Nebraska, Indiana Corn Yields Harvests May Be Slightly Smaller Than Reported

August 21st, 2013

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Category: Oilseeds

(Wall Street Journal) – U.S. corn yields in the nation’s third and fifth largest producers of the crop are seen developing at a pace that could yield slightly smaller harvests than reported in the most recent federal estimates, according to an average of surveys collected by scouts on the annual crop tour.

Corn yield potential across six regions of Nebraska are projected to come in at 154.93 bushels/acre, up from the three year average of 147.93, but down sharply from the U. S. Department of Agriculture prediction for the state, at 161.0 bushels/acre. The data was collected by Pro Farmer’s crop scouts. Nebraka’s record corn crop in 2009 yielded 178 bushels per acre.

Indiana’s six averaged regions are projected to come in at 167.36 bushels per acre, just over the 166.0 forecast for the state made by the USDA earlier this month.

Soybeans, meanwhile, were seen at 1138.94 pods in Nebraska, down sharply from the three-year average of 1162.42 pods in a three-foot square.In Indiana, soybeans averaged 1185.14 pods, up from the three year average of 1136.48. Pro Farmer does not extrapolate current counts of soybean pods seen in fields to the full year’s yield, as many factors could affect the health and quality of soybean plants before the end of the growing season, including the weather.

Corn and soybean futures rallied Tuesday on worries about hot, dry weather damaging crops in the weeks to come, but uncertainty remains about how large this year’s harvests will be.

Corn ear “tip back”, a condition which occurs after pollination in which the top section of an ear does not develop due to environmental stress, was a much less significant factor for corn crops in Indiana than it was in Ohio, said Steve Holthaus, a grain producer and tour scout in northeast Iowa.

“The beans seemed better fairly consistently, and the corn did too, but it was inconsistent. The further we go north, the more erratic this crop is going to get,” said Mr. Holthaus. “I don’t think there is a garden spot this year, and if it is, it’s like pepper on a plate” spread out inconsistently across growing regions.

After back-to-back years of drought in the central U.S. depleted inventories of both crops, industry experts said they’re closely watching new estimates for a harvest that could break historic records for corn production, and come in just below all-time highs for soybean yields.

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