Soybean Acres Drop, But Still Top Seeded Crop in Norman County

Ada, MN — Soybeans remain the top-seeded crop in Norman County this year, but overall acres are down compared to 2021. James Kruize with the Norman County Farm Service Agency shared this year’s acreage report statistics while on the KRJB Kaleidoscope Program this week. The big four crops in Norman County, which includes soybeans (182,000), corn (123,000), wheat (96,000), and sugar beets (43,700), make up roughly 90% of all the tillable acres. Of those, corn and wheat were right on target compared to last year, but sugar beets saw an increase of almost 2,000 acres and soybeans saw a drop of about 13,000 acres. However, Kruize notes it was sunflower acres that saw the biggest boost this year, which jumped from 1,800 acres in 2021 to 7,400 acres in 2022.  

The rest of the crops in Norman County, such as alfalfa (7,300), edible beans (8,800), barley (5,600), and oats (1,500) all fluctuated this year depending on their markets and soil conditions.

The acres reported reflect what was intended to be planted and now what was actually planted, so prevent plant totals are not reflected in the totals. Kruize estimated that were somewhere between 22,000 and 24,000 acres were put into prevent plant due to the wet spring. While that may seem like a lot, it’s still well below the 53,000 acres of prevent plant registered in 2020.  

Listen to the full update from James Kruize from the KRJB Kaleidoscope Program below: