Day one on the Pro Farmer Crop Tour had our route heading north out of Columbus, then angling our way northwest through the counties of Delaware, Marion, Wyandot, Hardin, Allen, Putnam and Paulding. Genial Dan Sturgill from Piqua Ohio was at the wheel with Zach Egesdahl from Forest City IA as chief statistician.
On the corn side we sampled a high of 219 bu./acre in Marion Co. with a low in Hardin. of 114 bu./acre. The average corn yield on our OH route was 173 bu./acre. The most noticeable change from last year was the maturity of the crop. It was all over the board from blister to dent, and seemed to get worse the farther north we went. Planting dates varied greatly, and it was evident the area had received a lot of rain early, delaying planting, and then dried out. Present soil moisture conditions were favorable so at least for now not to worry. Also, not to worry about those immature fields. The Lake Erie effect normally keeps the frost away until the crop is out of danger.
Disease pressure was generally light and not impacting yield significantly with the exception of one Hardin Co. corn field. Tar spot was active above the ear and likely to take a bite out of the yield. Rootworm pressure continued to be a non-factor. Standability continued to be excellent. The dark green color of the corn would tend to make one think that nitrogen was not a limiting factor, with evidence of sidedress having been applied in most fields.
On the soybeans side, our 3’x3’ measurements jumped around a lot, with a high of 2203 pods in Allen Co. and a low of 352 pods in Putnam Co. The average pod count on our OH route on the day was 1154 which is slightly below average. In four of the 13 samples we pulled in OH today the soybeans were still flowering. Recent rains and stored soil moisture were helping the plants maintain the small pods nicely. Another thing to recognize is the fact that several of the samples today had pods at the upper nodes containing one or two beans per pod. Pod counts still don’t tell the whole story when it comes to yield.
Disease pressure on our soybean samples was extremely low. Dry conditions typically help minimize disease pressure and it’s likely some of these fields had been sprayed with a fungicide. Insect pressure too was almost nonexistent. Some grasshoppers and the occasional Japanese beetle on a field border were about the extent of the insect pressure.
We also sampled in the counties of Allen, Adams, Wells and Blackford on the east side of IN. The seven corn samples averaged 166 bu./acre, and the soybean pod counts averaged 1072 in the 3’x3’. Health and maturity were very similar to what we saw on the OH side of the line. The same excess moisture that dogged the OH crop was evident across the border in IN as well.
I was on this same route back in 2020 with Mike Berdo. When we went through Monroeville IN that year we came across the Whippy Dip, a local ice cream and sandwich shop. It was closed that day, so we had to eat elsewhere. Today we sampled their fare for lunch. It was delicious!
We sample the western side of Indiana tomorrow and go through the east side of IL. Getting our hour of sleep back is as always something to look forward to.