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2023 not the only drought year with good corn yields

A corn researcher says 2023 was not the first time farmers had surprising yields in a drought year. 

Joe Lauer with the University of Wisconsin tells Brownfield getting the crop in early helped, but that was tempered by a the long wait for rain and, “Now, it seems like we can go a little bit longer and I think these modern hybrids are a just a lot better at tolerating some of those stress periods, in other words, they can get through them a lot easier than some of those older hybrids before the bioengineered era.”

Lauer says 2023 was not a record year, but was very productive despite only 7 inches of rain all season. “If you look at the last three droughts, which would be 2005, 2012, and 2021, and then this year (2023), two of those years, 2005 and 2021 were record production years.”

Lauer says Wisconsin’s 2012 drought year corn production averaged 112 bushels per acre, which is one of the top state averages since shortly after the Civil War.

Lauer spoke to Brownfield during the Wisconsin Agri-Business Classic In Madison, Wisconsin Wednesday.