CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) – Farm newsletter Pro Farmer has pegged U.S. corn production this year at 12.807 billion bushels, and the soybean crop at 3.150 billion bu., after touring top crop-producing states in the Midwest.
Pro Farmer estimated the average corn yield at 160.1 bu. per acre, and the average soybean yield at 41.0 bu.
Pro Farmer’s forecasts, released Aug. 21, are slightly higher than the United States Department of Agriculture’s forecast for corn, but lower than its soybean forecast.
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The USDA forecast the 2009 corn crop at 12.761 billion bu., which would be the second largest on record, and soybean production at a record-high 3.199 billion bu.
The tour found crops are best in the western Midwest, in Iowa and Nebraska. Illinois crops are not as good. Crop development is slower than average.
The Iowa corn yield was projected 7.5 percent higher than last year, while soybean pod counts in the state were up nearly 10 percent, scouts on an annual crop tour said.
“This Iowa corn crop is very impressive,” said Roger Bernard, leader of the eastern leg of the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. “The big yield numbers came out.”
The tour concluded its annual four-day swing through seven Midwest states by scouting fields in Iowa, typically the largest corn- and soybean-producing state, and in Minnesota.
Corn yield was projected at 180.97 bu. per acre, up from 168.33 last year and the three-year tour average of 165.20.
Crop development appeared to be behind schedule in both corn and soybeans in Iowa and Minnesota.
“Somewhere, we lost three weeks of the growing season,” said Dick Overby, a crop insurance adjuster from Minnesota.
Cool temperatures and high moisture levels may result in a wet crop come harvest.
Chip Flory, Pro Farmer editor and director of the tour, said farmers should lock in prices for propane to dry their crops later this year.
Further, farmers should be wary about selling too much of the new crop because favourable weather will be needed at the end of the season for the crop to reach its potential.
“Guys can’t get too aggressive (marketing) as late as this crop is,” Bernard said.
