August 20, 2009

The western leg of the 2009 Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour wound its way across Nebraska cropping districts Tuesday (August 18), finding corn yields and ear populations up strongly from averages taken in 2008.

 

The tour's average yield for Nebraska corn was pegged at 158.82 bushels an acre. The yield is an 11.9 percent increase from 2008's 141.82, as well as up from the three-year tour average of 141.55 bushels. The US Department of Agriculture in its August report estimated a 1.8 percent increase in Nebraska corn yields from 2008.

 

Tour participants reported good yield potential for corn crops.

 

Crop scouts on eight different routes took random samples in more than 202 Nebraska corn fields Monday and Tuesday before meeting in Nebraska City, Neb. for an evening wrap-up session.

 

"The big increase in plant populations was a major factor in the increased yield projections," said Chip Flory, editor of the Pro Farmer Newsletter and director of the western leg of the tour, addressing the numerous guests that had assembled.

 

"By far, this is the best corn crop I have seen in Nebraska," he added.

 

The average ear count in a 60-foot row was 83.59 compared with the three-year tour average of 80.20. The average ear length was 7.37 inches, up 7.9 percent from the 6.83 inch three-year tour average. The average kernel row was 15.94 inches, off the three-year average of 16.06.

 

Variations were seen between crops in northern Nebraska and crops surveyed in southeastern Nebraska. The crop's potential improved as scouts moved south and east, with maturity levels on track to achieve improved yields.

 

The corn crop overall looks healthy, with little insect or disease pressure, said Gary Wietgrefe of NK Brand-Syngenta in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

 

Crops in southern Nebraska were much further advanced in maturity than crops viewed in northern areas, Wietgrefe said. Irrigated fields are doing well, and dryland crop yields are up from 2008's tour, reflective of Nebraska's adoption of new seed and farming technology, he added.

 

Corn crops south of the Platte River are well advanced without much of a fear of frost, Flory said.

 

Crops in southeast Nebraska are in the mid to full dent stage of development, three weeks away from maturity, Darrin Barker, agronomist with Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc, told the group.

 

Meanwhile, the average soy pod count in a three-foot by three-foot square collected from the six Nebraska cropping districts sampled Monday and Tuesday was 1,238.90. That's up 9 percent, from last year. The Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour doesn't estimate soy yields.

 

Nebraska's soy crop has a lot of potential, but late-developing crops will need to avoid any early frosts for crops to reach potential, said Terry Johnston, tour consultant for the western leg of the tour.

 

Scouts reiterated finishing weather will play a major factor in determining final yield potential in both corn and soy. Nevertheless, the overall consensus is that the crop has good potential, with soy possibly adding bushels to yields if they finish well amid the absence of disease and insect pressure.

 

Soy in southeast Nebraska are in the mid-seed fill stage of development, with some crops three weeks away from reaching maturity like corn in the area, Barker said.

 

The western leg of the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour treks across western Iowa corn and soy fields Wednesday, with an evening wrap-up session in Spencer, Iowa. The Pro Farmer tour also has an eastern leg, which began Monday in Columbus, Ohio. Both legs of the tour will converge in Austin, Minn., Thursday.

 

Friday at 2:30 p.m. EDT, Pro Farmer will release a crop estimate, but tour findings are only one part of their calculation.