Indiana Popcorn Production Falls

The report says the overall popcorn crop value dipped 38 percent.

Indiana’s production of popcorn dropped 29 percent in 2015. A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says flooded fields and a surplus of popcorn crop from the previous two years contributed to the fall.

The report, produced by the USADA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service for Purdue University, says Indiana growers produced 3.1 million hundredweight of popcorn, which is equal to 310 million pounds. By comparison, 4.32 million hundredweight was produced in 2014 and 3.7 million hundredweight was produced the year before.

The report also shows only 85,000 acres were planted in 2015, compared with 91,000 acres the previous year. Growers harvested 83,000 acres, which was 7,000 acres less than 2014.

Indiana is the country’s second-leading popcorn-producing state. The report says the total crop value in 2015 was $50.7 million, down 38 percent from 2014.