Preliminary Route Report with Bruce Blythe, western Tour leader
What counties (with state and district) have you sampled from?
- South Dakota: Minnehaha (6), McCook (6), Hanson (6), Davison (6), Aurora (5)
Corn yield range:
- 102.4 bpa to 167.4 bpa
Corn yield average:
- 140.1 bpa
Soybean pod count range in 3’x3’ square:
- 420 pods to 1,654 pods
Soybean pod count average in 3’x3’ square:
- 1,121 pods
Please share a few comments from your route:
“We’ve made 10 stops so far in South Dakota. We’re really seeing the effect of dryness. Corn and beans look pretty good from the road, but once you get in the field you see brown stalks, curled leaves and small ears — just five or six inches long. We saw a lot of ears denting and a few in the milk stage. Ears were dropping in some stressed fields.
Beans have been ok—a little better the first part of the day. Maturity of the bean crop is on schedule or ahead. Rain would still help fill out pods.
We’ve seen very little disease pressure and some greensnap in corn.
