Day 3 recap: Pro Farmer Crop Tour turns spotlight on Illinois and western Iowa

(Pro Farmer)

The Crop Tour produced an Illinois corn yield estimate of 184.19 bushels per acre, down 7.7% from 199.57 bushels in 2025 and 7.5% below the three-year average of 199.15 bushels. USDA last week estimated an average yield of 212 bushels per acre for the state, a decline of 0.9% from 214 bushels last year.

(Pro Farmer)

Scouts found an average of 1,430.77 soybean pods in a 3’X3’ square, down 3.3% from 1,479.22 on last year’s Tour but up 2.9% from the three-year average of 1,389.65. USDA projected the state’s average soybean yield at 67 bushels per acre, up 7.2% from 62.5 bushels last year.

(Pro Farmer)

The Crop Tour found corn yields down in three Iowa districts (full Iowa results for corn and soybeans will be released Thursday). In District 1, the average corn yield was 191.80 bushels per acre, down 3.1% from the 2025 Tour but up 3.3% from the three-year average. In District 4, the yield came in at 189.73 bushels per acre, down 8.5% from a year ago and 0.5% below the three-year average. And in District 7 the average yield was 190.59 bushels per acre, down 2.3% from last year and 0.05% above the three-year average.

(Pro Farmer)

On soybeans, District 1 saw 1,269.26 pods in a 3’X3' square, down 0.78% from the 2025 Tour but up 8% above the three-year average. District 4’s pod count came in at 1,273.77, down 7.4% from a year ago but up 1.9% from the three-year average. And District 7 saw 1,557.59 pods, down 0.3% from 2025 but 14% above the average.

Preliminary Route Report with Lane Akre, eastern Tour leader

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

ILLINOIS – La Salle, Putnam, Marshall, Bureau, Stark, Knox, Henry, Mercer, Rock Island counties

Corn yield range: 136 to 213 bu. per acre

Corn yield average: 173.9 bu. per acre

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square: 846 to 1,498

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square: 1,154.2

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

The corn crop in Illinois is pretty underwhelming. It has been more consistent from a yield and maturity perspective, but the yields are consistently low, due to low populations and big ears and high populations and small ears, which leads to about the same yield. There is obvious nitrogen deficiency across the corn due to persistent rains throughout the growing season, and that hasn’t helped. Most of the crop is dented or has started to dent. Disease pressure was ramped up today, we saw a couple fields with rust, but still not tar spot. We did see some northern leaf blight and bacterial leaf blight. There was also some down corn in western Illinois – it wasn’t terribly widespread, but there were both broken and goosenecked stalks.

There was more sudden death in the soybean crop than we’ve been seeing, and the crop is further along what we’ve seen in prior days and seems to have a little bit more potential to fill out upper pods. There was a field of brown stem rot and we noticed some white mold from the truck but didn’t sample that particular field. Most fields were clean; a couple had some weed pressure but looked average to better-than average.

Preliminary Route Report with Kyle Wendland, eastern Tour consultant

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

ILLINOIS: Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Henry, Whiteside counties
IOWA: Clinton, Jackson, Jones, Cedar counties

Corn yield range:
IL – 132 to 211 bu. per acre
IA – 162 to 264 bu. per acre

Corn yield average:
IL – 188.75 bu. per acre
IA – 203.3 bu. per acre

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
IL – 816 to 2,160
IA – 757 to 1,440

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
IL – 1,585.25
IA – 1,034

Please share a few comments from your route:

The corn looks fairly consistent today, but we have seen some wind damage northwest of Clinton. Not real severe, but there were three or four stalks snapped off here and there. Maturity seems to have increased – every one of our samples today has started the dent phase. We’re seeing the same diseases we’ve been seeing – gray leaf spot and northern leaf blight. Overall grain length today compared to past years has been shorter.

As wet as it’s been, it’s been a breeding ground for disease in soybeans. We’ve discovered this area had the sixth wettest June on record. There’s white mold and sudden death that has affected a lot of the soybeans we’ve sampled. Everything is done setting blooms – there are still some very small pods that could possibly fill out. The ground is drier than yesterday, but mud is still sticking to our boots, so there’s plenty of moisture to get the crop to the finish line. Our last sample had a lot of foxtail, but there haven’t been any widespread weed or insect issues.

