YORK, Nebraska, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Potential corn yields and soybean pod counts in southeastern Nebraska looked above-average on Tuesday, but scouts on a crop tour wondered whether they justified the U.S. government’s record-large forecast for the western Corn Belt.
One group on the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour traveling through Hutchinson, York and Fillmore counties measured corn yields averaging 168 bushels per acre at five stops. That compared with those districts’ 169.6 bpa on last year’s tour and the three-year average of 165.2 bpa. Most fields were irrigated.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture this month forecast corn yields at a record-high 187 bpa for Nebraska and 168.8 bpa nationally.
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Those numbers suggest the area of the Corn Belt west of the Mississippi would need significantly above-average crops, especially corn, to counteract the eastern part, said tour scout Matt Bennett, who owns Illinois-based Bennett Consulting.
Crops in the western Corn Belt have fared better than those to the east, which endured excessive June rains.
“I think the (Nebraska) corn is a very good crop; I just don’t think it’s quite as good as it could be,” said scout Brent Judisch, an Iowa farmer. “I don’t think the top-end record crop is going to be there.”
Judisch noted some northern corn leaf blight disease and evidence of damage from the corn borer insect, but much less than a year ago.
Scouts slogged through muddy fields in the western Midwest for the second straight day, dodging showers and lightning.
Bennett’s group measured average soybean counts of 1,424 pods per 3-by-3-foot area, compared with the district’s 2014 crop tour average of 1,117 pods and three-year average of 1,035.
Slightly farther north, another group measured average soy counts of 1,505 pods and potential corn yield at 193.3 bpa from five stops.
Another group in that area measured average corn yield of 172 bpa and soy pod count of 1,163 pods from seven stops.
About 100 crop scouts are participating in the Pro Farmer tour, measuring fields in the western and eastern halves of the Corn Belt.
The tour of the largest production counties in seven states runs through Thursday, with state data released each evening.
Pro Farmer will estimate national production potential for corn and soybeans on Friday.
In 2014, Nebraska was the third-biggest corn-producing state and the fifth-largest soybean grower.
