The Pro Farmer Crop Tour’s primary goal is to provide the industry with accurate growing season information about likely corn and soybean production potential at the state and regional levels during the upcoming harvest season.
For the 30th year, scouts will be providing insights for potential corn and soybean yields based on samples from 2,000 fields.
What will scouts see?
“We should find pretty good yields on corn and pretty good soybean pod counts on the eastern leg,” says Brian Grete, Pro Farmer editor. “If we don’t then that’s an alarm. That’s something to pay attention as we go through the week.”
Scouts on the eastern leg of #pftour22 are heading out. Scouting fields from Columbus, Ohio to Indianapolis today. Ohio results will be released tonight
— Brian Grete (@BGrete) August 22, 2022
Meanwhile, scouts on the western leg will see higher levels of crop stress.
“About 90% of the ground we’ll see on the western leg is in some level of drought stress,” says Chip Flory, AgriTalk host. “We are just trying to figure out how much damage has been done. We feel like we got off to a decent start but how much yield did the crop build up before the stress set in?”
Stop 5- Hutchinson Co., People I’m with said it best: “Welcome to Hutchinson County, where it’s dry”. Yikes. Corn BPA sample is 39. Yes, 39. Soybean pod count in 3x3 ft sq = 513. Stem I’m holding has lowest single count so far today. #pftour22 @AgMarket_Net pic.twitter.com/qqMNaLWIv5
— Betsy Jibben (@BetsyJibben) August 22, 2022
The state of crops in 2022 is dramatically different than during the first Crop Tour back in 1993, Flory says.
“1993 was the exact opposite of what we’re dealing with right now,” he says. “It was a flood everywhere then. We didn’t even do the western routes in 1993. It’s surreal to think we’re out here for the 30th time on the Pro Farmer Crop Tour.”
The Crop Tour stays consistent by traveling the third week of August every year, by traveling the same routes every year and by using the same sampling procedure in every field, Grete says.
“The randomness of the Tour is actually ‘planned randomness,’ he says. “It’s achieved by not predetermining which fields will be sampled and by allowing each team to select the location in the field.”
But it doesn’t end there. The sampling process also drives the results. Read More: How To Analyze Pro Farmer Crop Tour Data
Scouts on the eastern leg start in Ohio today and travel into Indiana tonight. On the western leg, scouts start in South Dakota and travel into Nebraska tonight.
Tonight, results for Ohio and South Dakota will be released. Register to attend a nightly meeting or watch the results online.
Read more coverage of the 2022 Pro Farmer Crop Tour.
