Washington, DC (KROC-AM News) - The latest estimates from the U.S. Agriculture Department predict Minnesota farmers will harvest a record corn crop this year. A report released Wednesday projects a yield of 184 bushels per acre, and estimates the total harvest at over 1.42 billion bushels. The previous record corn crop in Minnesota was 1.37 billion bushels, with the yield of 165 bushels per acre in 2012.

Last year’s corn crop in Minnesota was initially predicted to be a record breaker, but storm damage and other factors limited the yield to 156 bushels per acre and the total was just under 1.2 billion bushels.

Nationwide, the U.S. Agriculture Department is estimating the corn crop will be the third largest on record at nearly 13.7 billion bushels, which would be about a half billion bushels below the 2014 harvest total.

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