LAURA, Ill., Aug 23 (Reuters) – Corn yield prospects in Illinois, the second-largest U.S. corn producer, are below last year, when the state produced a near-record crop, but still look on track to be among the state’s top 10 harvests ever, scouts on an annual crop tour said.
But scouts, who include farmers and traders, also said that the slow development of corn there this year and wide variations in its condition would make final yields hard to determine.
“It’s going to take us longer to realize the size of the crop. Markets are going to remain on edge for longer this year,” said Brian Grete, editor of Pro Farmer newsletter and leader of the eastern leg of the tour.
Scouts along one route crossing McLean, Tazewell, and Peoria counties in the state estimated yields at 171.5 bushels per acre (bpa), down from 198.8 bpa in the same area last year and the tour’s three-year average of 192.5 bpa.
A second route through McLean, Tazewell, Logan, Menard, and Fulton counties estimated yields at 183.7 bpa.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month estimated Illinois’ average corn yield at 188 bpa, down from 197 last year. The state accounted for 14.5% of national production last year.
Yields in some fields were dragged down as waterlogged soils and cool weather during spring planting hindered crop emergence, and some ears sampled did not completely fill with kernels after hot weather this summer, the scouts said.
But crops in Illinois were closer to maturity than those in fields surveyed in Indiana and Ohio, which lessens concerns that an early frost could damage fields before harvest, they added.
The four-day Farm Journal Midwest Crop Tour is traveling across seven states in the heart of the U.S. Corn Belt this week, estimating corn yields and counting soybean pods to gauge the crop’s yield potential.
Soybean pod counts in Illinois were slightly below average but with less variation in their condition than in Indiana and Ohio.
Scouts calculated 1,049 pods per 3×3-foot plot along the route, down from 1,294 last year and 1,256 on average. The second route calculated 1,190 pods per plot.
The eastern leg of the tour departed from Columbus, Ohio, while the western leg kicked off from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Pro Farmer newsletter, one of the organizers, will release its U.S. crop production outlook on Friday.
Scouts earlier this week found above-average corn yield potential in Ohio and slightly below 2016 in Indiana. (Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by James Dalgleish)