(Grand Island Independent) -- Nebraska farmers harvested 1.39 billion bushels of corn in 2008, which is the second largest harvest on record. For the second straight year, much of Nebraska had above-average rainfall that flooded fields and caused planting delays and replants but still yielded a large crop as dryland corn production contributed to higher yields. According to USDA, last year’s corn crop yielded 163 bushels per acre, which was 3 bushels above the 2007 crop. The average U.S. grain yield is estimated at 153.9 bushels per acre. Nebraska soybean production for 2008 totaled 226 million bushels, up 15% from last year.
