This week the Pro Farmer Crop tour is going through both the Eastern and Western Cornbelt to check on yield potential in corn and soybeans. It has been said that this year?s tour will be a comparison of the ?haves? and the ?have nots?. The Eastern Cornbelt has seen more than its fair share of rain. Some places like Ohio and Indiana have seen too much. However, in the west, most of the region has been in drought status.
Yesterday, the Western leg scouted South Dakota and parts of Nebraska. The day?s end brought estimates for both corn and soybeans in South Dakota. While the region has been dry, many scouts were surprised with just how things really looked when they got their boots on the ground.
Pro Farmer estimated South Dakota?s corn yield at 118.45 bushels per acre. That?s a drop of roughly 22 percent from last year. It is also significant when compared to the USDA estimate of 147 bpa. Pro Farmer?s Chip Flory leads the West and discusses what they saw.
The ear length Flory talked about last year was at an average of 6.31 inches. He says that you can see that South Dakota saw heat stress on corn at its most vulnerable time.
Flory adds that the areas north of Interstate 90 are traditionally not as good as the counties to the south, but it is flip-flopped this year.
Soybeans are also seeing number drops from last year. The tour is estimating pod counts to be an average of 871.4 compared with 996 last year. Flory says he is less hopeful about this crop than he was in 2012.
Any rains at this point don?t look like they would do any good for South Dakota?s soybeans.
Today, the tour wraps up in Nebraska, and Wednesday they will be in Iowa.
