Record High Yields Predicted for Alabama

BY MAX W. RUNGE

As Alabama farmers are finishing the 2020 harvest for corn, soybeans, cotton and peanuts, it’s always interesting to see how the crops turned out, how the current year’s yield compared to the last few years’ and how do our yields and production (yield times acres) compare to our past. While it’s still too soon to know the final statewide yields, early indications are that Alabama’s row crop farmers had a good production year.

The United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Production report has predicted that Alabama will have near record high yields. Table 1 has the 2020 estimated yields, 2015-2019 annual yields, and the five-year average.

If the 2020 yield estimate holds for Alabama producers, the peanut yield would be the highest yield on record with corn and cotton producing the second highest yields, and soybeans would be the top 10 for the highest yield. We are above the 2015-2019 fiveyear average yields for all crops. Again, these are only projected yields and the actual yields will be different.

Table 1

What does the historical picture of Alabama yields, acres and production look like? It’s interesting to look back to see how Alabama row crop production has changed. Looking at 1995, 1970 and 1945 production numbers allows us to see changes that have occurred over time. It should be noted that looking at a single year doesn’t provide a totally accurate picture of what was happening during a specific year but does provide an overview.

Alabama Corn Production

Alabama’s corn harvest gives us the second highest yield and the third highest production since 1866. Corn yields have increased over a factor of 10 in 75 years while acres have decreased by a factor of 7.5.

Alabama Cotton Production

Cotton acres in Alabama vary from year to year, depending not only on the price of cotton but on the price of alternative crops. From 1945 until 2020, cotton acres have declined, and yields have increased to produce the same amount of cotton on one-third of the acres.

Alabama Peanut Production

A projected record high peanut yield in Alabama results in the third highest production. Peanut acres for the last 10 years have been steady but are still almost a third of the acres in 1945 while resulting in almost twice the production.

Alabama Soybean Production

Alabama soybeans have increased dramatically since 1945 but we currently plant about half of the acreage that we had in the 1970s. Alabama farmers swap soybean acres for cotton acres, depending on price.

“Despite all our achievements, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains” is a quote that is attributed to the Farm Equipment Association of Minnesota and South Dakota but serves as a subtle reminder that we have a lot of faith in our food production. Alabama and U.S. farmers take large financial risks each year to produce the food and fiber that we enjoy so abundantly. As we look back over our harvest, we are reminded to be thankful for all that we have.

“Despite all our achievements we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.”