County Soybean Yields Compared in US

2022's Best and Worst County Soybean Yields

Katie Micik Dehlinger
By  Katie Micik Dehlinger , Farm Business Editor
The national average soybean yield was 49.5 bushels per acre in 2022. Counties shaded green had yields that were higher than the national average, while those in red came in below average. (DTN map by Kathryn Myers)

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (DTN) -- When it comes to the nation's leading soybean-producing counties, Illinois claimed every spot in the Top 10. The state's average soybean yield for 2022 -- 63 bushels per acre (bpa) -- was 4.6 bpa higher than Iowa.

Only three non-Illinois counties made it into the Top 20. Two of those came from Iowa counties that border Illinois: Scott at 69.1 bpa and Dubuque at 68.6 bpa. Indiana's Decatur County, to the southeast of Indianapolis, also made it into the Top 20 with an average yield of 68.3 bpa.

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This pattern is different than what was found in an examination of county corn yields, which had several counties in Idaho and Colorado make it into the Top 10. You can read more about those findings here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

One pattern that is consistent between the two crops is that the worst yields were found in Southern Plains states suffering through drought conditions: Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Labette County, Kansas, and Grant County, Oklahoma, show up on the list of worst yields for both corn and soybeans, while Illinois' Stark and Macon counties made it onto the Top 10 list for both crops.

For context, we've included the number of planted acres. A few of the counties on the list with the lowest average yields had more planted acreage than some of the highest-yielding counties.

10 BEST COUNTY SOYBEAN YIELDS
COUNTY STATE YIELD ACREAGE
1. PIATT IL 74.2 120,500
2. MACON IL 73.8 136,500
3. SANGAMON IL 72.7 184,500
4. SCOTT IL 72.1 52,500
5. LOGAN IL 71.8 153,000
6. TAZEWELL IL 71 125,000
7. STARK IL 70.8 66,200
8. MORGAN IL 70 123,000
9. CHRISTIAN IL 69.5 186,000
10. CHAMPAIGN IL 69.4 263,000

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10 WORST COUNTY SOYBEAN YIELDS
COUNTY STATE YIELD ACREAGE
1. LABETTE KS 9.3 75,200
2. HARPER KS 9.4 25,800
3. COWLEY KS 9.5 89,800
4. WASHINGTON OK 9.7 7,500
5. MAYES OK 10.7 3,400
6. MONTGOMERY KS 10.7 66,900
7. NEOSHO KS 11.1 61,600
8. NOBLE OK 11.2 30,200
9. GRANT OK 11.7 81,500
10. LAMAR TX 12 16,500

Katie Dehlinger can be reached at katie.dehlinger@dtn.com

Follow her on Twitter @KatieD_DTN

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Katie Dehlinger