Corn Yield Per Acre: USDA Data for Corn, Soy, Wheat, Potato

Corn Production Forecast and Corn Per Acre: What USDA Actually Reports

USDA NASS put the 2024 US corn yield at 183.1 bushels per acre, in the Crop Production 2024 Summary released January 2025. That is the national average across all reporting states — it blends high-rainfall Iowa fields against drought-stressed acres in the western Corn Belt, so no single farm should expect to land exactly on it.

For a corn production forecast specific to the current marketing year, USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report updates monthly, usually the second Thursday of each month, revising national production and yield expectations as planting, growth and harvest progress are reported season to season. The August 2026 WASDE release is one example of that monthly cadence — each edition supersedes the last, so treat any single WASDE number as a snapshot of that month’s outlook, not a fixed prediction.

State-level corn yield varies more than the national figure suggests. USDA NASS QuickStats (quickstats.nass.usda.gov) breaks the number down by state and year — select Commodity, then Corn, then Yield, then filter by Year and State to see how your state compares to the 183.1 bu/acre national average. That is also the fastest way to check whether a more recent national or state figure has been published since this review.

Traceability and input records also matter for corn operations selling into premium or export-certified channels. Farmonaut’s Traceability Tool logs input applications against field boundaries, which is the record buyers increasingly ask for alongside yield data.

How Much Is Corn Per Acre Worth? Reading Yield Into Revenue

“How much is corn per acre” usually means one of two things: the yield in bushels, or the dollar value that yield represents at current cash prices. The yield side is fixed by USDA at 183.1 bu/acre for the 2024 national average. The revenue side depends entirely on the cash price a grower locks in, which this review has no verified current figure for — corn cash prices move daily and are not part of the NASS yield reports cited here.

To get today’s corn cash price, check your local elevator bid or the CME corn futures board directly; USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service also publishes daily grain bid summaries by region. Multiply your actual harvested bushels per acre by that day’s cash price to get a real per-acre revenue figure — the calculator below does that arithmetic once you have both numbers.

Soybean Bushels Per Acre and Soy Yield Per Acre

USDA NASS reported the 2024 US soybean average yield at 50.7 bushels per acre in the same Crop Production 2024 Summary. Like corn, this is a national blend — soybean yield per acre is generally higher across Iowa, Illinois and Indiana than in shorter-season northern states, though this review has no state-by-state breakdown to cite beyond the national figure.

For a state-specific soybean bushels-per-acre number, the same NASS QuickStats path applies: Commodity → Soybeans → Yield, filtered by Year and State. That database is updated as new survey data comes in and is the authoritative source for any figure more specific than the national 50.7 bu/acre average cited here.

For real-time field metrics feeding into soybean production-per-acre decisions, Farmonaut’s Satellite & Weather API supplies NDVI and weather data an operation can build its own irrigation or nutrient triggers around.

Wheat Yields Per Acre

USDA NASS put the 2024 US wheat average yield at 52.2 bushels per acre — again from the Crop Production 2024 Summary, covering all wheat classes combined (winter, spring, and durum) at the national level. Winter wheat, spring wheat and durum each carry their own yield profile and NASS QuickStats reports them separately by class and state; this review only has the combined national figure verified.

Wheat yield per acre responds heavily to fall planting-window rainfall and winterkill risk in the northern Plains, but this review has no verified figure isolating that effect — for a working number, compare your county’s current-year and five-year-average wheat yield side by side in NASS QuickStats before budgeting against the 52.2 bu/acre national figure.

Potato Production Per Acre

USDA NASS reported the 2025 US potato average yield at 460 hundredweight (cwt) per acre, up from 454 cwt/acre in 2024 and 458 cwt/acre in 2023 — a gain of roughly 6 cwt/acre from 2024 to 2025, per the NASS potato reports for those years. One cwt equals 100 pounds, so 460 cwt/acre is 46,000 pounds of potatoes per acre at the 2025 national average.

Potato yield is reported and tracked in cwt/acre rather than bushels because potatoes are sold by weight, not volume — a distinction worth knowing when comparing potato figures against the bushel-based corn, soybean and wheat numbers above. State potato yields vary widely by irrigation access; Idaho, Washington and North Dakota carry the largest reported acreages, but this review has no verified state-level 2024-25 figures to cite beyond the national average.

Growers financing irrigation or storage infrastructure investment around a potato operation can use Farmonaut’s Crop Loan & Insurance Verification Tools to support financing applications with satellite-verified field records.

Yield Per Acre Distribution: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, and Where Oats and Barley Stand

Lined up on the same basis, the 2024 USDA NASS national averages show corn at 183.1 bu/acre, wheat at 52.2 bu/acre, and soybeans at 50.7 bu/acre — corn yields roughly 3.5 times higher per acre than either wheat or soybeans, which sit close to each other. Potatoes are reported in a different unit (cwt/acre) and are not directly comparable to the bushel crops without a weight conversion specific to each crop’s bushel-to-pound standard.

Oats and barley average yield per acre for 2024-2025 is not confirmed in the sources reviewed for this article. USDA NASS Crop Production reports do survey both crops, but this review did not locate a verified oats or barley yield figure to cite alongside the corn, soybean and wheat numbers above. The reliable way to get both: open NASS QuickStats, select Commodity, choose Oats or Barley, then Yield, and filter by Year and State — the same path used for every other crop in this article. Do not accept a rounded or averaged oats/barley figure from a secondary source when the primary NASS table is one query away.

