pro farmer tour 2022

Pro Farmer Crop Tour - View Results and Watch Live

The Pro Farmer Crop Tour’s goal is to provide the agriculture 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 more than 30 years, scouts have been providing insights for potential corn and soybean yields based on samples from 2,000 fields. Learn more about the tour and see daily yield estimates and reports below.

• Crop Tour Frequently Asked Questions
• How Crop Tour Data Is Collected
• How to Follow the Pro Farmer Crop Tour
• About the Pro Farmer Crop Tour

Register for Crop Tour

Watch pro farmer crop tour results live nightly at 8 p.m. cdt, 2023 pro farmer national production estimates.

The 2023 National Production Estimates reflect Pro Farmer’s view on production and yields. They take into account data gathered during Crop Tour and other factors like crop maturity, acreage adjustments, historical differences in Tour data and more.

2023 Average Yield Estimates

2023 total production estimates, 2023 crop tour daily yield estimates.

Check here for yield estimates from each day of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour. Click on the state for more details on each day's results.

Latest News from Crop Tour

Here’s a list of tweets from the 2023 Pro Farmer Crop Tour that showcase how scouts kept things "interesting" on the road this year.

Scouts share their boots-on-the-ground observations on the eastern and western legs of the tour.

As the two leaders of the ProFarmer Crop Tour converge, the eastern route and western route tell two very different stories—Chip Flory and Brian Grete are watching the markets with new perspective on crop conditions.

Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa corn projections fall below USDA's August estimates. Soybeans are on par in all scouted states, including Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota.

AgriTalk host Chip Flory will have full analysis of the Pro Farmer National Yield Estimates live at 2 p.m. CDT.

Share Your Crop Reports

Scouts will be gauging crop conditions and potential yields during the Pro Farmer Crop Tour. How are your fields looking? Share your crop conditions with us!

August 21-24, 2023

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. 

In addition to coverage of the Tour on AgWeb, AgDay and social media, you have the opportunity to attend nightly meetings in person or watch the nightly broadcast online where you’ll receive daily results, scouting observations and historical comparison data from our Tour leaders. 

Join Pro Farmer Crop Tour!

Register and attend nightly meetings in person or watch results nightly broadcast live at 8pm. 

Online Broadcast (15 min nightly update) – Free

In-Person Tour nightly meeting - $50 per person  (includes 2 drink tickets and dinner with full program)

Interested in becoming a Crop Tour scout? Send us an email request, and we'll provide complete scouting information. Scout applications begin each year June 1st.   Contact us for more details!

AGENDA  for each nightly meeting:

5:00 - 6:30 pm                 Registration & Cocktail Hour with Sponsors 6:30 - 7:00pm                  Dinner 7:00 - 8:00 pm                 Onsite Program 8:00 - 8:15 pm                  Nightly Broadcast online 8:15 - 8:30 pm                  In-Person wrap up and Q&A

** All times CST.   Noblesville, IN location takes place 1 hour later than times listed above.

EASTERN TOUR

August 21 – Noblesville, IN Embassy Suites Noblesville Indianapolis Conference Center 13700 Conference Center Drive South Noblesville, IN 46060 *note all times above are CST. This location takes place 1 hour later.

August 22 – Bloomington, IL DoubleTree by Hilton 10 Brickyard Drive Bloomington, IL 61701

August 23 – Iowa City, IA Hyatt Regency Coralville 300 East 9th Street Coralville, IA 52241

August 24 – Rochester, MN Mayo Civic Center 30 Civic Center Drive SE Rochester, MN 55902 

WESTERN TOUR

August 21 – Grand Island, NE Riverside Golf Club 2820 Riverside Drive Grand Island, NE 68801

August 22 – Nebraska City, NE Lied Lodge and Conference Center 2700 Sylvan Road Nebraska City, NE 68410

August 23– Spencer, IA Clay County Fair and Events Center 800 West 18th Street Spencer, IA 51301  

August 24 – Rochester, MN Mayo Civic Center 30 Civic Center Drive SE Rochester, MN 55902

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Is there a corn or bean yield story post-US crop tour?

