Preliminary Route Report with Brent Judisch, western Tour consultant
What counties have you sampled from?
- Iowa: Harrison (4), Monona (4), Woodbury (4), Plymouth (1)
Corn yield range:
- 160.3 bpa to 231.0 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 189.8 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 998 pods to 1,742 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 1,413 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
Started the day in the Missouri Valley area and are following the western tier of Iowa. We’re currently just south of Le Mars (as of Noon CT) and are now heading into drier areas. Crops South of Highway 20, have look good. They’re healthy with no disease pressure. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how good things look so far.
We’ve been impressed by the really solid ear counts, which goes back to spring conditions. Everyone got going early and it shows. Ear counts have been consistently over 100 count. Kernels rows around have been consistent. The variance has been on ear length.
Pod counts have been a bit more variant, but our overall pod count has been very good. We’ve seen no disease pressure. Really impressive.
We just pulled our first sample north of Highway 20 and it’s getting a little drier. We saw browning on the lower leaves of corn stalks and the soybean leaves have turned upside down. We expect it to get drier as we head north.
Preliminary Route Report with Bruce Blythe, western Tour leader
What counties have you sampled from?
- Iowa: Fremont (7), Mills (7), Pottawattamie (7), Shelby (4)
Corn yield range:
- 183.7 bpa to 226.6 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 207.7 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 877 pods to 1,782 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 1,295.7 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
As the numbers indicate, we’ve seen some really good corn in southwest Iowa. Best corn I’ve seen all week. It’s been very consistent, with solid, uniform stands. Ear counts have been in the low to mid-50s on 30’ length. I think they’re going to have a pretty good corn crop. Soil surfaces are dry, but it seems like they got the rain they needed when they needed it. Ears are 7-8 inches long and filled out. It’s just some really good corn.
Beans are closer to average. Not quite the homerun we’re seeing in corn. More of a solid double. Everything looks good from the road—nice green and upright—pod counts have been good, not great. We’ve had quite the range on pod counts.”
Preliminary Route Report with Brian Grete, eastern Tour leader
What counties have you sampled from?
- Illinois: McClean (4), Tazewell (4), Peoria (4), Stark (4), Henry (1)
Corn yield range:
- 164.7 bpa to 247.0 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 202.1 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 387 pods to 1,647 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 1,280 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
There’s been some pretty good corn on my route through central and west-central Illinois. Corn has been consistent—just one low number. Ear counts are really high, grain length has been more variable. Ear counts have been the driver. You expect to find good yields when USDA puts a 214 yield on the state.
Beans were really consistent. With the exception of one clunker, pod counts have all topped 1,000.
No disease or weed pressure to speak of. But it did get notably drier the further north and west we went.
Preliminary Route Report with Mark Bernard, eastern Tour consultant
What counties have you sampled from?
- Illinois: Montgomery (6), Macoupin (6), Greene (6), Scott (6)
Corn yield range:
- 0 bpa to 213 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 158 bpa (181 bpa if the 0 is omitted)
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 842 pods to 2,094 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 1,350 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
“The zero corn sample was from a drowned out spot. We’re in an area today that had too much water early on, but its dry now. Soybeans, in particular, need moisture to finish out these small pods.
We saw a little more leaf disease today on corn—some Physoderma, gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight. But it looks like we’re running into better corn as we head north.”