Pro Farmer tour: Mixed views in Ill., Iowa: Correction

Corrects data in table

The outlooks for corn and soybean crops in Illinois and western Iowa were mixed on the third day of the US Pro Farmer tour, with indications that yields could exceed the three-year average in some areas.

One leg of the tour moved northeast from Nebraska City, Nebraska, to Spencer, Iowa, and another northwest from Bloomington, Illinois, to Riverside, Iowa, on Wednesday.

The final corn yield forecast for Illinois was assessed down by 7.5pc from the three-year average, at just 184.19 bushels an acre (bu/acre), against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) projection of 212 bu/acre — near parity with the three-year average.

The outlook for Illinois' soybean crop was brighter, with the pod count for a 3ft² plot up by 2.9pc on the three-year average, at 1,430.37. But this still suggests yields below USDA's 67 bu/acre forecast — 5.8pc above the three-year average.

USDA sees record Illinois soybean yields this year — up by 7.2pc on last year. But the pod count was 3.33pc below last year's, so USDA yield estimates could be revised down in September.

In western Iowa, preliminary results point towards lower yields this year. In the northern District 1, corn yields are forecast at 191.8 bu/acre, down by 3.1pc on last year, but 3.3pc above the three-year average. In the central District 4, yields are pegged at 189.73 bu/acre — down by 8.5pc on the year and 0.5pc on the three-year average. And in the southern District 7, yields are projected at 191.59 bu/acre, down by 2.3pc on the year and in line with the three-year average.

The tour concluded that western Iowa corn yields in all districts will be down on the year, while USDA is guiding for a record 216 bu/acre for the state as a whole.

All western Iowa district pod counts are down on the year — with District 4 down most sharply, by 7.4pc. But all results were above the three-year average — District 1 was up by 8pc at 1,269.26; District 4 was up by 1.9pc at 1,273.77; and and District 7 was up by 14pc at 1,557.59.

These results are not totally out of line with USDA's forecast, which has soybean yields in Iowa reaching 62 bu/acre, down by 2.4pc from last year but up by 5.4pc from the three-year average.

The rest of Iowa will be surveyed today, with final results for the state released at the end of the tour.

Conditions improve as tour reaches Iowa

Reports of disease and weed pressure remained commonplace as the two legs of the tour moved into Iowa, and there were fewer reports of drought or flooding, but more signs of storm damage.

Western Illinois had fewer reports of flooded fields, but there were reports of corn being flattened by recent storms and soybeans damaged by hail earlier this season. There were also indications of excessively wet conditions, with observations of soybean sudden death syndrome, brown stem rot and lodging.

Corn pollination was also affected — as indicated by reports of tip-back — but fewer incidents were reported in Illinois than in Indiana. Weed pressure was noted, and became more apparent as the tour moved into the northwest of the state.

There were fewer observations of drought as the tour moved into western Iowa from Nebraska. But soybean plants surveyed in the north were notably smaller than in the south, with higher variability in surveyed pod counts — probably due to drought.

Areas of soybean sudden death syndrome were also reported in western Iowa, and there were reports of northern corn leaf blight, and ear worm. Wind damaged corn was observed, as were pollination problems, with multiple observations of tip-back. But there were fewer reports of weed pressure in western Iowa than in Nebraska.

By Alexander Schultz and Ryan Koory