A corn field waiting to be harvested near Defiance in Shelby County, Iowa, one of the counties on the route of Summit Carbon Solutions' proposed pipeline. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

NAPERVILLE, Illinois, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Every year in late August, the grain market carefully watches the Pro Farmer Crop Tour to gauge whether current U.S. corn and soybean harvest assumptions are sound, and they might have been this year if not for recent weather.

Most of the state-level tour results did not heavily dispute the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s yield predictions from earlier this month, though the Corn Belt is amid its third consecutive dry week, and last week’s heat accelerated crop stress.

This might suggest that the tour findings could reflect top-end potential, particularly for soybeans given the heavy reliance on August rains.

The Pro Farmer Crop Tour has been following the same routes in seven major U.S. corn and soybean producing states for more than three decades. Scouts count the number of soybean pods in a three-by-three-foot plot and estimate a rough corn yield, though they do not measure kernel depth, an important element in years with dry finishes.

There were no tour records in any states this year, though corn yields in Ohio and soybean pod counts in Indiana were somewhat close, in line with USDA’s outlook.

Pod counts and corn yields in top producers Iowa and Illinois were within 1% of the recent tour averages, somewhat consistent with USDA. However, tour scouts found west central Iowa crops in particularly rough shape, suggesting this year’s dryness may have had a larger impact there than expected.

Whether early season dryness in Illinois weighed on yield potential was of top interest on this year’s tour. The results imply minimal impact, though the situation might have been different had the Illinois crops been subject to any heat in June.

Minnesota soybeans did not appear to withstand this summer’s dry weather, as pod counts were 8% below average and the tour’s second-lowest of the last decade. Many pods in Minnesota, western Iowa and eastern Nebraska were still somewhat flat, indicating the need for moisture.

After the tour, Pro Farmer issues a U.S. corn and soybean production forecast which incorporates tour data and other lines of evidence, and these outlooks have had some recent success with predicting yield directions.

Pro Farmer on Friday pegged U.S. corn yield at 172 bushels per acre, below USDA’s 175.1 bpa and the year-ago 173.3. The advisory firm placed soybean yield at 49.7 bpa, below USDA’s 50.9 but above the 2022 yield of 49.5.

PRO FARMER OR USDA?

For the past four years, Pro Farmer’s corn yield has correctly informed on the direction of USDA’s corn yield from August to September, but it had the wrong lean in the two prior years (2017 and 2018). For example, Pro Farmer’s 2022 corn yield suggested USDA’s September 2022 forecast should come in below that of August, and it did.

The same stat for soybeans shows Pro Farmer’s yield also offers decent insight on USDA yield direction in September as the last two times it failed was in 2017 and 2015.

Versus final yields, the Pro Farmer bias on USDA’s August corn yield has panned out in 13 of the last 15 years, meaning if Pro Farmer predicted a yield higher than USDA’s August forecast, final yield was also usually higher than in August, and vice versa.

Pro Farmer’s soybean yields have been slightly less helpful in gauging whether final soybean yield is higher or lower than USDA’s August outlook, having missed that direction in five of the last 15 years and offering no direction in two more.

But Pro Farmer is on a hot streak with soybeans, as its yield has been closer by magnitude to the final U.S. yield than USDA’s August estimate for the last three years. In the 15 years before that, Pro Farmer had been closer to the final than USDA’s August figure only four times.

Pro Farmer also has a slight magnitude advantage over USDA’s August corn estimates, landing closer to the final in three of the last five years, and in eight of the last 15.

This could mean that Pro Farmer’s 172 and 49.7 are closer to the reality than USDA’s 175.1 and 50.9, but enough uncertainty exists, especially as there are no obvious connections among the years where Pro Farmer’s forecasts proved better.

Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. Views expressed above are her own.

Reporting by Karen Braun Editing by Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Thomson Reuters

As a columnist for Reuters, Karen focuses on all aspects of the global agriculture markets with a primary focus in grains and oilseeds. Karen comes from a strong science background and has a passion for data, statistics, and charts, and she uses them to add context to whatever hot topic is driving the markets. Karen holds degrees in meteorology and sometimes features that expertise in her columns. Follow her on Twitter @kannbwx for her market insights.

