Four days of crop scouting through seven Midwestern states has led Pro-Farmer Crop Tour officials to believe the 2024 national crop — both corn and soybeans — will not disappoint.

“One of the major questions heading into Crop Tour was whether the corn and soybean crops could live up to the lofty expectations,” said Brian Grete, editor of “Pro Farmer” magazine. “Of the two crops, I was more impressed with soybeans than corn, and the corn crop is stellar.”

National production estimates for corn (as of Aug. 23) stand at 181.1 bushels per acre (bpa) — or 14.979 billion bushels of corn in the fields.

National soybean numbers stand at 54.9 bpa, or 4.740 billion bushels waiting to be harvested.

Corn

Broken down, the Pro-Farmer corn crop estimates were as follows: (compared to USDA estimates, which were as of Aug. 12):

• Iowa: 212 bpa; USDA estimate: 209 bpa.

• Minnesota: 170 bpa; USDA estimate: 185 bpa.

• Nebraska: 189 bpa; USDA estimate: 194 bpa.

• South Dakota: 156 bpa; USDA estimate: 162 bpa.

• Illinois: 220 bpa; USDA estimate: 225 bpa.

• Indiana: 210 bpa; USDA estimate: 207 bpa.

• Ohio: 197 bpa; USDA estimate: 188 bpa.

“The first two days of the tour all we did was move bushels from South Dakota and Nebraska to Ohio and Indiana compared with USDA estimates,” said Chip Flory, host of “Agri-Talk.” “We had laid the ground work for a really good crop in Iowa, but in northwest Iowa we ran into problems, which we anticipated after too much rain during the planting season.”

Flory said of the Iowa corn crop in general that yield potential looks promising in the southeast corner especially; that east-central Iowa looks good, and variability is more noticeable in the northeast.

Around the Corn Belt, Flory said Indiana posted consistently higher numbers for ear count, grain length and number of kernels around the cob. He said Illinois is “holding a big crop,” and that Minnesota corn crops appear to have “run out of gas” due to excessive rainfalls during planting.

Crop scouts found the Ohio corn crops resilient following drought conditions this year, the Nebraska corn crop looking promising despite hail damage and fewer ears, and the South Dakota corn showed obvious signs of two different planting dates based on historic flooding that occurred in late June.

Northwest Iowa corn bushel estimates on Day 3 of the tour came in at 176.59, down from 182.58 bushels in 2023. District 4 2024 estimates came in at 195.86 bushels, up significantly from 168.71 bushels last year; southwest Iowa corn bushels were estimated at 191.59, up from 184.84 last year.

Flory said the southwest Iowa area of the state was “the most impressive of the week.”

Soybeans

Nationally, Grete said soybeans hold much promise, short of a weather event that would heavily impact the stands as of today.

Broken down, Pro-Farmer Tour soybean estimates are as follows as of Aug. 23: (USDA estimates are as of Aug. 12):

• Iowa: 67 bpa; USDA: 61 bpa.

• Minnesota: 49 bpa; USDA: 49 bpa.

• Nebraska: 57 bpa; USDA: 59 bpa.

• South Dakota: 50 bpa; USDA: 47 bpa.

• Illinois: 68 bpa; USDA: 66 bpa.

• Indiana: 67 bpa; USDA: 62 bpa.

• Ohio: 66 bpa; USDA: 59 bpa.

Grete said Iowa soybeans are consistent and show minimal pest and weed pressure overall, with “big pod increases versus last year.”

Some diseases showing up are soybean cyst nematode and white mold.

“It’s not a perfect crop in Iowa, but it’s a doggone good one — there’s no question about that,”said Flory.

He said Minnesota soybeans handled excessive rainfalls better than the corn crop did, but yields will be stretched to make 50 bpa; Nebraska beans showed more pods and pods with three and four beans; South Dakota soybeans overall showed inconsistency and Grete said they “could go either way this year.”

“The crop is still filling out and has a ton of work to do to realize its potential,” said Flory.

Scouts said Illinois soybeans are heavily podded and living in good, moist soil, favoring a large overall yield. Ohio soybean plants are heavily podded and have received timely rains, with drought areas showing little impact in yield potential. Indiana soybeans need a rain or two, but should finish strong.

Northwest Iowa pod counts were estimated at 1,108.76 in a 3-foot-by-3-foot square, which is a 2.5 percent decrease over last year.

District 4 soybean pod counts were up almost 12 percent over last year at 1,254.09, and southeast Iowa soybean pod counts showed an increase of 16.74 percent from last year’s count, at 1,366.22.

About crop tour

The goal of the Pro-Farmer Crop Tour is to provide accurate information about corn and soybean production potential at state and regional levels as the growing season finishes out. Scouts travel the third week of August each year, using the same routes and sampling procedures in each field.

Scouts enter different fields along the route each year, and choose various places in fields in which to scout. Corn scouts walk 35 paces down the main rows to the sample location, and pull the fifth, eighth and 11th ear from one sample row. Doing that, they say they may pull the three best or three worst ears from the row.

Following data collection, scouts compare the data to previous tour data to provide their analysis of what’s happening in the fields.