Has Variability in Corn Yields Been Reduced?

Yields from farms enrolled in Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) were used to evaluate whether corn yield variability has been reduced since the 1980s. Evidence suggests that widespread yield losses occurred in 1983 and 1988. Losses as large as in 1983 and 1988 did not occur in the 1990s or early 2000s. Yield shortfalls, however, are still possible.