The results from the first day of Pro-Farmer’s annual Midwest Crop Tour are lower than last year.  About a thousand scouts headed out into Midwestern corn and soybean fields on Monday to objectively determine the final projections.

“What we saw was very good. We had nine stops in Ohio, with an average yield of 193.7. So we are one of 11 routes that are out there.”

Eastern leg Tour Leader and Pro Farmer Editor Brian Grete explains.

“Four of our nine samples topped 200-bushel, and I made a comment in my vehicle that there were years when we would come through Ohio and if you got a 200, you’d get super excited because they just didn’t happen that often. To have four out of nine top 200 bushels speaks volumes, in terms of some of the quality corn that was on my route.”

He adds perspective is important, however, which is why Pro-Farmer gathers this year-over-year data. Overall, Ohio scouts found corn yield estimates to be the same as last year at 183.3 bushels per acre, just four-tenths of a percent lower than 2023. Soybeans in Ohio were a little lower as well with pods in a three-by-three area down 1.8 percent.

Over on the Western Leg, Brent Judisch is in his 12th year of scouting.

“We’ve had a couple of areas of green snap in the Lindsay area, hurt the stand about ten percent. I’ve seen some hail, but it didn’t do any damage to the crop, just more leaf damage than anything. Some grasshoppers along the edges, but we’ve not had any white mold, not had any sudden death, and we’ve not seen any aphids yet.”

That’s the Nebraska recap, but earlier in the day.

“There were some issues in South Dakota. There was some replant, there was some late plant. But in Nebraska, everything’s on par. Everything’s been, I would say, normal. Haven’t seen any replanted fields at all. Corn’s been almost either in the process of denting or in full dent. Soybeans, we have not seen a flower on soybeans all day.” 

Nebraska results are released later today, and as for the South Dakota results – much the same as the Eastern Leg on corn, 156.6 bushels per acre about half a percent lower.  The soybean pod count was 1026, up a little over one percent from 2023.