Preliminary Route Report with Chip Flory, western Tour leader

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

IOWA – Plymouth, Sioux, Lyon and Osceola counties

Corn yield range: 162.5 to 208.8 bu. per acre

Corn yield average: 186.2 bu. per acre

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square: 519.5 to 1,445.7

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square: 939

Please share a few comments from your route:

Some of the issues in corn that we’ve seen throughout the western belt, we continue to see. Ear counts seem to be down a bit, still. We’re seeing tipback on the corn – and then we’ll come across two decent ears, then one that pulls the average down. That’s been happening consistently the whole time. There are some diseases out there, but not anything that I want to make a big deal out of. The crop is just too far along, I think. There is one field that maturity was such that it still had some time to add weight. I don’t know if we’re finding what we need to find in Iowa to get to USDA’s yield of 216. Maybe they’re seeing something different on the eastern part of Iowa – It’s not like I expected to cross the state line and see all the issues go away just because it’s Iowa. It’s been raining again today – this is the wettest Crop Tour since the first one in 1993. There hasn’t been a ton of storm damage, one field was goosenecked, but nothing too out of the ordinary.

We came across a soybean field that was still blooming and one of the plants only had three pods on it. We’ve some brown stem rot again today. Outside of that, we’re not discolored fields or discolored spots. It’s not showing drought stress or development of SDS. Plant health seems really good. I’m not sure we’ll be super impressed with pod counts, though. There has been some weed pressure, but overall, the fields are clean. There just isn’t a whole lot to say about this bean crop we’re seeing in Iowa so far.

Preliminary Route Report with Brent Judisch, western Tour consultant

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

IOWA – Harrison, Winona, Woodbury, Plymouth counties

Corn yield range: 170 to 222 bu. per acre

Corn yield average: 190.8 bu. acre.

Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square: 1305 to 1877

Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square: 1564

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

Yields are running about 5% below last year and 0.5% from the three-year average on corn. Ear counts have been good, but ear lengths and kernel counts were a little short. Dryness and high nighttime temps were likely culprits. Disease has not been prevalent, have not seen tar spot or rust at all today. We’re starting to see a pretty mature crop – the last sample we took around 30-40% of the ears had already dropped, meaning weather conditions have likely pushed this crop along a little too fast in this area. It looks like a really a good crop from the road, but once you get in the field it’s a different story.

Soybeans look good, have not seen any diseases or major issues. Weed control has been very good. We haven’t seen any bad fields at all. Our numbers specifically are 180 pods ahead of last year and 300 pods above our three-year age so far. With soil moisture where it’s at currently, the bean crop should finish to their full potential, barring a hail/windstorm.

The 2026 Pro Farmer Crop Tour hit the heart of the Corn Belt Wednesday after largely underwhelming results in terms of corn yields and soybean pod counts in Ohio, Indiana, South Dakota and Nebraska. We’ll have the results this evening. Tune in here at 7:55 p.m. CT to watch live.

Pro Farmer Economist Lane Akre, leader of the eastern leg of the Tour, reports fairly consistent results across Illinois after widely variable observations the first two days:

Grain and soy complex futures continued to find support on disappointing corn yields and pod counts over the first two days of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, with the focus Wednesday evening on results from western Iowa and Illinois. Outside markets provided a tailwind for the entire commodity sector. Treasury yields fell sharply after the Treasury Department unexpectedly said it would double bond buybacks. That also put pressure on the dollar. Both lower yields and a weaker currency tend to be positives for commodities. Gold jumped over $100 an ounce, while crude oil also remained firm on concerns over the Middle East.

December corn rallied a dime to $4.98 for its highest close in 3 months.

November soybeans gained 20 ½ cents to $12.37 ¼, hitting a for-the-move high.

September soybean meal rose $5.90 to $318.90.

September soybean oil up 17 points to 69.86 cents.

September SRW up 15 ¾ cents to $6.80 1/4.

September HRW up 18 ¼ cents at $7.62.

Spring wheat futures up 17 ¾ cents at $6.94.

December cotton futures surged 294 points to 88.35 cents.

October live cattle fell $1.70 to $217.225 September feeder cattle lost $4.225 to $329.125.

October lean hog futures rose 77.5 cents to $81.50.

Grain and soy complex futures are solidly higher ahead of midday, with December corn trading just below $5 and at a three-month high and November soybeans trading at their highest since July 27. Traders have cited disappointment in corn yield estimates and soybean pod counts from Ohio, Indiana, South Dakota and Nebraska from the Pro Farmer Crop Tour. Further strength in energy futures, including crude and diesel, have also added support, while a weaker U.S. dollar is seen providing a tailwind for the commodity sector overall.

December corn was up 7 1/4 cents at $4.95 1/4
November soybeans up 20 cents at $12.36 3/4
September soybean meal up $4 at $317
September soybean oil up 35 points at 70.04 cents
September soft red winter wheat up 14 1/4 cents at $6.78 3/4
September hard red winter wheat up 15 3/4 cents at $7.42 1/2
December cotton surges 281 points higher to 88.22 cents.
September spring wheat up 17.5 cents at $6.9375.

