Soybeans

Kyle Peters, with A1 Development Solutions, speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the High Plains Processing plant on Sept. 9, 2023, near Mitchell. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Construction begins on state’s largest soybean processing facility

BY: - September 19, 2023

MITCHELL — Construction of the largest soybean processing facility in South Dakota began Tuesday with a groundbreaking ceremony. The High Plains Processing plant, 2 miles south of Mitchell, is a project of South Dakota Soybean Processors, which already operates two processing plants in Volga and Miller. The company also announced Tuesday that a subsidiary of […]

A farmer harvests corn near Slater, Iowa. on Oct. 17, 2020.

Big gains projected in South Dakota corn and soybean production

BY: - September 13, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting South Dakota’s 2023 corn harvest at 816 million bushels, up 23% from last year’s production, based on new field and survey data.  South Dakota farmers will harvest corn on 5.59 million acres. That’s 12% more than last year. The department estimates farmers will harvest an average of 146 […]

An aerial view of a cornfield. (Getty Images)

Harvest projection includes 21% more corn, 14% more soybeans in SD

BY: - August 14, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast predicts South Dakota farmers will harvest 21% more corn and 14% more soybeans this year. The corn harvest projection is 798 million bushels. The increase is attributed to farmers harvesting 10% more corn acres, reaching 5.5 million, and an expected yield of 145 bushels per acre, up 13 […]

Harvest Ridge Organics harvests wheat on a field near Reservoir A in Lewiston, Idaho, in 2018. (Kirsten Strough/USDA)

Drought drives big drop in wheat and oat forecast amid long-term shift to corn and soybeans

BY: - August 6, 2023

The federal government is projecting big declines in South Dakota’s production of wheat and oats, due in part to drought conditions but also because of a decades-long transition to corn and soybeans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting that South Dakota farmers this year will produce 17% less winter wheat, 29% less spring wheat […]

Dave Fendrich (walking) helps Bryant Hofer (in combine) harvest a field of corn on October 2, 2013, near Salem, South Dakota. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Drought has South Dakota’s harvest ahead of schedule, but yields and soil moisture are down

BY: - October 27, 2022

South Dakota farmers had harvested 64% of their corn and 93% of their soybeans as of Sunday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That puts the 2022 harvest well ahead of the five-year average for those crops. However, Brian Top, a farmer and South Dakota agriculture consultant, said the harvest is only ahead because […]