Corn and soybean production on the rise

COLUMBIA — As Columbia urbanizes, it’s easy to think farming in Boone County is slowly coming to an end. However, there are 10,900 more acres being farmed now than there were 63 years ago. Production of the county’s two main crops, corn and soybeans, has been up and down. With record prices for crops, county farmers are now hoping to produce record yields.

In 1919, the earliest year of available data, Boone County farmers produced 2.7 million bushels of corn. Not until 2000 did farmers match that output. In 2004, Boone County produced a record 4 million bushels of corn.

Soybean production has increased steadily.
In 1944, the earliest year of available data, farmers produced 96,200 bushels of soybeans. By 1949, production surpassed 100,000 bushels and continued to increased dramatically until it passed 1 million bushels in 1970.

With a few low spots, production stayed around 1 million bushels from 1977 until 2007 and peaked in 2004 at 1.99 million bushels. In 2007, soybean production was back to 1.2 million bushels.

Source: www.nass.usda.gov