The U.S. Midwest is looking at a huge corn and soybean harvest.
That unsurprising but important conclusion was reached at the end of the annual Pro Farmer Midwest crop tour after participants visited fields from Ohio to South Dakota.
Normal weather from Aug. 22 until the end of September will probably produce a U.S. corn crop of 14.1 billion bushels based on average yields of 169.3 bu. per acre.
Soybean production should reach 3.81 billion bu. based on average yields of 45.35 bu. per acre.
Those numbers aren’t far from recent U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, but the markets keenly watched the tour to see if it would verify or diverge much from general expectations.
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While the tour verified big yields and production, it didn’t push them much higher, although perfect weather would increase production.
Different states have enjoyed different luck over the growing season, with Illinois getting great luck and Minnesota getting mixed conditions, creating an almost 40 bu. per acre difference between the two states’ corn yields.
“We saw what can happen when conditions are ideal throughout the growing season in (Illinois),” said Pro Farmer’s official conclusion, predicting an Illinois yield of 198 bu. per acre.
Minnesota is expected to produce 160 bu. per acre because “nitrogen deficiency is a problem and there is evidence of heavy early season rains in the state. Thirty days without rain also took the top end off the crop.”
As with corn, Illinois revealed the best soybean yields, at an average of 54 bu. per acre. Mixed growing conditions in Iowa left that production heavyweight lower with 49.5 bu. per acre, while Minnesota’s 41.5 could increase with rain.
South Dakota’s full soybean potential will be reached only if frost can be avoided until Oct. 10.
