Field of soy dreams
Thursday, Jun 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* 2024 soybean cropland via NASA…
* More from NASA…
In Illinois, soybeans are big business. The state’s farmers harvested 64 bushels per acre in 2024, producing a record 688 million bushels of the versatile legume. The plant’s protein-rich beans are widely used as food for both livestock and people, as well as for the production of biodiesel and other industrial products.
The map above depicts data from the Cropland Data Layer, an annual, geo-referenced, crop-specific land cover dataset created by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) for the contiguous United States. It uses data collected by Landsat satellites and Sentinel-2 to identify crop types. The elevation data layered onto the image comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Areas classified as soybean fields in 2024 are light green. Farmers in the Midwest often grow soybeans in rotation with other crops, usually corn and wheat.
The 2024 soybean harvest in Illinois was the nation’s largest, amounting to 16 percent of the total U.S. crop. A harvest of that scale supports tens of thousands of jobs and generates roughly $7 billion in economic output. Iowa trailed closely with 597 million bushels, followed by Indiana and Minnesota with 341 million and 329 million bushels, respectively.
Illinois growers benefit from having access to fertile soils, flat terrain that enables easy harvesting, and convenient transportation options and processing facilities. Soybeans are grown widely, with the exception of the Chicago area and the hilly region in the southern part of the state. McLean County, in east central Illinois, had the largest harvest of any U.S. county in 2024, producing 22.6 million bushels.
Illinois is also an important hub of agricultural innovation and research. Through the NASA Acres consortium, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is working with other universities on 14 programs designed to convert satellite data into useful information for farmers.
For instance, University of Illinois researcher Kaiyu Guan, chief scientist for NASA Acres, is leading an effort to combine satellite data with ground sampling and hyperspectral imaging to determine the optimal nitrogen levels for crops. Guan and colleagues recently released an online calculator—the Maximum Return To Nitrogen (MRTN) Tool—designed to help Illinois farmers maximize profit while minimizing environmental problems.
Pretty neat.
* Farm Week Now…
Of the 62 reporting counties in Illinois for 2024, more than half (37) averaged 200-plus bushels per acre for corn and more than a quarter (16) averaged 70-plus bushels per acre for soybeans. Statewide, yields averaged 217 bushels per acre for corn and 64 bushels for beans last year.
“If you think about the year weather-wise, it wasn’t the greatest,” [Brad Summa, regional director of field operations for the NASS Heartland Regional Office in St. Louis,] said. “It seems like we had just enough good weather to keep the crops going and on pace for these incredible yields.”
County corn yields in 2024 ranged from a high of 248 bushels per acre in Sangamon County to a low of 144.9 bushels in Williamson. Soybean yields ranged from a high of 77.8 bushels per acre in Macon County to a low of 43 bushels in Williamson.
McLean County once again led the state and nation for total production of corn (76.2 million bushels) and soybeans (22.6 million bushels) in 2024.
- Amalia - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 12:25 pm:
they need a followup view…for pumpkins. we are, after all, the pumpkin state
- Nano - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 12:30 pm:
Do we grow any food people eat?
- very old soil - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 12:37 pm:
The MRTN has been used for more than 15 years. It was developed at Iowa State University in collaboration with the land grant universities in the midwest.
- Cool Papa Bell - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 12:42 pm:
=Do we grow any food people eat?
If you eat chicken, or eggs, or pork or beef we sure do. What do you think all those animals eat?
But the fact of the matter is Illinois grows a ton of food that we “eat”
- short stuff are beans tall stuff is corn - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 12:48 pm:
Nano
spoken like a true person who knows nothing about beans
they were used in WW2 yo make license plates can be used to make ink, clothing and food. Tofu is made from beans. You can flavor beans to taste like beef, chicken and fish. It is the most versatile of all plant based food.
- Leatherneck - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 1:01 pm:
I would not be surprised if Pat Quinn uses the above map as a screensaver. Or has it framed.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 1:06 pm:
The bushels per acre number seems more appropriate to measure productivity by county. McLean County is the largest in the state, so it’s total productivity is not surprising.
- Baloneymous - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 1:27 pm:
What a cool map. hope they do one for corn. where I live I’m literally surrounded by corn fields, and beans too. With all the trees, woodland and crops with all this rain, it is nothing but green everywhere.
- No require - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 1:36 pm:
Baloneymous -
Go to the data, at the link Cropland Data Layer above.
You can zoom in on your property. You can also change the layers and see corn.
- Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 1:43 pm:
I saw an interesting, uninformed meme on the socials this week stating that we need to stop importing crops from China and buy them from American farmers. As a comedian once said, “you can’t fix stupid.”
- JS Mill - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 1:54 pm:
=McLean County is the largest in the state, so it’s total productivity is not surprising.=
If you farm in and around McLean county and you are not yielding 220 plus per acre, you don’t go to the coffee shop. They will make fun of you. I have seen this in action, it is pretty funny. Mean, but funny. Central Illinois yields are crazy good.
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 2:39 pm:
===Do we grow any food people eat?
May I introduce you to a food of the gods: Edamame
=== I have seen this in action, it is pretty funn
It was weird moving away and hearing what people thought was a good yield.
- SAP - Thursday, Jun 12, 25 @ 4:49 pm:
Soy Boy was here.