It’s the ears.
Or the lack of ears that has pulled down corn yields from year-ago in two days in the Western Corn Belt. South Dakota lost 5.9% from last year’s ear counts and now Nebraska has lost 5.22% from year-ago. At 86.22 ears in two 30-foot rows in 2026, that’s the lowest ear count since 2013. And it wasn’t by design. I theorized that maybe a lower planting population as a cost-saving measure was part of the reason for the lower ear count, but scouts countered with row “skips” and “barren stalks” that meant an ear should have been in that blank space in the row, but it wasn’t.
The growers and agronomists in Nebraska City pointed to a couple of issues:
- Heavy rain after planting then a stretch of dry days crusted over some areas and prevented even emergence.
- Cold temperatures after emergence may have culled a few weak plants.
Mid-summer stress showed up in the numbers gathered in Nebraska, as well. Grain length this year was 7.0 inches, down 4.61% from last year’s 7.34 inches. Kernel rows around the ear were steady with year-ago at 16.24.
The average yield in Nebraska was 163.61 bu. per acre, down 8.85% from last year’s 179.5 Tour yield. That’s also down 5.6% from the three-year average.
Disease is present in the corn crop but is not at a level that is a threat to rob bushels late in the season.
The Nebraska bean crop is an average bean crop. Pods in a 3’X3’ square are down 9.54% from year-ago to 1,220 pods, but that doesn’t make it a bad bean crop – it’s just another reminder of how good the bean crop was in 2025. This year’s pod count in Nebraska is down 0.6% from the three-year average which makes the pod count – and the crop – pretty darn average.
What could separate the bean crop is the amount of water available. Last year’s crop had plenty of moisture available to finish the crop and after today’s heavy rains in some areas of eastern Nebraska, there was water running in ditches and waterways and standing in low spots. This year’s crop has even more moisture to finish. I realize a week’s worth of typical late-August weather can make conditions dry again, but the bean crop is heading into the final stages of the growing season with a running start to be a good bean crop.
Western Leg scouts will make their way up the west coast of Iowa tomorrow, pulling samples from crop districts 1, 4 and 7. We’ll have results from western Iowa tomorrow night in Spencer. You know what we will be watching most closely – the ear counts. So far, ear counts have pulled yields down from year-ago in two western and two easter Belt states. I’m not sure why that trend will change in Illinois and Iowa, but it will need to if the center of the Belt will make expected yields.