Day 1 recap: Pro Farmer Crop Tour finds heat stress in South Dakota, excess moisture in Ohio

That’s a wrap on an eventful first day of the 2026 Pro Farmer Crop Tour. Scouts waded into muddy fields in Ohio, taking stock of often late-planted, immature crops. On the western leg, the toll of what Tour leader Chip Flory described as on-again, off-again stress was apparent with corn producing blank stalks or showing signs of pollination stress.

The Crop Tour results showed Ohio’s corn yield down 3% from the 2025 tour, while soybean pod counts were down 7%. In South Dakota, the Tour’s corn yield estimate was down 14.4% from the 2025 Tour, with pod counts down 20%.

The second day of the Tour on Tuesday will take the western leg across much of Nebraska. Preliminary sampling in the state was underwhelming, but Flory notes that the full second day of the tour in the state often produces an opposite result to the first.

Eastern leg Tour leader Lane Akre said he’s eager to press across Indiana into Illinois, states that have seen more persistent stress from excess moisture over the course of the growing season. Noting relatively little disease stress so far in Ohio, he wonders if that will hold up as the Tour moves west. USDA last week pegged Indiana’s corn yield at a record. A frequently asked question heading into this year’s Tour was whether the eastern Corn Belt would be strong enough to offset losses in the drought-stricken western Corn Belt, Flory noted. But after Monday’s Ohio results and concerns about maturity, Flory said his question is “will the east chase the west to the downside.”

(ProFarmer)

The Pro Farmer Crop Tour found an average corn yield of 180.18 bushels per acre in Ohio, down roughly 3% from 185.69 bushels in the 2025 tour and compared with a three-year average of 184.31 bushels.

(ProFarmer)

The tour found an average pod count of 1,197.25 in a 3’X3' area, down 7% from 1,287.28 last year and the three-year average of 1,256.71.

Read the full results here.

(ProFarmer)

The Pro Farmer Crop Tour pegged South Dakota’s corn yield at 149.09 bushels per acre, down 14.41% from 174.18 on last year’s tour and compared with a three-year average of 162.79 bushels per acre.

(ProFarmer)

South Dakota’s soybean pod count in a 3’X3' area was 945.98, down 20.4% from 1,188.45 in the 2025 tour and compared with the three-year average of 1,075.78.

See the full South Dakota results here.

Check back here at 7:55 CT to watch the Ohio and South Dakota results.

Preliminary Route Report with Chip Flory, western Tour leader

What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
Nebraska – Thurston, Burt, Washington and Dodge counties (Districts 3 & 6)

Corn yield range:
150.22 to 198.1 bpa

Corn yield average:
172.9 bpa

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
686.4 to 1,555.0

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
1,241.2

Please share a few comments from your route:

We started the day with two stops in South Dakota, and we apparently had the best two stops – it was a good-looking crop. But – there has been some extreme variability out of South Dakota, which isn’t a surprise since there was a cold snap after the crop had emerged and it’s been hot and dry consistently throughout the growing season. The crop in South Dakota is already dented and shutting down Earlier-than-usual.

As we’ve made our way into Nebraska, the corn crop is good, but it’s not knocking our socks off yield-wise. There’s been a variety of diseases, but nothing severe. Bacterial leaf streak has been the most prevalent, but we’ve also seen northern leaf blight and some southern rust. There has also been some tipback from excessive heat and some pollination issues in Dodge County, west of Freemont.

Brown stem rot in soybeans was the most noticeable disease we ran across today.

Preliminary Route Report with Brent Judisch, western Tour consultant

What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
South Dakota: Lincoln, Turner, Hutchinson Counties

Corn yield range:
65 to 174 bpa

Corn yield average:
124.8 bpa

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
230 to 1687 (230 was a hailed on and replanted, jury still out)

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
1131.85

Please share a few (one to three) comments from your route:
Hot, dry conditions in late June through July, made for severely drought-stressed areas and tough-looking corn crop, but good rains fell in August, which has allowed for good potential in soybeans.

On our third stop, we talked to the local farmer, whose field we were sampling. He indicated that it’s been a really tough year. In drought areas, only 50% of the stalks had a viable ear. We counted twice to verify. There were also some pollination issues, which were more sporadic and inconsistent. Interestingly, the higher yielding corn had visible pollination issues, while the lower yielding corn did not.

