Virginia’s top corn, soybean producing counties

Accomack County leads Virginia in corn and soybean production, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

NASS released the corn and soybean county estimates today from the 2016 production year. Corn and soybeans are Virginia’s top cash crops, and together brought in nearly $361 million in cash receipts in 2015.

“Accomack County led the state in corn and soybean production, with more than 2.8 million bushels of corn and just over 1.2 million bushels of soybeans,” said Herman Ellison, Virginia state statistician with NASS. “The weather was up and down throughout the growing season, but yields were still respectable. The prolonged August dry spell robbed yield potential, especially for full season soybeans. On the other hand, rain in September improved double crop bean yields. Corn yields tended to be above the five-year average, while soybean yields were generally below.”

Accomack County is the leading corn producing county in Virginia for 2016, with production totaling 2,803,000 bushels, harvested from 17,700 acres. The top five counties include:

• Accomack County – 2,803,000 bushels
• Caroline County – 2,181,000 bushels
• Essex County – 2,174,000 bushels
• Augusta County – 2,009,000 bushels
• Southampton County – 1,985,000 bushels

Culpeper County had the highest corn yield at 173.8 bushels per acre. The top five counties for yield include:

• Culpeper County – 173.8 bushels per acre
• Chesapeake City – 173 bushels per acre
• Northampton County – 170.3 bushels per acre
• Augusta County – 168.8 bushels per acre
• Fauquier County – 165.8 bushels per acre

Accomack County is the leading soybean producing county for 2016, with production totaling 1,205,000 bushels, harvested from 34,100 acres.

• Accomack County – 1,205,000 bushels
• Caroline County – 921,000 bushels
• Southampton County – 917,000 bushels
• Isle of Wight County – 843,000 bushels
• Hanover County – 781,000 bushels

Culpeper County led with the highest soybean yield, at 52 bushels per acre.

• Culpeper County – 52 bushels per acre
• Shenandoah County – 48.2 bushels per acre
• Fauquier County – 48.1 bushels per acre
• Rockingham County – 46.3 bushels per acre
• Madison County – 45.5 bushels per acre

Virginia farmers harvested 50.32 million bushels of corn and 21.6 million bushels of soybeans during the 2016 harvest. Corn yield is 148 bushels per acre, down 13 bushels from 2015. Soybean yield is 36 bushels per acre, down 1.5 bushels from 2015. Farmers harvested 340,000 acres of corn for grain and 600,000 acres of soybeans.

“The county yield estimates we publish are used by other USDA agencies, such as Farm Service and Risk Management Agencies,” Ellison said. “FSA’s Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC), County Loan Rates, Loan Repayment Rates and its disaster assistance program calculations all integrate the data from this survey. RMA uses the information for its Area Risk Protection Insurance Plan, establishment of transitional yields and determining when to make crop loss insurance payments.”

The complete listing of corn and soybean county estimates for each county is available online in the NASS QuickStats database: nass.usda.gov/Quick_Stats/Lite.

For more information, call the NASS Virginia Field Office at 804.771.8560.