As Pro Farmer Crop Tour scouts set out on the first day of the tour this year, they found crops with adequate moisture in South Dakota, but Ohio crops starting to struggle from too little rain.
However, once the results rolled in, it told a different story. Despite some scouts finding record yield potential in South Dakota along their routes, results from the first day of Pro Farmer Crop Tour show South Dakota’s corn yield and pod counts came in below what the tour found in 2020. The results from the east showed a corn yield if 185.7 bu. per acre in Ohio, which is slightly above the previous tour record of 185 bu. per acre yield scouts uncovered in 2021.
The results from day 1 showed the southern portion of South Dakota is poised for strong yields this year.
- The South Dakota corn yield tour estimate came in at 174.18 bu. per acre, a 11.3% increase from the 156.5 bu. per acre scouts found on the 2024 tour.
- The 2025 corn yield estimate isn’t a tour record. The 174.18 bu. per acre is below 2020 (179.24 bu. per acre) and 2018 (178.01 bu. per acre).
- The 2025 corn yield is also above the three-year average of 144. bu. per acre.
- Some of that yield came from higher ear counts, with ear counts up 7.6%.
In Ohio, scouts found a more variable crop. But despite the variability scouts reported, the results from the first day shows Ohio’s corn crop still has solid yield potential, even a possible record along the Crop Tour routes.
- The yield from this year’s Pro Farmer Crop Tour came in at 185.7 bu. per acre, which beat last year by 1.3%.
- It’s also above the three-year average of 180.5 bu. per acre.
- Ear counts were actually down in Ohio compared to a year ago, but grain length was up 1.9%.
Soybeans may be the even better story in South Dakota.
- South Dakota pod counts came in at 1,188.45 in a 3’x3' square, which is 15.9% above last year’s tour and well above the three-year average of 970.1 pods.
- The number of pods in a 3' row increased 20% year-over-year, and the moisture picture saw major improvements compared to last year at this time.
The pod count in Ohio was even stronger, but scouts caution moisture is a concern to finish the season.
- Scouts saw an average pod count of 1,287.3 in a 3' x 3' area, which is a 4.7% increase year-over-year.
- The moisture situation is drastically different in Ohio with scouts reporting less moisture than what they found last year, which means some of those pods may be at risk.
Corn yields generated by Crop Tour typically find the year-to-year trend in each state. Apply the “historical difference” to the calculated yield in each state.
— Pro Farmer (@profarmer) August 18, 2025
Most importantly, use the historical difference on the “All Samples” average yield to get close to USDA’s final… pic.twitter.com/qlyxrxpQ17
Potential for Record-Breaking Yields in South Dakota Along Their Route
Based on USDA’s August crop estimates, scouts knew the possibility was there to uncover record yields in South Dakota. Scouts say the record yield potential is possible, especially due to ample moisture this year creating lush green plants consistently across the fields.
“We got rain last night; the ground is wet, I mean everything looks like you said, lush, whether it’s the beans or the corn both,” says Sherman Newlin, Pro Farmer scout from Hutsonville, Ill.”
Newlin says the crops in southern South Dakota are the best he’s seen on Pro Farmer Crop Tour. When you compare his route this year versus last year, yield checks were coming in better than a year ago.
“We’re running 33% better than we had last year,” he says. “I think the average was 198 [bu. per acre] so far compared to 149 [bu. per acre] last year. So quite a bit better. Stand counts are pretty good in some spots, but a little bit thin in others, but the ear sizes are good.”
David Hula, a Virginia farmer who’s also the reigning world corn yield record holder, is also on the western leg of Pro Farmer Crop Tour this year. Hula was impressed with the crop he saw on Monday, calling it a great crop.
He says pollination and tight tassel wrap has been minimal and should not have much yield impact.
“The kernels adjacent to the gaps are going to fill in, make up a little bit, but its not going to make it all up, but at least its not going to be as dramatic as it was first reported,” Hula says.
Hula adds he saw a little southern rust pressure and gray leaf spot, but it was mostly on corn-on-corn acres.
As for the South Dakota soybean crop, scouts also found one of the best crops they’ve ever scouted in the state.
“It’s actually pretty consistent through five stops in South Dakota,” says Karen Braun, Zaner Ag Hedge. “We’re up 7% from what we saw on this route last year, and last year was really strong. So we are seeing really good, consistent bean counts.”
Scouts say disease pressure was light in the soybeans, and with plenty of moisture still in the soils, the flat pods have time to fill out.
“They’ve got the moisture, so I do think that records are very much in the cards,” Braun says.
Scouts Describe Ohio’s Crop as “Variable”
Scouts on the eastern leg of Pro Farmer Crop Tour found a crop that wasn’t as consistent as the west. From field to field, variability became evident from the start, a theme that carried throughout Monday across Ohio.
“What we heard from a few local farmers and local scouts is that crops either got in really early or they got in real late,” says Lane Akre, who leads the Pro Farmer Crop Tour in the east. “This field behind me got in pretty early. The field’s pretty mature and coming along nicely. Whereas the first three stops that we’ve had so far today, those fields have planted pretty late, and we can see that.”
Heavy rains this spring meant either a late start to the growing season or farmers who had to replant fields.
“This year, we definitely had more rain than last year,” says Brennan Bailey of Yoder Farms in Plain City, Ohio. “We are above our historical average I think by about 6" or 8".”
Bailey says it wasn’t just how wet the spring was this year, but also how the temperatures struggled to warm up.
“May was relatively cold for us. We had lot of mornings around freezing, which cold and wet conditions definitely does a number on your corn crop early on. It’s not the type of conditions you want to see,” Bailey says. “But having said that, Mother Nature’s done her part. We’ve gotten the rain since planting to help get these crops up, get them healthy. And as you can see, ended up looking pretty good, all things considered, with how tough our spring was.”
Akre says as they scouted fields across Ohio on Monday, it was clear which fields were planted early versus which were planted late this year.
The earlier planted crops are doing better, and they got those rains,” Akre says. “The later planted crops, I mean, yes, the season was delayed because of all the rain, but it really it hasn’t rained much since. And we’ve seen that in the soil. The soil is very dry in all the fields that we’ve scouted so far here in Ohio.”
The crops don’t look too bad, the ground’s awful dry,” adds Donald Harris, a scout on the eastern leg of Pro Farmer Crop Tour. “Everything we’ve been in so far has been dry, real dry.”
Michael Vallery farms in southern Ohio, but he is also a scout on the eastern leg of the tour each year. He says dryness is creeping into the picture late, but it’s not as severe as last year.
“Last year, our farm was 10 miles away from a drought, and this year we’re 10 miles away from almost too much water early,” Vallery says.
“I’m pleasantly surprised how things have went thus far,” he adds. “Now we’ve turned off dry here the last three weeks, and a couple years ago on Crop Tour we got a rain in August that made that crop the best beans I’d ever had. We need that rain again this year because if not, we’re going to lose some of the pods in the top. Those are going to abort if we don’t get a rain here pretty soon.”
Click here to watch a recap of day 1 results and analysis from South Dakota and Ohio.
