In the 2023 Crop Production Summary, the National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates corn for grain production in Wisconsin at 553 million bushels.
Current year production was up 3 percent from the previous year’s 538 million bushels. NASS estimates Wisconsin’s corn for grain yield at 176 bushels per acre. The area harvested for grain was 3.14 million acres, 150,000 acres above 2022.
By comparison, in the U.S., corn for grain production in 2023 was at a record high 15.3 billion bushels, up 12 percent from the 2022 estimate. The average national yield was at a record high 177.3 bushels per acre, 3.9 bushels above the 2022 yield of 173.4 bushels per acre. Area harvested for grain was 86.5 million acres, up 10 percent from the 2022 estimate.
In Wisconsin, corn planted for all purposes in 2023 was 4 million acres.
Corn for silage production was 16.4 million tons, down 16 percent from 2022. The silage yield estimate of 21 tons per acre was down 1.5 tons per acre from 2022. Producers harvested 780,000 acres of corn for silage, down 10 percent from 2022.
Soybean production was 105 million bushels in 2023. This was down 10 percent from last year’s 116 million bushels. The Wisconsin soybean crop yielded 51 bushels per acre in 2023. The harvested acreage of 2.06 million was down 90,000 acres from 2022. Soybean planted acreage, at 2.11 million, was down 50,000 acres from 2022.
By comparison, in the U.S., soybean production in 2023 totaled 4.16 billion bushels, down 2 percent from 2022. The average yield per acre was 50.6 bushels, up 1 bushel from 2022. Harvested area, at 82.4 million acres, was down 4 percent from last year.
Wisconsin potato production for 2023 was 29.4 million cwt, up 12 percent from 2022. Producers averaged 435 cwt per acre, up 9 percent from the 2022 yield. Planted and harvested acres were 68,000 acres and 67,500 acres, respectively.
Hay
All hay production for the state was 2.24 million tons, down 25 percent from the 2.99 million tons produced in 2022. Producers averaged 2.17 tons per acre, down 0.55 tons per acre from 2022. All hay harvested acres were 1.03 million acres, down 70,000 acres from 2022.
Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures for hay production were 1.73 million tons, down 30 percent from 2022. Producers averaged 2.70 tons per acre, down 0.40 tons per acre from 2022. Harvested acres were down 160,000 from last year, to 640,000 acres. Wisconsin producers seeded 210,000 acres of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures in 2023, down 19 percent from 2022.
Other hay production was 507,000 tons, down 1 percent from 2022. Producers averaged 1.30 tons per acre, down 0.40 tons from the 2022 yield. Harvested acres of other hay, at 390,000, were up 90,000 acres from 2022.
