Corn for grain production in Wisconsin during 2020 is estimated at 517 million bushels, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Production 2020 Summary report. This estimate is down 3% from the November 1 forecast but up 17% from 2019. Wisconsin’s corn for grain yield is estimated at 174 bushels per acre, 10 bushels below the November 1 forecast. Area harvested for grain is estimated at 2.97 million acres, up 70,000 acres from the November 1 forecast and 300,000 acres above 2019. Corn planted for all purposes in 2020 is estimated at 4.00 million acres, the same as the November 1 estimate and up 5% from 2019.
Corn for silage production is estimated at 20.4 million tons, up 12% from 2019. The silage yield estimate of 21.0 tons per acre is 3.5 tons higher than 2019. Producers harvested 970,000 acres of corn for silage, a decrease of 70,000 acres from 2019.
Soybean production is estimated at 100 million bushels in 2020, down 4.47 million bushels from the November 1 forecast but 26% above 2019. Wisconsin soybean growers averaged 51.0 bushels per acre in 2020, down 2.0 bushels from the November 1 forecast but 4.0 bushels above the 2019 yield. The harvested acreage of 1.97 million is down 10,000 acres from November 1 but up 280,000 acres from 2019. Soybean planted acreage, at 2.00 million acres, is up 14% from 2019.
All dry hay production for the state is estimated at 3.48 million tons, up 25% from 2.78 million tons in 2019. Producers averaged 2.54 tons per acre, up from 2.14 tons per acre in 2019. All hay harvested acres are estimated at 1.37 million acres, up 70,000 acres from 2019.
Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures for dry hay production is estimated at 2.69 million tons, up 27% from 2.11 million tons in 2019. Producers averaged 3.20 tons per acre, up from 2.40 tons per acre in 2019. Harvested acres, at 840,000, were down 40,000 acres from 2019. Wisconsin producers seeded 400,000 acres of new seedings of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures in 2020, down 80,000 acres from the previous year.
Other dry hay production is estimated at 795,000 tons, 18% above 2019. Producers averaged 1.50 tons per acre, down from 1.60 tons per acre in 2019. Harvested acres of other hay, at 530,000, were up 110,000 acres from the previous year.
Potato production for 2020 is estimated at 27.8 million cwt, down 3% from 2019. Yield is estimated at 400 cwt per acre, down 10 cwt per acre from last year. Planted and harvested acres are estimated at 70,000 acres and 69,500 acres, respectively.
