Preliminary Route Report with Brent Judisch, western Tour consultant
What counties have you sampled from?
- South Dakota: Minnehaha (6), Turner (9), Lincoln (9)
- Nebraska: Cedar (3), Pierce (3)
Corn yield range:
- SD: 103 bpa to 193 bpa
- NE: 174 bpa to 199 bpa
Corn yield average:
- SD: 155.5 bpa
- NE: 186 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- SD: 624 pods to 2,181 pods
- NE: 911 pods to 1,560 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- SD: 1,099 pods
- NE: 1,220 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
South Dakota was generally good. They are dry and need rain to finish beans. But in general, I was pleasantly surprised. We’ve seen minimal disease on both corn and beans. These are very healthy crops. We measured lots of soybean potential. The crop just needs one more rain to finish everything off.
Nebraska fields we have sampled have generally been irrigated, and they are running water right now—especially on soybeans. Same story as South Dakota, we’ve seen no disease so far in beans or corn.
Preliminary Route Report with Bruce Blythe, western Tour leader
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
- South Dakota: Minnehaha (6), McCook (6), Hanson (6), Davison (6), Aurora (5)
Corn yield range:
- 102.4 bpa to 167.4 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 140.1 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 420 pods to 1,654 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 1,121 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
“We’ve made 10 stops so far in South Dakota. We’re really seeing the effect of dryness. Corn and beans look pretty good from the road, but once you get in the field you see brown stalks, curled leaves and small ears — just five or six inches long. We saw a lot of ears denting and a few in the milk stage. Ears were dropping in some stressed fields.
Beans have been ok—a little better the first part of the day. Maturity of the bean crop is on schedule or ahead. Rain would still help fill out pods.
We’ve seen very little disease pressure and some greensnap in corn.
Preliminary Route Report with Brian Grete, eastern Tour leader
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
- Ohio: Morrow (5), Crawford (2), Seneca (2), Wyandot (2), Hancock (1)
Corn yield range:
- 126.5 bpa to 218.8 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 176.1 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 545 pods to 1,257 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 923.3 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
It’s been pretty consistent. We had one klunker—just a poor field. Most corn fields have been pretty consistent in the 170 bu. to 190 bu. per acre area. Ear populations seem to be up from average. We’ve had multiple ear counts above 100, which isn’t typically the case for Ohio.
Beans have been a little more variable. A couple really low pod counts. Haven’t been as consistent as the corn, in my opinion. Crop health has been good. Some field has some volunteer corn or waterhemp. But in general, the Ohio crop was in good shape. We didn’t see any disease or insect pressure. Some fields aren’t the tallest, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t podded well.
It rained overnight and this morning in far northern Ohio.
Preliminary Route Report with Mark Bernard, eastern Tour consultant
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
- Indiana: Adams (3), Jay (6), Delaware (6)
Corn yield range:
- 128 bpa to 239 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 179 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 958 pods to 1,623 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 1,229 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
We’ve run into some tremendous corn in areas, and in other areas things like Nitrogen deficiency and corn that had some planter issues and corn that could use a little more rainfall. We’ve primarily seen more good areas, though. Two samples pulled down our average today.
Our overall average pod count for District 6 is down on average vs. last year. Some of these last samples are indicating the beans could have used some more moisture to finish up. Disease and insect pressure have not stood out.
Rain would benefit the crops at this point. A lot of the last corn samples weren’t dented yet, but they will continue to tip back if rain doesn’t fall. Likewise for soybeans and pod fill.