Eastern Tour – Day 4
My route took me north out of Iowa City up through crop districts 6 (east-central) and 3 (northeast) in Iowa. We started sampling at Robbins just north of Cedar Rapids and finished our half of the route near Sumner. Yield samples along my route averaged 202 bu. per acre with a range of 145 bu. to 255 bu. per acre. Despite the variability, the corn we sampled resulted in a high average yield. One thing of note, the further north we moved along our route, the less mature the crop.
The average soybean pod count in a 3’x3’ square from my route was 1596, with a range of 742 to 2089. Soybeans along our route were generally clean and disease free. Aside from the one low sample, the crop along our route was heavily podded.
The final Tour yield for Iowa corn was 192.8 bu. per acre, up 5.5% from last year and 3.8% the three-year average.
The final Tour pod count for Iowa was 1312.3 in a 3’x3’ square, up 10.2% from last year and 9.9% above the three-year average.
The final Tour yield for Minnesota corn was 164.9 bu., down 9.1% from last year and 9.9% above the three-year average.
The final Tour pod count for Minnesota was 1036.6 in a 3’x3’ square, up 5.3% from last year but 0.1% below the three-year average.
Final Day 4 observations
One of the major questions heading into Crop Tour was whether the corn and soybean crops could live up to the lofty expectations. Of the two crops, I was more impressed with soybeans than corn... and the corn crop is stellar. Soybeans could be spectacular as long as there isn’t a weather event that derails the crop ahead of harvest. Typically, there’s some concern with either the corn crop or soybeans – or both coming out of Crop Tour. There aren’t concerns this year. All the corn and soybean crops need are 30 to 45 days of average weather to finish strong. And there may be enough soil moisture in many of the locations to finish well even with slightly below-average weather.
I would like to thank all of the scouts on this year’s Pro Farmer Crop Tour. You worked hard, as always, and adapted to some unusual circumstances. As I say every year, we can’t do what we have to do during Crop Tour without your hard work and extreme dedication. Brent, Chip, Mark, Emily and I can’t thank you enough for all you did for us this week. We hope to see all of you back for the 2025 Pro Farmer Crop Tour.