Preliminary Route Report with Brent Judisch, western Tour consultant
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
Iowa: Districts 4 & 1 Harrison, Monona, Woodbury, Plymouth Counties
Corn yield range: 173 to 239 bu. per acre
Corn yield average: 207
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square: 716 to 2411
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square: 1,452
Please share a few (one to three) comments from your route:
We measured a 5% higher potential yield than the same spots last year, there are some diseases, though--Southern Rust and did find one lesion of Tar Spot and Northern Corn Leaf Blight, but it’s low enough on the plant that it shouldn’t have much effect. We’ve had mud on our boots during every sample today. Our 5% in potential yield increase from year-ago is due to more grain length. Maturity is right on the money. Part of the crop is denting pretty good and part just starting to dent, but overall, on par. We have seen a few ear rooms, but nothing extreme. We have not seen any storm damage yet but may see some before the end of the day.
Pod counts are 15% higher than last year in a 3’ x 3’ square. Our highs have been higher than normal and our lows have been higher than normal. There’s plenty of moisture to finish the crop, but Sudden Death was in 25% of the fields we sampled. We did see some brown stem rot and frog eye leaf spot. The issue is going to be how detrimental these diseases. But even with the issues we’ve seen today, we obviously still have a really strong average. We feel the corn crop is closer to finishing than the soybean crop, so there are concerns about how the soybean crop rounds out the growing season.
Preliminary Route Report with Lane Akre, eastern Tour leader
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
Illinois: Districts Bureau, Henry and Rock Island Counties
Iowa: District 6 & 9--Muscatine, Louisa and Johnson Counties
Corn yield range: 143 to 225 bu. per acre.
Corn yield average: 197.8 bu. per acre.
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square: 1,180 to 4,001
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square: 1,835.6
Please share a few comments:
Illinois has been underwhelming so far. We have seen some good stuff, but not what you were expecting in Illinois. Heat, low ear counts and populations affected yields. Samples were pretty inconsistent. Harvest is still a ways off, plants are still very green. We have noticed an uptick in disease pressure, especially as we’ve entered into Iowa, most notably Rust.
Seeing more SDS in beans in Iowa and soils with lots of moisture. Pod counts have been pretty consistent—though there were two that stood out. The crop is still pretty lush but everything is done blooming.
Preliminary Route Report with Chip Flory, western Tour leader
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
Iowa: Districts 1—Plymouth, Sioux, Lyon and Osceola Counties
Corn yield range: 199.8 to 234.2 bu. per acre
Corn yield average: 213.8 bu. per acre
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square: 816.3 to 2040
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square: 1363.1
Please share a few comments from your route:
We’ve sampled everything in the northwest district. Right out of the gate we found Southern Rust. There’s maybe been some minor Southern Rust after that but not like we ran across on our first stop. One of our last stops was around 30% lodged from storms. But outside of the leaves being ripped, I’ve been impressed by the plant health. It really looks pretty good. Samples are at least starting to dent—it’s been pushed some, which will raise some concern about kernel size later.
Soybean pod counts are really good, but not great. As you drive down the road in NW Iowa, beans are already taking on a lighter shade, and in some areas, some are yellowing due to disease. We’ve seen some dead plants and when the disease is close enough to the edge of the road you can see it pretty clearly. At least one of the plants that had Brown Stem Rot.
Preliminary Route Report with Kyle Wendland, eastern Tour consultant
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
Illinois: Districts Marshall, Peoria, Starke, Henry and Whiteside Counties
Corn yield range: 131 to 248 bu. per acre
Corn yield average: 205 bu. per acre.
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square: 772 to 3,097
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square: 1,475
Please share a few comments from your route:
It was a foggy start as we headed north, the dew was heavy. For the first few samples, it dried out a little into Whiteside. There were a few cracks in the ground. There were two fields that had notable disease pressure, Tar Spot and Gray leaf Spot. Also nutrient deficiency. Nonetheless, the crop has a milk formed and is a pretty mature crop. If the heat continues, and race to the finish, it could affect yield, but if there’s rain, yield could be added.
Pretty healthy bean crop across Illinois, had couple mature fields—no leaves dropping but the pods are getting filled up. Same as corn—weather going forward will largely determine yield. Disease pressure is minimal in Illinois, only some minor signs of SDS. One of our samples had a lot of grasshoppers, which can be tied to drier areas.