Pro Farmer Crop Tour 2026
The Pro Farmer Crop Tour provides insights into potential corn and soybean production and gathers scout reporting from 2,000+ fields across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota.
Watch Nightly Results
August 17-20, 2026: Tune in here to watch nightly results and analysis starting at 7:55 PM Central.
The Pro Farmer Crop Tour Route
The Pro Farmer Crop Tour 2026 takes place August 17-20, 2026. It simultaneously follows an Eastern and a Western route, with both scouting routes culminating in Rochester, Minnesota. Nightly meetings in each location review daily results, scouting observations and historical comparison data. Attend nightly meetings in person or watch the nightly broadcast online at AgWeb.com/croptour.
Pro Farmer Crop Tour News
Pro Farmer Crop Tour’s data-gathering methods are disciplined, which produces consistent results. We break down the when, where, why and how behind the numbers.
The goal of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour is to get an objective view of corn yield potential and count pods in a 3' square for soybeans. One of the keys this year will be how much damage the drought caused through June.
The grain markets had several drivers this week, including daily reports from the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, more big purchases from China and continued uncertainty of the crop damage in Iowa.
The U.S. corn crop is consistently declining in condition. Currently 57% of the crop has a good or excellent rating, which ties with 2019 for the week’s worst corn condition rating since 2012.
“This is the first boots-on-the-ground assessment and that ought to be revealing,” says Jerry Gulke.
Crop Conditions News
In many areas of the Corn Belt, farmers experienced 10-to-50-bu.-per-acre yield losses from disease pressure this year, says Ken Ferrie. In a period of tight margins, timely treatment decisions were more crucial than usual.
Because every growing season is unique, agronomists are encouraging corn growers to make a management plan for the “driver diseases” they’re most likely to encounter in fields next year.
Leading ag meteorologists share the weather drivers they are watching.
The fungal disease has spread to fields in at least seven states since 2018, including three new ones just this year. Once established, the pathogen is nearly impossible to eradicate, Extension plant pathologists report.
Number of bushels per acre is high on their list of priorities, but it’s not necessarily their No. 1 concern going into 2026.
Pro Farmer Analysis
U.S. shipments to China, worth around $120 million a month, collapsed after Beijing in March allowed permits to expire at hundreds of American meat facilities.
China significantly ramped up its buying of soybeans from Argentina this week.
Ag-state senators have asked to meet with President Trump on China’s trade retaliation against U.S. soybeans.
Price action summary and outlook for the next 5, 30 and 90 day segments.
EPA has already announced granting dozens of SREs and partial exemptions.