Crop Tours: A Numbers Game or a Market Reaction?

The Midwest Crop Tour is an annual event where industry experts and analysts visit corn and soybean fields in the US Midwest to gather data on crop yields. The author, a grains analyst with DTN, has never participated in the tour but has heard stories from those who have.

One story involves a wheat farm in Kansas where scouts were nicknamed 'Drunks Across Kansas' due to their heavy drinking after work hours.

Another story tells of Tony, a young reporter who joined his first Wheat Tour and got into trouble by sneezing uncontrollably at a flour mill due to an allergy to wheat dust. He then wandered off to scout an alfalfa field, with Russ, a veteran tour participant, chasing after him.

Scott, another DTN analyst, participated in the Midwest Crop Tour but wore cargo shorts and 'Jesus shoes', earning him ridicule from his colleagues. The next time he went on tour, he dressed more appropriately.