You know, if you spent any time driving through the Glacial Lakes region or down near the Missouri River in the summer of 2021, you probably saw it. The corn looked... tired. It was that grayish-blue tint that tells you a plant is basically holding its breath, waiting for a rain that just isn't coming.
Honestly, the numbers for south dakota corn production 2021 bushels tell a story of resilience that most folks outside of ag just don't get. We were staring down a massive drought, yet the final tally wasn't the disaster everyone predicted in July.
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The Hard Numbers: Breaking Down the 2021 Harvest
Let's just get into the grit of it. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), South Dakota farmers brought in 734.5 million bushels of corn in 2021.
Now, if you compare that to 2020, it’s actually an increase. We did about 729 million bushels the year before. You might wonder how production went up when the sky was like a brass furnace for three months. Well, it’s mostly because farmers planted a lot more. We’re talking about 5.1 million acres harvested for grain—that's a 13% jump in land use compared to 2020.
But the yield? That's where you see the scars of the 2021 season. The average yield was 144 bushels per acre.
To put that in perspective, 2020 saw 162 bushels per acre. That’s an 18-bushel drop per acre across the entire state. If we had hit our "normal" yields on that increased acreage, 2021 would have been a record-breaker for the ages. Instead, it was a year of "making it work."
Why the Drought Didn't Kill the Crop
If you talk to any researcher at SDSU Extension, they’ll tell you the same thing: genetics and "no-till" saved our butts.
Back in the 1980s, a drought like the one we saw in 2021 would have left us with nothing but dust and stunted stalks. But modern hybrids are built differently. They’ve got deeper root systems and a better ability to shut down and preserve moisture during those 100-degree days in August.
The Management Factor
- No-Till Farming: About 48% of South Dakota’s cropland is now no-till. By not ripping up the soil, farmers kept what little moisture was left in the ground from evaporating.
- Timing: Some areas got just enough "mercy rain" in late July to help the corn pollinate. It wasn't a lot, but in corn farming, timing is everything.
- Soil Health: Years of focus on cover crops (even if they were hard to grow that year) meant the soil structure held together better under heat stress.
The Money Side: High Prices vs. Low Yields
Here is the weird part about the south dakota corn production 2021 bushels story. Even though the yields were disappointing for many, the bank accounts didn't always reflect that gloom.
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In 2021, the market price for corn started climbing. Hard. By the time most guys were pulling into the field with their combines, prices were hovering around $5.60 per bushel. Compare that to the $3.30 or $4.00 we were seeing a few years prior.
Basically, the "short" crop (nationally speaking, though the U.S. overall did okay) combined with high demand meant that a guy growing 140-bushel corn in 2021 might have actually been more profitable than when he grew 170-bushel corn back in 2018. It’s a strange irony of the ag world.
Regional Winners and Losers
South Dakota isn't a monolith. The 2021 season was a tale of two states.
If you were farming in the southeast corner—places like Union or Lincoln County—you generally fared okay. You had some subsoil moisture to pull from. But if you moved toward the central part of the state or up toward the North Dakota border? It was rough.
Some fields in the central counties didn't even make it to grain. They were chopped for silage just to have something to feed the cattle because the pastures were burnt to a crisp. The USDA noted that 6 million tons of corn silage were produced in 2021, which is a massive amount. It shows you that when the grain won't grow, the "bushels" metric doesn't tell the whole story; the plant still has value as forage.
What We Learned from the 2021 Bushel Count
Looking back at those 734 million bushels, the biggest takeaway is that South Dakota is becoming a corn powerhouse regardless of the weather. We are pushing the "Corn Belt" further west every single year.
We also learned that you can't just look at a "drought map" and assume the harvest is a zero. The resilience of the 2021 crop changed how a lot of analysts look at the northern plains.
Actionable Insights for Future Seasons
If you're tracking these trends or managing land in the state, keep these things in mind:
- Prioritize Water Retention: The 2021 data proved that no-till and high-residue farming aren't just "green" ideas; they are financial insurance policies against drought.
- Hybrid Selection Matters: Don't just chase the highest "top-end" yield on a data sheet. Look at how those hybrids performed in the 2021 stress tests.
- Market Your Grain Strategically: 2021 showed that price spikes can often offset yield drags. Having a solid marketing plan that accounts for local basis shifts during dry years is crucial.
- Watch the Silage Shift: In drought years, the value of corn often shifts from the elevator to the feedlot. Be ready to pivot if the grain isn't going to make weight.
The 2021 season was a reminder that in South Dakota, Mother Nature always has the last word—but we're getting a lot better at arguing back.