From The Rows | Aug. 25, 2022 — Brian Grete (East)
Eastern Tour – Day 4
My route took me west out of Iowa City and then north along highways 218 and 63. We took samples in Iowa, Benton, Tama, Black Hawk and Bremer counties. Yield samples along my route ranged from 165.4 bu. to 258 bu. per acre, with an average of 205 bu. per acre. Five of our nine samples topped 200 bu. per acre. The ears we pulled were notably heavy compared to earlier in the week.
The average soybean pod count in a 3’x3’ square from my route was 1407, with a range of 734.4 to 2620. Soybeans along our route were generally clean and had plenty of moisture to finish strong, especially once we got north of Highway 30.
The final Tour yield for Iowa corn was 183.81 bu. per acre, down 3.6% from last year and equal to the three-year average.
The final Tour pod count for Iowa was 1174.43 in a 3’x3’ square, down 3.6% from last year but up 1.5% from the three-year average.
The final Tour yield for Minnesota corn was 190.39 bu., up 7.3% from last year and up 5.2% from the three-year average.
The final Tour pod count for Minnesota was 1100.75 in a 3’x3’ square, up 7.1% from last year and up 7.3% the three-year average.
Final Day 4 observations
The question heading into Crop Tour was whether there would be enough bushels in the eastern Corn Belt to offset bushels lost in the western areas. After Crop Tour, the answer is clearly there won’t be enough in the east to offset the west... not nearly enough. The combination of heat and dryness was too intense for too long in western areas of the Corn Belt. And while the eastern Belt had favorable conditions, they also endured periods of hot and dry. That will keep the crop from reaching its full potential in the eastern Corn Belt.
Soybean pod counts are down from year-ago in all but Minnesota... but the crop has moisture. And moisture is key to the crop’s ability to finish.
I would like to thank all of the scouts on this year’s Pro Farmer Crop Tour. You worked hard, as always, and adapted to some unusual circumstances. As I say every year, we can’t do what we have to do during Crop Tour without your hard work and extreme dedication. Brent, Chip, Emily, Mark and I can’t thank you enough for all you did for us this week. We hope to see all of you back for the 2023 Pro Farmer Crop Tour.
