ILLINOIS SETS NEW RECORD FOR WINTER WHEAT YIELD IN 2025
Illinois farmers achieved a new record for winter wheat yields in 2025, averaging 88 bushels per acre, according to USDA data. This surpasses the previous record of 87 bushels per acre set in 2023.
“A lot of it boils down to the fact that wheat tends to respond to management very well, and it seems like the more that you do to promote high-yielding wheat, the more that crop responds and gives you that high-yielding wheat in return,” said Illinois Wheat Association President Tracy Heuerman in an interview with FarmWeek. “I think farmers that grow wheat see that and they’re willing to invest in the crop to make sure they get the maximum yields.”
The five highest-yielding counties in Illinois were:
Macon: 112.3 bushels per acre
Carroll: 111.6
Edgar: 110.2
Ogle: 106.9
Schuyler: 104.6
Other counties with countywide averages at or above 100 bushels per acre included Bureau, Champaign, Clark, Gallatin, Greene, Henry, and McLean.
Illinois farmers produced a total of 61.6 million bushels of wheat in 2025, up from 60.2 million in 2024. Leading counties in overall winter wheat production last season were:
Washington: 5.6 million bushels
Randolph: 3.3 million
Perry: 2.6 million
St. Clair: 2.16 million
Wayne: 2.11 million
Heuerman, who farms in Effingham and Clay counties and serves as a field sales agronomist for GROWMARK, noted that the 2025 crop benefited from timely planting and good emergence. “From my recollection, the wheat crop from the 2025 season was one of the better looking ones that we’ve had coming out of dormancy,” she said.
However, the growing season was not without its challenges. Six weeks of wet weather in April and May created difficulties, and some farmers reduced applications of products like fungicides and growth regulators due to commodity prices, which led to increased lodging issues.
Looking ahead to the 2026 crop, Heuerman said that fields planted in late October were slow to emerge due to dry weather, but overall stands and populations appear strong. “I think we’re set up to have another really good wheat crop this year,” she added.
Illinois has seen steady improvements in wheat yields over the past decade, rising from a statewide average of 66 bushels per acre ten years ago to consistent yields in the high 80s in recent years. After two years at 79 bushels per acre (2021 and 2022), the average jumped to 87 in 2023, held at 86 in 2024, and reached a new peak in 2025.