Final 2014 crop year report from USDA shows record corn and soybean harvest

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's final tally of the 2014 crop year is showing farmers brought in record corn and soybean crops.

The agency says in reports released Monday that farmers harvested a record 14.2 billion bushels of corn. That is 3 percent more than the 2013 crop, which had set the previous record. The average bushel-per-acre yield is 171, significantly better than the 158 bushels per acre in 2013.

The record crop came even though farmers harvested about 5 percent fewer acres than in 2013. Record yields are estimated in 21 states, including Illinois and Nebraska.

Soybean production also is a record at 3.97 billion bushels, up 18 percent from 2013. Farmers harvested a record 83.1 million acres in 2014.