Preliminary Route Report with Chip Flory, western Tour leader
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
Nebraska – Thurston, Burt, Washington and Dodge counties (Districts 3 & 6)
Corn yield range:
150.22 to 198.1 bpa
Corn yield average:
172.9 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
686.4 to 1,555.0
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
1,241.2
Please share a few comments from your route:
We started the day with two stops in South Dakota, and we apparently had the best two stops – it was a good-looking crop. But – there has been some extreme variability out of South Dakota, which isn’t a surprise since there was a cold snap after the crop had emerged and it’s been hot and dry consistently throughout the growing season. The crop in South Dakota is already dented and shutting down Earlie-than-usual.
As we’ve made our way into Nebraska, the corn crop is good, but it’s not knocking our socks off yield-wise. There’s been a variety of diseases, but nothing severe. Bacterial leaf streak has been the most prevalent, but we’ve also seen northern leaf blight and some southern rust. There has also been some tipback from excessive heat and some pollination issues in Dodge County, west of Freemont.
Brown stem rot in soybeans was the most noticeable disease we ran across today.
Preliminary Route Report with Brent Judisch, western Tour consultant
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
South Dakota: Lincoln, Turner, Hutchinson Counties
Corn yield range:
65 to 174 bp
a
Corn yield average: 124.8 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
230 to 1687 (230 was a hailed on and replanted, jury still out)
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
1131.85
Please share a few (one to three) comments from your route:
Hot, dry conditions in late June through July, made for severely drought-stressed areas and tough-looking corn crop, but good rains fell in August, which has allowed for good potential in soybeans.
On our third stop, we talked to the local farmer, whose field we were sampling. He indicated that it’s been a really tough year. In drought areas, only 50% of the stalks had a viable ear. We counted twice to verify. There were also some pollination issues, which were more sporadic and inconsistent. Interestingly, the higher yielding corn had visible pollination issues, while the lower yielding corn did not.
Overall, there was minimal disease, but there is some northern Leaf blight. We didn’t see any rust or Tar Spot. The soybean crop was very clean - no southern rust or white mold – likely due to a dry June/July. Beans are podded nicely, with lots of potential. There is some moisture to help finish the crop – the area we were in had an inch of rain recently, which is supportive of a strong yield.