Overall, there was minimal disease, but there is some northern Leaf blight. We didn’t see any rust or Tar Spot. The soybean crop was very clean - no southern rust or white mold – likely due to a dry June/July. Beans are podded nicely, with lots of potential. There is some moisture to help finish the crop – the area we were in had an inch of rain recently, which is supportive of a strong yield.

Preliminary Route Report with Lane Akre, eastern Tour leader

What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?

Ohio - Wyandot, Hardin and Auglaize counties

Corn yield range:
130 to 218 bpa

Corn yield average:
170.1 bpa

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
472 to 2135

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
1,308

Please share a few (one to three) comments from your route:

We were surprised at how underdeveloped some of the corn was, producers struggled to get in. Crops that were planted early were in pretty good shape. Would be interesting to come back in a week to see how it stands up given recent rains. Beans are average and better than expected. There is more variability than I would have thought, but overall everything looked good. There is some minor disease pressure in corn but nothing to write home about.

Preliminary Route Report with Kyle Wendlund, eastern Tour consultant
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?

Ohio – Madison, Champaign, Darke (Districts 4 & 5)Indiana – Randolph, Henry, Madison, Hancock (Districts 5 & 6)

Corn yield range:
OH – 139 to 235 bpa
IN – 157 to 203 bpa

Corn yield average:
OH – 183.6 bpa
IN – 178.9 bpa

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
OH — 979 to1856
IN — 728 to 1528.8

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
OH — 1,357.9
IN — 1,194.6

Please share a few comments from your route:
There is plenty of moisture, mud and night crawlers in Ohio. There are spots in beans have obviously been wet before the recent rains – we can tell by tough stands. The corn looks fairly healthy, but disease is starting to creep in. We’ve been seeing a fair amount of Northern Leaf Blight, more so than Rust or Tar Spot.

On our leg of the Tour, everything has been pretty mature – we have seen some corn that has dented, with lower leaves showing some nutrient deficiency, likely from too much moisture. There have been some fields that have had fungicide applied with a ground rig, with tire tracks visible. Insect pressure has been minimal overall.

There hasn’t been any widespread wind damage from recent storms, but one sample did have greensnap. I’m surprised to see the crop standing as good as it is with all the storms.

There have been some soybeans that have been affected by hail, minimal disease pressure in soybeans.

Overall, the flood and moisture damage doesn’t give me a great feeling about the crop going forward. The sun desperately needs to shine to let the crop fully mature into harvest, which is still 45 to 60 days out.

USDA released their weekly crop progress and condition this report this afternoon, providing a survey-based perspective on how corn and soybeans are faring.

Among crop tour states, USDA lowered corn ratings in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and South Dakota from last week while raising ratings in Ohio and Nebraska. Ratings were unchanged in Iowa.

The Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index (CCI), which compresses the USDA’s weekly crop progress report into a single, weighted, easy-to-track number on a scale from 0 to 500, shows that nationally, the corn crop declined 2.67 points to 355.72 over that time and soybeans fell 1.89 points.

Soybean ratings in the seven crop tour states saw declines in Indiana, Minnesota, and South Dakota, while Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio saw improvements. Illinois’ ratings were unchanged.

Compared to the August 2 ratings, the closest available to USDA’s reference date of August 1 used in their most recent production forecast, the net good to excellent ratings in Crop Tour states has dropped 11 percentage points for corn and 7 points for soybeans.

(USDA/Pro Farmer)

(USDA/Pro Farmer)

A full breakdown of state-level CCI ratings and more detail on USDA’s national condition ratings is available here.

Western leg Tour leader Chip Flory tells Agri-Talk that it shouldn’t be a surprise that scouts found a suffering South Dakota corn crop amid this summer’s hot weather. There “too many hot days” and “too many hot nighttimes.”

Brent Judisch reports corn stalks with no viable ears in southeast South Dakota along with pollination problems.

Crop Tour scouts waded through a muddy eastern Corn Belt while traders took soybean futures solidly higher on concerns over how excessive rains and severe flooding could impact crop potential. Continued demand from China and crush figures also helped. September soybean oil futures soared 200 points alongside strongly higher crude-oil futures and, crucially, a 3.5% surge in New York diesel futures.

Weather concerns also likely helped December corn rise 6 1/4 cents to $4.89 1/2, the highest close in three months. Strong weekly U.S. corn inspections at 1.911 million metric tons for the week ended Aug. 13 also helped.

Gains for corn and soybeans buoyed wheat futures. September soft red winter wheat futures ended unchanged, September hard red winter wheat rose 4 1/2 cents, while September spring wheat lost 3 1/4 cents.