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Pro Farmer Crop Tour - Day 2

Eastern Route - Tuesday August 22

• Begins in Noblesville, Indiana.
• Ends in Bloomington, Illinois.
• Monday - Day 1
• Wednesday - Day 3
• Thursday - Day 4

East-Central Illinois">Leader - Cody Pettit, Pioneer Field Agronomist East-Central Illinois

• Corn potential looks strong for the most part.
• Variability from our long planting window for corn is showing and has been all season long.
• More plant-to-plant inconsistency this year than last.
• With all the challenges soybeans experienced, we know they are a resilient plant.
• August is a big element for soybean yield. We could still see some favorable outcomes.
• Go to more updates & photos .

Crop Conditions - East-Central Illinois

- Cody Pettit

• Wide planting window for both corn and beans lead to lots of variability in emergence and later abiotic stress.
• Replanting occurred on the early April planted beans in many areas due to frost events at the end of April.
• Corn handled the cold early conditions much better than beans.
• No-till and cover crop fields suffered the worst from dry planting/drought conditions.
• Corn crop ranges from R2-R4 development stages in most of the eastern Illinois area.
• Disease pressure is low, currently. Gray leaf spot (GLS) can be found in most fields in the lower canopy and northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) lesions have been very spotty. It seems surrounding areas of IL and IN have moderate tar spot , but it remains minimal here. Rains and cooler temps could easily change that.
• We did see some nutrient deficiencies that came from the drought. Although the drought didn’t seem to have as much of an effect as expected, cool nights and lower daytime temperatures aided that.
• Soybeans really rode the struggle bus this season, limits were pushed starting with planting. We witnessed a long planting window with soybeans as well, there were several replanted fields due to the late April frost events.
• Once the drought set in, soybeans seem to stand still for three weeks to a month with very little growth and nutrient deficiencies. Once the rains came in late June and July, it brought on another stress that came in the form of diseases, we have had no shortage of root and stem rots.

Emergence stressed corn and soybeans across eastern IL that were planted in the early April window.

Growing Season

• Some areas in our geography experienced timely rains at the beginning of June, but very spotty and will make for variability in performance this fall.
• The minor/severe drought we experienced had some fields across Illinois showing nutrient deficiencies.
• Although stressed, there were some factors that helped mitigate yield loss from the dry conditions.
• Most of our area has very strong yield potential.

Photos taken in stressed fields in Iroquois/Kankakee Counties.

Thus far, we have experienced a very low disease pressure year in corn. There is tar spot (TS) out there, but not quite like we were expecting.

The rains that returned in early July created an ideal environment for stress/disease in soybeans. Plant roots were small and holding on from dry conditions until heavy rains flooded areas and we saw root rots and other disease take over pockets of fields.

Root/stem rot diseases like Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia, and brown stem rot (BSR) are showing up in fields after heavy rains in July created ideal conditions. Sudden death syndrome (SDS) showing up as well.

Western Route - Tuesday August 22

• Begins in Grand Island, Nebraska.
• Ends in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

Tour Leader - Casey Rankin, Retail Product Agronomist, Southeast Nebraska

• The majority of corn is in the R3-R5 stage. The corn furthest along is at half milk line.
• Corn planting conditions were surprisingly better than expected. Lack of consistent soil moisture, crop residue, and ammonia burn were prominent.
• The majority of soybeans are in the R4-R5 stage.
• We have observed carryover herbicide issues in soybeans from lack of rainfall.
• My biggest concern going into harvest: Tar Spot , early season ammonia burn, and stalk/ear rots.
• Enlist E3 ® soybeans are showing very good potential in terms of flower and pod counts.

