Farmers post record crop for soybeans, peanuts, canola, hops

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers have harvested record crops for soybeans, peanuts, canola, rapeseed and hops.

The agency released its annual crop production report Friday summarizing the 2017 crop year.

It shows that peanut production jumped 30 percent to 7.2 billion pounds. Production of hops, a main ingredient in beer, grew 20 percent as Idaho’s production surpassed Oregon’s for the first time. Washington remained the leader, producing 75 percent of the nation’s crop.

Soybean production was at 4.39 billion bushels, up 2 percent from the previous year as farmers planted a record 90.1 million acres.

Canola production was up 1 percent. Rapeseed, used to make cooking oil, rose 7 percent.

Corn production fell 4 percent to 14.6 billion bushels on fewer planted acres. Wheat production was down 25 percent.