The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reported the final numbers for crop year 2022. According to the USDA, the top eleven U.S. counties for soybean yield per acre were all in Illinois when measured on a county-by-county basis. In central Illinois’ Piatt County, farmers brought in 74.2 bushels of beans per acre. Other high-ranking soybean yield counties, headed by Decatur’s Macon and Springfield’s Sangamon, are also located in Central Illinois.
With regards to Illinois’ 2022 corn crop, Illinois counties took America’s #1 through #5 honors in terms of total production in bushels. With 71 million bushels of corn produced, Bloomington-Normal’s McLean County grew more corn than any other county in the 50 states. The nation’s top-five corn list also included Iroquois, Livingston, and LaSalle counties, and was rounded out by Champaign-Urbana’s Champaign County.
In terms of statewide figures, Illinois was #1 among the 50 states in total soybeans grown and was #2 to longtime rival Iowa in total corn production.