Crop Conditions Across SE Nebraska

- Casey Rankin

• Early season drought/lack of moisture stress was a big issue. We knew we were going to need timely rains – but the widespread Nh3/ammonia burn as a direct result of the early season drought was the big yield reduction factor
• Our pollination window was excellent with the temperatures and rain we had – but the wind that caused stalk lodging inevitably hurt our potential.
• Very minimal disease pressure this year until Mid July and with the lack of early season moisture – conversations about whether to apply a fungicide were happening the 3rd week of June.
• Then, the consistent rains and favorable temperature came for pollination. The southeastern counties are facing a new challenge with Tar Spot moving in aggressively.
• The amount of recent cloudy days has slowed the progression of corn – which I’m afraid has caused kernel abortion and will cause stalk rots in the coming days. Ear rot is also a concern.
• Herbicide applications made just prior or just after planting consisting of Group 14 and 15 herbicides have been an issue for the past several years and this year was no exception. We need to make sure we’re applying anything with a PPO 10-14 days prior to planting.
• Soil crusting was an issue with stand establishment in some areas with how fast soils dried out if you were lucky enough to catch a rain.
• We have observed some carryover herbicide issues from lack of rainfall
• With the rain and “cooler” temperatures we have experienced for much of the summer – soybeans are a breeding ground for disease today. SDS , white mold , brown stem rot are all prevalent.
• Gall midge and stem borer continue to be the two biggest insect issues we face.
• My biggest concern: Disease severity, insect severity, and green stems.

Planting Conditions

Soil Crusting

Sulfur Deficiency Combined with Low K

Wind/Root Lodging

Andy Behrends. 6/29 Shubert, NE

7/10 Nebraska City

Tar Spot 8/8 west of Falls City.

White Mold - 7/26

Pioneer CU Agronomy Manager Matt Essick

AQUAmax® Breeding Changes Over Time.

Social and Apps

Tour updates on social:.

Follow Pioneer Instagram Stories. Follow Twitter. (#PFTour23)

Apps and Tools:

Visit the GDU Calculator. Visit the Corn Yield Estimator.

Get more information from Pro Farmer.

My Local Pioneer Team

Our unmatched team of local professionals live and work in your community. They’re ready to help you select high-yielding products and provide year-round service and expertise. Have questions? Ask your local Pioneer sales representative today.

The transgenic soybean event in Enlist E3 ® soybeans is jointly developed and owned by Corteva Agriscience and M.S. Technologies L.L.C.

Pioneer ® brand Optimum ® AQUAmax ® products were grown in 13, 623 on-farm comparisons across the United States against competitor brand products (+/- 4 CRM) in 2018. Water-limited yield data includes 240 competitive comparisons with a win ratio of 63 percent, and favorable environment includes 13,383 competitive comparisons with a win ratio of 61 percent. Water-limited environments are those in which the water supply/demand ratio during flowering or grain fill was less than 0.66 on a 0-1 scale (1=adequate moisture) using the Pioneer proprietary EnClass ® system and in which the yield average of competitor brand hybrids at the location was less than 150 bu/acre. Favorable growing conditions are locations where yield levels were at or above 150 bu/acre on average, regardless of water supply/demand ratio. Precipitation levels are interpolated values based on local weather stations. Product performance in water-limited environments is variable and depends on many factors such as the severity and timing of moisture deficiency, heat stress, soil type, management practices and environmental stress as well as disease and pest pressures. All hybrids may exhibit reduced yield under water and heat stress. Individual results may vary.

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Pro Farmer Crop Tour kicks off today

by Andy Petersen | Aug 18, 2023 | 5 Ag Stories , News

We’re going out into the field for a status update on the finishing corn and soybean crops as the Pro Farmer Crop Tour kicks off today. Mike Berdo, Washington County farmer and longtime crop tour scout, said one of the things that he enjoys is that each year he gets a different route.

“I am a driver, and we get our Rand McNally Atlas with the highlighted route,” Berdo said. “Just follow the highlighted route and it takes you through town by town, and then end up at the hotel that night. Take usually 15 to 20 samples a day, about two per county and then up at the hotel that night we have the nightly meeting and then do it all over the next day.”

As far as his expectations for this year, Berdo said the tour is “consistently random.”

“I personally go into it with an open mind,” Berdo said. “I really have no clue what I’m going to see.  I just go into the corn or bean field with an open mind, and what we find is what we find. There’s kind of an old saying on club tour – it’s consistently random. Honestly, we’ve never been in the same field. You might recognize the same town year to year and say to yourself, ‘Oh yeah, I went through this town in Indiana last year. I know kind of where we are.’  But I guarantee you it’s never the same field year to year. Just have an open mind. And that’s why I tell everybody that’s riding in my vehicle that I have no idea what we’re going to get into.”

The crop tour consists of two separate parts – the Eastern leg that Mike is on and the Western leg. Both will meet in southern Minnesota on Thursday night before the final Pro Farmer Yield Predictions are released Friday afternoon.