A sign advertising Pioneer seed stands at the edge of a farmer’s corn field in Luxembourg, Iowa, on August 10, 2024. Corn yields are looking better than the historical three-year average in South Dakota, Ohio, Illinois and parts of Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/TNS)
Michael Hirtzer, Gerson Freitas Jr. | Bloomberg News (TNS)
Hail, high winds, flooding and plant diseases have hit corn crops in the United States hard this summer, but the green fields that cover the heart of America have proven resilient.
These are the results of the final day of a tour of the Midwest that sends scouts through the Crop Belt to measure yield potential. The scouts spotted corn stalks with the telltale bright dark green leaves that usually indicate the plants will produce plump, starchy grains in the final stages of the growing season. Soybean fields were also lush and healthy.
“There are big yields out there, both in corn and beans,” said Brian Grete, leader of the eastern leg of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, which concludes its four-day tour on Thursday.
Data from the last three days show corn yields in South Dakota, Ohio, Illinois and parts of Iowa coming in better than the historical three-year average. Soybean yields also look good in many key growing areas. Final numbers will be released late Thursday.
The results support a forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is predicting record-high yields for corn and soybeans in the U.S. this year. The crop tour offers the first “on-the-ground look” at the fields, according to Chris Hawthorn, chief of the field crops division at the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and a scout on the tour. The agency eliminated its own objective yield analysis – the physical count of crops in the field – for the month of August 2019.
“When I put my crop tour hat on, it looks fantastic out there,” Hawthorn said. “The beans are looking really good and reflect what our numbers say.”
Ironically, many American farmers are not enjoying record crops. Mega-harvests bring a number of challenges, with lush inventories pushing soybean and corn futures to their lowest levels since 2020 last week. Wheat futures also hit a four-year low late last month, with production expected to be 9% higher than last year.
Farmers’ incomes will fall by 26 percent this year, the biggest drop since 2006. Farmers are therefore forced to cut costs on everything from fertilizers to machinery.
Weather plays a significant role in the state’s forecast. In parts of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, corn crops were damaged by hail, high winds and flooding. The storms also brought in pathogens that cause a corn disease called tar spot — identified by small, black spots on the leaves. But ample rain throughout the growing season and mild summer temperatures benefited many fields in areas like Indiana.
“One field looks like it’s about to burn, and the next is pumpkin green,” said crop expert Mike Berdo, an Iowa farmer.
However, these are isolated problems and the plants are overall in good condition.
David Benes, who farms 8,000 acres of farmland in Nebraska, expects an average corn yield of up to 240 bushels per acre, below his own record but above the average of recent years. With the exception of a two-week dry spell in July, it has been “almost an ideal year” with “fair to good rainfall,” Benes said.
And “you can still add weight to the grains,” he said, leaving further room for yield increases before harvest.
The harvest tour draws attention to the problems farmers are facing in the face of persistently low grain prices.
“You have to stop wasting your money,” said Steve Zavadil, a Nebraska farmer who planted 300 acres of corn and 250 acres of soybeans this season. “You can’t keep going out and buying new equipment. We just have to adapt.”
While farm equipment manufacturers can lay off workers or sell farms during lean times, grain farmers’ best option is often to maximize yields so they have more to sell even when prices are low. This spring, U.S. farmers reduced their corn plantings by 3% and increased soybean plantings by the same amount. Timely rains and sunshine, along with relatively low levels of damaging heat during the peak growing season, were nearly ideal for the crop.
“I guess that’s just the way it is,” Zavadil said as he watched scouts taking samples of his soybean and corn crops. “You know, a big harvest is coming and everyone knows it – probably the best we’ve ever seen around here.”
(With support from Ilena Peng.)
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