Hay production in tons per acre is similarly unconfirmed in this review’s source set — USDA surveys hay acreage, but no verified 2024-25 yield figure was located. The same QuickStats method applies: Commodity → Hay → Yield, filtered by Year and State. For related per-acre livestock and forage economics, see this guide to cow-per-acre stocking rates and rent.

Comparison Table: All Crops, Same Units

Every figure below traces to a specific USDA NASS report and reporting period — check the source column before reusing a number past its stated year.

Full historical detail and every state breakdown behind these national averages live at USDA NASS Crop Production 2024 Summary and the potato-specific USDA NASS Potatoes report.

Per-Acre Yield & Revenue Calculator

Enter your own acreage, yield and price to convert a per-acre figure into a whole-farm number — no figure here is preset to a national average.

Assumptions: this calculator does the multiplication only — acres × yield × price. It excludes input costs, land rent, crop insurance, drying and storage charges, and basis adjustments to cash price. Default values shown (183.1 bu/acre, $4.20) are placeholders to demonstrate the fields, not a price recommendation — replace both with your own field's confirmed yield and your local elevator's current cash bid.

How Satellite Monitoring Narrows the Yield Gap

The gap between a farm's actual per-acre yield and the USDA national average is rarely explained by one factor — it is usually a handful of underperforming zones inside otherwise average fields. Satellite NDVI imagery makes those zones visible mid-season, while a soil test or yield monitor only confirms them after harvest.

• Satellite Imagery (NDVI, EVI): flags nutrient or water stress zones inside a field weeks before visible symptoms appear.
• Weather-linked forecasting: pairs field-level rainfall and temperature data with growth-stage timing to flag irrigation or fungicide windows.
• Blockchain Traceability: records input-to-harvest data for buyers requiring supply chain verification. See Farmonaut's traceability tool.
• Fleet & Resource Management: reduces equipment downtime during the compressed planting and harvest windows that most affect final yield per acre. Details at Farmonaut's fleet management page.
• Try it: Run your own numbers

None of these tools change what USDA reports at the national level — they change whether an individual farm's own acres land above or below that reported average. Genetic and hybrid selection is a separate lever entirely; for a rundown of recent breeding advances, see this article on agricultural genetics innovations.

Farmonaut Tools for Tracking Yield Per Acre

Farmonaut's platform pulls satellite and weather data into field-level metrics that sit alongside — not instead of — official USDA yield reporting. Core tools relevant to per-acre yield tracking:

• 🛰️ Satellite-Based Monitoring: NDVI/EVI maps and soil moisture data updated through the growing season.
• 🤖 Jeevn AI Advisory: generates field-specific alerts at each growth stage based on live satellite data.
• 🔗 Blockchain Traceability: input-to-output compliance records for buyers requiring verified supply chains.
• 🔒 Carbon Footprinting: tracks and helps reduce the carbon footprint of field operations. See Farmonaut Carbon Footprinting.
• 🚚 Fleet & Resource Management: schedules equipment for planting and harvest windows.

FAQs

What is corn production per acre in the United States?

The US corn yield averaged 183.1 bushels per acre in 2024, per USDA NASS. This is a national average, blended across all reporting states; state and county figures are available through NASS QuickStats.

How much is corn per acre worth?

Multiply actual bushels-per-acre yield by the current cash corn price at your local elevator or the CME futures board — this article has no verified current cash price to cite, since it changes daily. The calculator above does that multiplication once both numbers are entered.

What is potato production per acre?

US potato yield averaged 460 cwt/acre in 2025, up from 454 cwt/acre in 2024 and 458 cwt/acre in 2023, per USDA NASS Potatoes reports. One cwt equals 100 pounds.

What are wheat yields per acre in the US?

US wheat yield averaged 52.2 bushels per acre across all classes in 2024, per USDA NASS. Winter, spring and durum wheat are reported separately by state in NASS QuickStats.

What is soybean yield per acre, in bushels?

US soybean yield averaged 50.7 bushels per acre in 2024, per USDA NASS — roughly a third of the corn per-acre figure for the same year.

What is the yield per acre distribution across oats, wheat, soybeans and barley?

Confirmed 2024 USDA NASS figures: wheat 52.2 bu/acre, soybeans 50.7 bu/acre. Oats and barley average yield per acre for 2024-2025 was not located in the sources reviewed for this article — query NASS QuickStats directly (Commodity → Oats or Barley → Yield) for a verified current figure rather than relying on an estimate.

How do I start using Farmonaut's technology for my operation?

Visit the Farmonaut App or API portal for access to satellite crop monitoring, weather advisory and blockchain-based traceability.

How to Get the Current Number Yourself

Every figure in this article is dated and will be superseded. USDA NASS publishes Crop Production reports monthly during the growing season and quarterly in the off-season; the next full report typically lands 10-15 days after each monthly WASDE release. To check whether a newer number than the ones cited here has been published:

1. Go to NASS QuickStats and select Commodity → your crop → Yield, then filter by Year and State.
2. Cross-check against the latest full report at USDA NASS's Today's Reports page.
3. For a forward-looking production forecast rather than a historical yield, check the current month's USDA WASDE report, released monthly.

This three-step check works for any crop-yield figure, not just the ones covered here, and it will keep working after every number in this article is out of date.