Pro Farmer Crop Tour Hits Snag in Rain-Swept and Drought-Stricken US Corn Belt
The annual Pro Farmer Crop Tour of corn and soybeans kicks off today in the US Corn Belt, where more than 100 scouts will measure crop yields over the next four days.
The tour takes place at a critical time for the crops, with the eastern leg driving through an area hit by record rainfall while the western leg samples drought-affected areas.
According to Jim Wiesemeyer, a veteran ag and policy journalist, 'the national numbers conceal an unusually wide spread among the seven tour states - Iowa at 78% good-to-excellent corn against South Dakota at 45%.'
The USDA's August Crop Production report put national corn yield at 180.7 bu. per acre on 88.6 million harvested acres for a 16.013-billion-bu. crop, and soybeans at 52.7 bu. per acre for 4.519 billion bu.