Farm

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s final fall crop summary and grain stocks report was issued recently. The highlights for Illinois follow.
Corn
Production of corn for grain totaled 1.95 billion bushels in 2010, 5 percent less than was produced in 2009. The final yield was a disappointing 157 bushels per acre, 17 bushels below the previous year. There were 12.6 million acres planted to corn in Illinois in 2010, with 12.4 million acres harvested for grain.

Jan. 31 is deadline  for livestock losses

Qualified Illinois livestock owners with 2010 losses must file an application for payment no later than Jan. 31, according to Farm Service Agency officials.

The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides assistance to eligible livestock owners and contract growers for eligible livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather,  including losses due to floods, blizzards, disease, wildfires, extreme heat and extreme cold.

ILLINOIS
Corn stocks in Illinois on Dec. 1 totaled 1.72 billion bushels, down 8 percent from a year earlier. On-farm stocks, at 980 million bushels, accounted for 57 percent of the total stocks. Off-farm stocks, at 741 million bushels, were up 9 percent from 2009.
Early harvest and higher prices for corn gave farmers the incentive to move the corn to market faster than usual. This was true for all grains and oil seeds this quarter.

The sales of food crops grown under protection in the United States more than doubled in the last decade as U.S. horticultural operations are becoming more diverse and taking advantage of newly emerging agricultural trends, according to results of the 2009 Census of Horticultural Specialties released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.