From The Rows | Aug. 21, 2023 — Chip Flory (West)

South Dakota has the foundation for a good 2023 corn crop and has a great recovery from 2022’s problems. If – if the next 10 days don’t erase potential we saw in the corn and soybean crops.

The Western Leg of the Tour pulled 91 corn samples from South Dakota and 90 bean samples. That’s the most ever pulled in South Dakota. It may be the scouts were tuned-in to the temps that were waiting for them further to the south so they took a little extra time on the northwestern edge of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour.

More ears: The average ear count in 60-foot of row in South Dakota was 88.97, up 10.2% from year-ago and up 3.1% from the three-year average.

More grain length: The average grain inches per ear this year is 6.37, up 21.3% from year-ago and 1.1% above the three-year average.

More kernel rows: The average number of kernel rows around the ear is 16.2, up 2.9% from year-ago and 2% above the three-year average.

All that adds up to more yield. The average calculated yield of 157.42 bu. per acre us up 33% from year-ago and is 5.1% above the three-year average.

I spent drive time in South Dakota on my way to a starting point at Decatur, Nebraska. I split a route that handled the northern half of the route. Based on comments from our route partners and scouts at the evening meeting in Grand Island, there very little disease or bug infestations to talk about in the South Dakota corn crop.

Just a lot of anxiety over how the next 10 days could end the growing season for a lot of the corn crop in the Jackrabbit State.

Soybean pod counts in a 3’X3’ square of 1,013 topped last year by 16.2% but is 2.6% below the three-year average. Soil moisture is a bit better than last year and the three-year average, but that could change quickly this week.

We had an interesting discussion with the group in Grand Island tonight. I was challenged to try to imagine what will happen to the bean crop if there are 10 days of above-normal temps and very little rain in South Dakota. That is not good for the bean crop. It has done what it can do to put on pods. The trick will be building bean size.

Typically it takes about 2,500 beans to make a pound. What the bean crop will determine over the next ten days is how many beans it will take to make a pound. If the forecast is right, I’d think 2,500 is out. So – will it be 2,750? 3,000? Could it get to 3,500 beans to make a pound? That’s an answer that’s difficult to pin down. But a 250  increase in the number of beans it takes to make a pound is a 10% reduction in yield if we start with 2,500 beans as an assumption.

There is a lot on the line for the bean crop in the western Corn Belt over the next 10 days.

We also traveled through northeastern Nebraska today. Early observations:

• We saw some really good irrigated corn and scouts were impressed by several irrigated samples, but there were more “just below average” irrigated fields than above-normal.
• We saw some really bad dryland corn, but we didn’t see any fields as bad as what we saw last year in Northeastern Nebraska.
  • We were warned tonight in Grand Island that the “zero yields” are waiting for our southern-most routes to find tomorrow.
• What’s keeping irrigators from keeping up with water needs of the corn crop? 100-degree-plus temps and a breeze is at the top of that list. A close second is restrictions on electricity use. Depending on the power district, electricity for irrigation is being restricted. That’s shutting down irrigators during the hottest time of the day.

Day 2 of the Western Leg of the Tour is (mostly) east of Grand Island and south of the Platte River. We’ll again meet in Nebraska City.