CANTON, Miss. – Farmers are expected to have an all-time record yield for field corn this year in Mississippi. According to Danny Murphy, 2014 Sun Belt Farmer of the year, weather conditions over the summer were nearly perfect for growing corn, especially on his farm in Canton.
“We were later planting than normal because of all the rainfall in April, but that also meant that we went into the year with a full soil profile of water and then we just had really good rainfall in both May, and June, and the first part of July – rainfall – there is an old saying about ‘rain makes grain’ and I think that really applies this year,” said Murphy.
This year the U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting record of 180 bushels per acre (bushel = 56 lbs of shelled corn.) Murphy believes the record before was 164. He says this year should be a record breaking yield for soybeans too.
Despite the high volume of corn, Murphy says farmers are still expected to face a decline in revenue, because corn prices have seen a nearly 40% decline since last year. He also says consumer prices are not expected to see much of a change either.
