The Pro Farmer estimates are informed by crop tour data and observations collected throughout the week via an exceptional effort by scouts in thousands of fields across seven key midwestern states. Key considerations such as plant maturity and health, historical analysis and areas outside of those sampled on crop tour also factor into the estimates.
Corn: Pro Farmer estimates the 2025 U.S. corn crop at 16.204 billion bushels based on an average yield of 182.7 bu. per acre, which is down from USDA’s August estimate of 188.8 bu. per acre.
“It’s a good corn crop and a good bean crop this year,” said Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk and western Crop Tour leader. “Neither crop is without risk between now and the end of kernel and pod fill because of the disease-ripe environment, but both crops have done a lot of the heavy lifting to build good yields.”
Soybeans: Pro Farmer estimates the 2025 U.S. soybean crop at 4.246 billion bushels with a national average yield of 53.0 bu. per acre, down from the 53.6 bu. per acre USDA estimated in August.
“As our Crop Tour route went further west, disease pressure in soybeans became much more obvious,” said Lane Akre, eastern tour leader and economist for Pro Farmer. “We saw a lot of sudden death the further west we went. That is not to say we saw a bad crop. Beans will need some moisture to utilize some of the potential evident in the significant number of pods.”
The Pro Farmer Crop Tour was carried out by a dedicated group of more than 100 crop scouts that sampled more than 3,200 fields in seven states.