Preliminary Route Report with Chip Flory, western Tour leader
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
IOWA – Plymouth, Sioux, Lyon and Osceola counties
Corn yield range:
162.5 to 208.8 bu. per acre
Corn yield average:
186.2 bu. per acre
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
519.5 to 1,445.7
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
939
Please share a few comments from your route:
Some of the issues in corn that we’ve seen throughout the western belt, we continue to see. Ear counts seem to be down a bit, still. We’re seeing tipback on the corn – and then we’ll come across two decent ears, then one that pulls the average down. That’s been happening consistently the whole time. There are some diseases out there, but not anything that I want to make a big deal out of. The crop is just too far along, I think. There is one field that maturity was such that it still had some time to add weight. I don’t know if we’re finding what we need to find in Iowa to get to USDA’s yield of 216. Maybe they’re seeing something different on the eastern part of Iowa – It’s not like I expected to cross the state line and see all the issues go away just because it’s Iowa. It’s been raining again today – this is the wettest Crop Tour since the first one in 1993. There hasn’t been a ton of storm damage, one field was goosenecked, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
We came across a field that was still blooming and one of the plants only had three pods on it. We’ve some brown stem rot again today. Outside of that, we’re not discolored fields or discolored spots. It’s not showing drought stress or development of SDS. Plant health seems really good. I’m not sure we’ll be super impressed with pod counts, though. There has been some weed pressure, but overall, the fields are clean. There just isn’t a whole lot to say about this bean crop we’re seeing in Iowa so far.
Preliminary Route Report with Brent Judisch, western Tour consultant
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
IOWA – Harrison, Winona, Woodbury, Plymouth counties
Corn yield range:
170 to 222 bu. per acre
Corn yield average:
190.8 bu. acre.
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
1305 to 1877
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
1564
Please share a few (one to three) comments from your route:
Yields are running about 5% below last year and 0.5% from the three-year average on corn. Ear counts have been good, but ear lengths and kernel counts were a little short. Dryness and high nighttime temps were likely culprits. Disease has not been prevalent, have not seen tar spot or rust at all today. We’re starting to see a pretty mature crop – the last sample we took around 30-40% of the ears had already dropped, meaning weather conditions have likely pushed this crop along a little too fast in this area. It looks like a really a good crop from the road, but once you get in the field it’s a different story.
Soybeans look good, have not seen any diseases or major issues. Weed control has been very good. We haven’t seen any bad fields at all. Our numbers specifically are 180 pods ahead of last year and 300 pods above our three-year age so far. With soil moisture where it’s at currently, the bean crop should finish to their full potential, barring a hail/windstorm.