An Overview of South Dakota Corn Production and Planted Acres in 2024 and 2025
Corn is one of the major crops in South Dakota, accounting for more than 50 percent of total crop cash receipts in 2024. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the state planted 5.9 million acres of corn in 2024, producing approximately 884 million bushels. In 2025, planted acreage expanded to 6.85 million acres, and total production rose to about 1.09 billion bushels. This substantial increase was driven not only by acreage expansion but also by record-high yields—the highest in South Dakota’s history.
Figures 1-A and 1-B illustrate the trends in corn planted acreage (1-A) and total corn grain production (1-B) in South Dakota over the past decade. In 2019, South Dakota’s corn-planted acres were approximately 4.35 million, the lowest level during this period. Excessive rainfall and flooding in early spring 2019 delayed planting and resulted in the highest prevented plant acres in that year, significantly reducing corn planted acres. In contrast, 2025 is the highest corn-planted acres in the past decade, reflecting a stronger market signal for corn relative to soybeans.
2024 Corn Yield Across Counties
The statewide average yield reached a historic high of 171 bushels per acre in 2025, up 4.3 percent from 164 bushels per acre in 2024. However, average yields vary substantially across counties due to differences in soil quality, weather patterns, and management practices. Because county-level yield data for 2025 have not yet been released, we will examine the 2024 corn yields at the county level. Figure 2 presents the average yield for non-irrigated cropland using data from the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA). Unlike survey-based yields from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which do not report yields for many South Dakota counties due to small numbers of sample farms or low response rates in those counties, county yields from RMA are from an aggregate of individual yields from participants in crop insurance programs within a county. Li et al. (2020) find that county yields from RMA are slightly higher than NASS estimates, but they are not statistically significantly different most of the time. In 2024, Moody had the highest yield in South Dakota at 203 bushels per acre, while Jackson had the lowest at 36.9 bushels per acre.
10-Year Average Yield (2015–2024) by County
Crop yields can vary significantly from year to year due to unpredictable factors such as drought, floods, pest infestations, disease outbreaks, and soil conditions. Relying on data from just one year might give a skewed picture; for instance, an unusually wet or dry year could inflate or depress yields, leading to misleading conclusions about a county’s productivity. By contrast, averaging yields over multiple years smooths out these anomalies, providing a more reliable baseline that reflects the county’s productivity. Figure 3 presents the average yield over the last 10 years by county. The Northeast, East Central, and Southeast have higher average yields than other regions of South Dakota. Moody County leads this 10-year average at 194.6 bushels per acre, while Jackson County remains the lowest at 63.6 bushels per acre. 2024 yields exceeded the 10-year averages in many counties, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.
In Summary
In summary, South Dakota’s corn production has experienced significant increase in both planted acres and production over the past decade. While the statewide average yield reach record high in 2025, and the 2024 statewide average was above the 10-year average, South Dakota yield varies across counties, with consistently higher productivity in the eastern regions and much lower yields in the western parts of the state. See SDSU Extension’s South Dakota Ag Land Income Tracker to learn more about county yield by year, by NASS and RMA data.
References
Li, X., Shen, Z., Harri, A., & Coble, K. H. (2020). Comparing survey-based and programme-based yield data: implications for the US Agricultural Risk Coverage-County programme. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance-Issues and Practice, 45(1), 184-202.
