Pro Farmer Crop Tour, Day 2: Drought in Nebraska, Tar Spot in Indiana

Extreme heat rolled down Midwestern highways on Tuesday, along Pro Farmer’s Crop Tour scouts as they made their Day 2 journey. 

This heat has been lingering in Nebraska for quite some time, based on the scouts’ findings. Here’s what they saw on Tuesday.

Western leg: Grand Island, Neb. to Nebraska City, Neb.

As scouts made their way to the eastern portion of Nebraska, the state’s extreme-to-exceptional drought conditions (15%) were obvious in corn. The region’s crops are likely to yield higher than 2022, thanks — in most part — to record amounts of irrigation, according to Maverick Widdowson, a Shelkon Neb. farmer.

“It’s been nonstop since we planted. A lot of pre-watering early on, and we’ve had to keep pumping as much as we can, even into September,” Widdowson says.

Calvin Rupe, Pioneer field agronomist, says the lack of moisture will be measured in corn’s test weight in non-irrigated corn. He anticipates an average-yielding year for irrigated corn stands, however.

Beans at my last stop in Otoe Co NE (not pictured) were beautiful - 1250 pod count. Beans in picture from Gage Co had a 1411 pod count and won’t yield as well as last stop. Beans in Gage had some twisted pods and very little fill. #PFTour23 pic.twitter.com/4EqOINjRK4 — Chip Flory (@ChipFlory) August 22, 2023

Prior to the heat wave that cast a wide net over the Midwest two weeks ago, some eastern Nebraskans thought the non-irrigated soybean crop would come in above APH. Now, some, including Pro Farmer Crop Tour scout Brent Judisch, aren’t convinced.

“In the fields I’m seeing, they’re going to lose that top cluster. They’ll lose 10% to 12% minimum because they won’t have a chance to fill due to lack of rain in the forecast,” Judisch says.

Eastern leg: Noblesville, Ind. to Bloomington, Ill.

Scouts in the east saw more of a mixed bag for corn on Tuesday compared with the first day of Crop Tour. Scout Mark Bernard says he was more impressed by Monday’s fields in Ohio.

“The first sample out of the chute today looked really good, but it was only 14 kernels around. Those numbers will take a bite out of your yield,” Bernard says.

Bernard says his corn counts on Tuesday were in the 190-bu. range, which he doesn’t think is disappointing, but it's below what he had expected. 

Bushels counts could quickly change in coming weeks with the threat of tar spot on the horizon, according to Brian Shrader, Pioneer agronomist who covers northeast Indiana.

“We’ve seen tar spot move further south and east earlier this year than we ever have in my geography,” Shrader says. “I’m seeing it at significantly higher levels than what I’ve seen in past years.”

Stop 5 Jasper County, Indiana. Corn will probably be used for silage (Fair Oaks) Drought stressed. 129 bu appraised.

Same stop. Bean pod count is 528. Lots of 2 bean pods (see photo). pic.twitter.com/sX5IziAkli — Bruce Lantzky (@Lantzkyfarms) August 22, 2023

With a mid-to-late May planting date, followed by a dry spell in June, moisture deficiencies are playing out heavily in Indiana’s soybeans.

“We’re seeing very deeply rooted plants in general on Crop Tour, including in Ohio. That means the plants are breaking off at the stem instead of coming out by the roots — something unusual,” Bernard says.

Due to the plant’s root change, Bernard says the soybean crop will be more resilient, especially in this week’s heat.

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