Despite the heavy drought last summer, the corn and soybean production reached average totals in Illinois last year. The soybean production ranked just below Iowa, which had the highest production nationally.

“The drought throughout the state impacted corn more than soybeans,” said Jeff Squibb, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Agriculture. “The drought occurred at a critical time of development for corn.”

The rainfall in August helped soybeans.

“The anticipation was that the corn crop would be devastated,” Squibb said. But the corn crop only decreased 14 percent from 2004.

The individual numbers for each county’s production in 2005 have not been calculated by the United States Department of Agriculture yet, but on Jan. 12, the Illinois Department of Agriculture released the statewide production totals for corn and soybeans. The soybean production totaled more than 444 million bushels, and the corn production totaled 1.7 billion bushels. Per acre, the Illinois yield of soybeans was 47 bushels. Illinois corn yielded 143 bushels.

Iowa ranked first in the production of soybeans with more than 532 million bushels last year. Iowa also produced the most corn with 2.2 billion bushels.

In 2004, the record corn harvest hit 2.1 billion bushels of corn. The soybean harvest last year was 500 million bushels.

These numbers are statewide averages, but the drought affected some farmers worse than others, Squibb said.

Darrel Rice, a farmer in Philo Township, Ill., said he was surprised his production of corn and soybeans were on target for his ten-year average.

He said he attributes his production to seed technology and “God’s good grace.”

In 2005, Rice’s corn production was 160 bushels, just below his average of 165 bushels.

Rice grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa. He rotates the corn and soybeans every year.

In 2005, the rainfall was one-half of the usual amount, Rice said.

Because of the improvement in seed technology, Squibb said the genetics of corn seed has made the crop drought- resistant.

“Our seed is much more drought resistant than my grandfather’s,” Rice said.

The Rice family has owned the land around his home for five generations.

Squibb said farmers were also able to plant their corn early last year because of the weather conditions.

Mark Lambert, communications director of the Illinois Corn Grower Association, said farmers stored some corn to service their customers, but when the higher than expected yields came in, they had to store some corn on the ground.

The majority of Champaign County is farmed, according to the county’s Web site. The Illinois Department of Agriculture states that Illinois comprises 76,000 farms, which cover more than 28 million acres or nearly 80 percent of the state’s total land area.

The soil, the geography of the land and the amount of rain all combine to make Illinois a good area to farm, said Karen Hertz, information director at the Champaign County Farm Bureau.

The farmers already are watching the amount of snow and rain to determine how next year’s yields will go, Lambert said. The top of the soil has enough moisture right now, but the roots of the crop will go much deeper.