Zaner Ag Hedge’s Ted Seifried noted continued signs of pollination problems in western Iowa earlier this morning, but recently ran into some good looking corn:

Pro Farmer Economist Lane Akre, leader of the eastern leg of the Tour, told the Pro Farmer Crop Tour Livestream that corn yields found on his route across central Illinois have so far been “a little underwhelming.” As has been the case elsewhere on the tour, ear counts have been a concern. There are “good ears but not enough of them,” he said. Across seven samples, Akre has found an average yield around 180 bushels per acre. Soybeans, meanwhile, are showing more signs of disease.

Data analyst Emily Carolan noted that while planting weather through April was favorable for much of central Illinois, a May cold stretch across the Midwest seemed to really affect the vigor of the crop across multiple states.

Scout Bree Baatz has encountered mostly clean soybeans thus far, though does note white mold has been spotted at one stop.

Michelle Rook noted pollination issues at a stop in Iowa’s district 4.

U.S. Farm Report host, Tyne Morgan shows the effects of too much moisture as the eastern leg of the Crop Tour advances across Illinois on Day 3.

The sheer scale of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour is one factor that contributes to the reliability of the estimates derived from its data.

Sample sizes on the Crop Tour are typically larger than those in USDA’s objective yield survey that begins in September each year. The lower sample size of USDA does not necessarily mean their survey is less accurate. The agency’s sampling is limited by the fact that their own survey includes monthly check-ups on plots, and a final return before harvest to obtain a sample that is shipped to St. Louis for analysis. Each of those steps adds data quality but can also be cost prohibitive.

Still, the high sample size highlights the statistical credibility of the Tour. In statistics, a large number of samples is one of the key ingredients needed to obtain an accurate representation of the average physical yield. Last year, scouts took 1,579 samples of corn and 1,551 samples of soybeans in the seven Crop Tour states. USDA’s survey managed 642 and 606 samples respectively, though the agency did also collect an additional 258 corn samples and 365 soybean samples in non-crop tour U.S. states that aided in their national estimates.

At the halfway point in the Tour, scouts this year have taken 715 corn samples and 694 soybean samples as they prepare to move into Illinois and Iowa.

Crop Tour scouts made their way into Illinois late Tuesday and will complete their sweep across key growing areas of the state today. The pressure is on Illinois to restore some confidence in the eastern Corn Belt’s production potential after scouts found corn yields and soybean pod counts in Ohio and Indiana down significantly from last year’s Tour. That’s the opposite direction of travel offered by USDA last week in its Crop Production Report, which saw yields for corn and soybeans rising from last year in both states.

Pro Farmer Economist Lane Akre, who is leading the eastern leg of the Tour, noted that the state disappointed last year. The Tour offered the first glimpse of the disappointing state of the Illinois corn crop and disease pressure on soybeans. Yields for both corn and soybeans came in below what had been record expectations.

Illinois was hammered by high winds and repeated heavy storms the past week. Planting season was a challenge due to heavy rains which led to planting delays and uneven emergence, followed by dryness and heat. USDA last week estimated an average Illinois corn yield of 212 bushels per acre, down from 214 bushels last year. Soybeans were pegged at 67 bushels per acre, up from 62.5 bushels in 2025.

Read: Will Illinois disappoint again in 2026?

At 6:30 a.m. CDT, December corn was up 1 3/4 cents and November soybeans were 11 1/4 cents higher. September soybean meal was up $2.00. September bean oil was 68 points higher. Wheat was mixed, with September SRW wheat up 1/4 cent and September HRW wheat down 2 1/2 cents.

The second day of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour found corn yields and soybean pod counts down significantly from last year in Indiana and Nebraska. Like Ohio on Monday, the direction of travel for the Indiana results is getting attention, as USDA last week projected yields for both states to rise from last year.

Check out this morning’s First Thing Today for a full rundown of market-moving overnight news and market action.

The second day of the Crop Tour found an average corn yield in Nebraska at 163.61 bushels per acre, down 8.9% from last year’s Tour yield of 179.5 bushels and a drop of 5.6% from the three-year average. It was the ear count that told the story for a second day, notes Western leg Tour leader Chip Flory in his recap of Day 2.

South Dakota on Tuesday saw a 5.9% drop in ear counts from 2025, while Nebraska was down 5.22%. For Nebraska, the ear count was the lowest since 2013.

The western leg is making its way into western Iowa. “You know what we will be watching most closely — the ear counts,” Flory wrote, noting that lackluster counts have also pulled down yields in Ohio and Indiana as well as South Dakota and Nebraska.