U.S. Farm Report’s Tyne Morgan says crops in the eastern Corn Belt appear immature, which might make it tough to pin down yield expectations.

(barchart)

Soybean futures are leading the way higher Monday, with November up 20 cents at $12.12 1/2 to trade at its highest since July 29 as traders assess the damage from heavy storms and flooding in the eastern Corn Belt. Heavy weekend rains on top of last week’s weather are driving worries about crop impact, while buying interest from China has also served to bolster the bulls. December corn was up 6 3/4 cents to $4.90, hitting a three-week high and just below the July 24 high at $4.92.

Ted Seifried, chief market strategist at Zaner Ag Hedge, has made it into Nebraska on the western leg of the tour. His stops show tip back is present, but impact varies between counties.

Western Tour leg leader Chip Flory saw good looking corn and soybean pod counts in two stops in South Dakota before heading into Nebraska, but other routes have reported extremely variable results. One route found yields between 120 to 180 bushels an acre on corn with a significant number of blank stalks, while another route further west reported similar issues but to a lesser degree. “There’s a lot of variability up here,” Flory said on Agri-Talk. “The stress has been an on-again, off-again situation here in the southeast part of the state. It all depends on when the corn was planted.” Soybeans, meanwhile, appear to have held up somewhat better to heat stress than corn.

Seasoned Crop Tour scout, Karen Braun, Chief Market Analyst at Zaner Ag Hedge, shows early results from fields sampled in South Dakota.

(field report)

Pro Farmer Crop Tour scouts have turned up the usual suspects when it comes to disease sightings so farm Monday, but bacterial leaf streak is the most common so far, Emily Carolan said on AgriTalk, noting that, due to its bacterial nature, fungicide won’t protect corn. Pro Farmer economist and eastern leg Tour leader Lane Akre said disease pressure in Ohio, so far, has been “been somewhat light,” says Lane Akre. “We haven’t seen much, corn and beans look healthy,” he said.

Here’s what Pro Farmer Economist Lane Akre, who is also the leader of the eastern leg of the Tour, found over his first five stops this morning:

Pro Farmer’s Bill Watts, Hillari Mason and Spencer Langford on the key questions the Crop Tour may be able to help answer.

Let’s hope so...

Expectations for the crop were much stronger than what USDA delivered in last week’s Crop Production Report, notes Pro Farmer Economist Lane Akre. It was surprisng to see USDA pegging a strong rebound for Ohio corn and a record for Indiana. The Crop Tour will allow the first wide, field-level look at crops, including the damage from high winds and heavy rains over the past week.

Pro Farmer Crop Tour scouts hit the fields early Monday morning. Reports and observations are rolling in.

Corn futures are called to open unchanged to 4 cents higher.
Soybeans: 2 to 6 cents higher.
Wheat: Winter wheat 4 to 8 cents lower, HRS 2 to 6 cents lower.

Ahead of the Open: Corn sees 3-week high in overnight session

Corn and soybean futures prices rose overnight, with traders paying attention to severe flooding in the eastern Corn Belt as the Crop Tour kicks off, notes Pro Farmer technical consultant Jim Wyckoff in this morning’s First Thing Today. December corn was up 3/4 cent at $4.84 a little after 6 a.m. CDT after hitting a three-week high overnight at $4.87 1/4. November soybeans were up 2 3/4 cents at $11.95 1/2 after also hitting a three-week high at $12.00 1/4.

(World Weather Inc.)

Heavy rains that continued through the weekend will see the tour off to a soggy start, particularly on the eastern leg that kicks off in Ohio on Monday morning. “The weekend U.S. Midwest rain brought moisture totals for the past seven days ending Sunday late afternoon to the range 5.00 to more than 10.00 inches in numerous areas from parts of Iowa to Ohio where flooding has occurred or is still occurring,” said Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. on Sunday. “Mold and mildew concerns will be rising this week for beans on the lower branches of soybean plants and crop yellowing is possible in the most seriously flood impacted areas,” he said. Weekend rain was greatest across central Illinois and into west-central Indiana where totals ranged from 3 to more than 5 inches, with Doppler radar suggesting 5 to 7 inches in several areas. Lighter rain fell from southern Iowa and northern Missouri to Ohio and West Virginia, bringing 1 to 2 inches and local totals over 3 inches. A derecho caused widespread damage across a chunk of the same region.