Illinois is not too sweet on sweet corn, which it allocates just 8,000 acres out of 11 million acres of field corn. But one family farm is tipping acreage scales for this cuisine variety with a 25% statewide share.
According to WQAD8 ABC on August 7, 2025, Neumiller Farms in Carroll County in northwestern Illinois boasts 2,000 sweet corn acres.
Upon harvest, the delectable grain goes to process and can in a nearby food plant in Janesville.
The canned snack is available at home grocers through contractors who buy it under negotiated agreements from the producer.
In production terms, the farm’s sweet corn alternates with potatoes in a 36- to 52-month cycle to revitalize the soil.
Co-manager Matt Floming told WQAD8 that “the biggest thing for us…is the potato crop” which diversifies soil nutrition for corn.
Floming opines that 2025’s sweet corn yields might drop due to stormy hail back in July, just after pollination.
To him, this is a sign that local farmers will sow more next season to compensate upcoming losses.
Elsewhere in Il, Corn 69% good-to-excellent
In larger Il, the field corn crop is relatively good at 69% good-to-excellent, albeit a 2% weekly drop.
The influential Crop Progress report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in early August 2025 found 96% of the local crop silking.
With the harvest around the corner, some farmers in Brimfield, southwest of Chicago fear weather whims, citing unexpected wind as worrying.
The harvest time comments echo Matt Floming’s to the essence that strong winds lower yields if they whip the corn belt before pollination.
In market terms, the reigning good crop outlook has been relatively bearish on the U.S.’ corn prices. At the nearby Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), futures dipped below $4 a bushel on August 6.
The Illinois sweet corn reaping will begin in September through October, along with that of other Midwest states. For more bits on corn from a state that sways American crop futures, peruse the statistics below.
Illinois Sweet Corn Statistics
Illinois is a major grower of corn but sweet corn is just a drop in the ocean of that: while 10 to 11 million acres go to field corn, only 8,000 acres represent sweet corn. Overall, the state is the second largest corn producer in the United States, with a production value of $7 billion a year (2020). Despite allocating little acreage to sweet corn, Il remains the 9th biggest federal producer of this cuisine varietal. In 2022, it harvested 1.3 million tonnes or a 1/60th part of the U.S.’ 60.7 million tonnes of sweet corn.
What are the production portions of corn types that grow in Il?
2 in 100 plants in a cornfield in Illinois are sweet corn while 98 out of 100 comprise field corn. While sweet corn makes canned human food, field corn goes into commercial animal feeding. The pop corn share, for which Illinois ranks 3rd nationally in production, is way smaller than that of sweet corn.
How much footprint does sweet corn have in Illinois?
According to the Illinois’ College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, sweet corn here averages 24,000 plants an acre. Studies show that the irrigated fertile south of the state has a potential for 44,000 plants/acre.
Where does corn grow most in Illinois?
While the south-central Illinois is the home of sweet corn, field corn has statewide distribution. According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), leading counties by 2023 production included:
- Iroquois: 67.765 million bushels.
- Champaign: 57.714 million bushels.
- Bureau: 55.652 million bushels.
- La Salle: 54.403 million bushels.
- Henry: 50.399 million bushels.