest contributors to the increase were: trucks and autos, up 15.8 percent; tractors and self-propelled farm machinery, up 11.1 percent; seeds and plants, up 7.5 percent; and farm improvements and construction, up 5.7 percent. These increases were partially offset by decreases in: fuels, down 10.0 percent; rent, down 6.3 percent; and feed, down 4.9 percent. The largest two expenditure categories were feed and farm services; each accounted for 13.6 percent of the U.S. total production expenses. The farm services category includes expense items such as custom work, utilities, marketing charges, veterinary services, transportation costs and miscellaneous business expenses.

The Farm Production Region contributing most to total 1988 U.S. farm production expenditures was the Corn Belt with expenses of $34.8 billion, 19 percent of the U.S. total. Expenditures in the Corn Belt were up 2.7 percent from the 1997 level of $33.9 billion. In total expenditures, the Corn Belt was followed by the Pacific Region at $29.1 billion (1997 - $29.9 billion); Northern Plains $22.6 billion (1997 - $22.6 billion); Lake States $19.1 billion (1997 - $19.3 billion); and the Southern Plains at $15.6 billion (1997 - $16.0 billion).

INTERNET E-MAIL

All of the reports issued by the Washington D.C. headquarters office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are available at no charge via an e-mail subscription. Send an e-mail message to:

Be sure to include the word "list" in the body of the message. You will receive a reply containing further instructions for subscribing and a list of the available reports.

THE WORLD WIDE WEB
The Illinois Agricultural Statistics Service has a home page at:

The NASS headquarters office home page can be found at:

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.

Farm Report Schedule

NASS-IL Homepage

NASS-HQ Homepage

USDA Homepage

IDOA Homepage