Crop Watch 2025: Corn Yield Threats
Several threats are impacting corn yields this season, including overly tight tassel wrap, Southern Rust and tar spot.
Unscripted: ‘Overly Tight Tassel Wrap’ Affecting Pollination?
Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist, joins Tyne Morgan and Clinton Griffiths to shed light on crop conditions, particularly pollination issues.
Crop Condition News
Scouts saw drought damage instead of derecho devastation in eastern and north-central portions of Iowa on the Pro Farmer Crop Tour this year. Minnesota was much the same, with fields showing clear signs of stress.
Pro Farmer scouts pegged the Indiana average yield estimate at 193.48 bu. per acre on Tuesday, just slightly below USDA’s prediction of 194 bu. per acre.
The latest Crop Progress report put the corn crop this week at 62% good to excellent, a two-point drop in a week. Soybean conditions dropped 3% across the country, now sitting at 57% rated good to excellent.
As scouts set out on the 2021 Pro Farmer Crop Tour Monday they got a soggy start, a good sign for soybeans in August. While Ohio did not disappoint, South Dakota showed scars from the drought with a mature crop.
Drought conditions continue to plague portions of the Western Corn Belt, but in the East, it’s a much different story with Ohio farmers potentially sitting on an above average crop.
Pro Farmer Crop Tour is hitting the fields starting Monday, with a week of roughly 100 scouts capturing more samples across 2,000 fields. The scouts will work their way toward Rochester, Minnesota by Thursday.
On August 17, Pro Farmer scouts will be walking Illinois corn and soybean fields checking crop conditions and making annual yield projections.
Drought is deepening in Nebraska, but corn and soybean crops are hanging tough so far.
From corn fields flattened to grain bins ripped to shreds, the scene was stark after the derecho ravaged the heartland on August 10, 2020. One year later, crop potential is promising, but rebuilding is still underway.
According to the weekly USDA Crop Progress report, the national corn condition ratings are still trailing last year at this time, but it was USDA’s double digit increase to Illinois ratings that sparked questions.