I almost forgot about this very important crop tour!
More to come.
I salute those guys who volunteer to wonder thru corn fields in this heat but what Chip does with the numbers they gather is a disgrace. Got a lot of money I would wager after the Friday massage of the numbers as usual the tour will come in within a bu or 2 of usda......like every other year.
I read you loud and clear, mcfarm!
That is my impression too. I'm not sure how to explain it except that maybe they have a habit of looking for and highlighting below par ears that represent a tiny % of the field, because that's human nature.
In the field of scientific research, scientists are funded with an expectation/hope that they will discover new or powerful things.
If most studies were funded, then the results were described as "we found nothing new, everything was the same as previous research-you just wasted your money funding us!" Then you can bet that team won't get any more funding.
Pro Farmer, like you said are knowledgeable and generous in donating their time/experience to help communicate things that we didn't know about. I'm certain that the scouts are sincere/good people.
But they are LOOKING FOR PROBLEMS and flaws and NEW THINGS that we didn't know about to make their scouting worth more and to make their observations significant.
Honestly, I might do the same thing.
This is just a theory by me to explain this happening, almost every year based on science studies and data gathering that allows for some judgment calls in the interpretations.
By that, I compare data gathering of high temperatures with ZERO judgment. Whatever the thermometer showed is the exact number.
When it comes to corn yields, in mid August, they can't stick a yield-ometer into every ear and get 175 bu or 188 or 190 and even if they could, the % sampled would be minuscule. They have a great method to come fairly close but most of the kernels are still filling which presents tremendous uncertainty.
Karen is one of the Pro Farmer crop scouts. You can follow all her reports while she's in the field this week at her usual link:
South Dakota corn yields on #pftour25 averaged 174.18 bu/acre, up 11% on the year but below 2020's tour record of 179.24. Pod counts at 1188.45 were up nearly 16% on the year, but were also below the 2020 tour average of 1250.86.
Average corn yields in Ohio were a #pftour25 record of 185.69 bu/acre, narrowly beating 2021's high of 185.06. Soybean pod counts of 1287.28 were up nearly 5% on the year, the tour's highest average for Ohio since 2014.
Here is the latest information about weather/other market related stuff.
Re: Re: Re: Re: August 12, 2025 USDA
By metmike - Aug. 19, 2025, 8:59 a.m.
Here is the latest comprehensive weather:
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Nebraska #pftour25 day 2. Doing the first half of this route.
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Nine stops in east central Nebraska on #pftour25. Mostly irrigated. Avg corn yield: 200 bu/acre That's down 3% from this same route last year, up 10% from 2023. Low ear counts. Avg soy pod counts: 1259 That's down 23% (!!) from last year & down 7% from 2023. Beans disappointed.
Four stops in Nebraska east of Grand Island. Average corn yield 208 bpa. That is up 1% from these same four stops last year and up 5% from 2023. Soybean pods in a 3x3' plot averaged 1247. That's down 21% from these same four stops last year and down 1% from 2023. #pftour25
USDA confirms the sale of 228,606 tonnes of U.S. soybeans for delivery to Mexico in 2025/26.
For information from ProFarmer, including details from the crop tour:
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I'm thinking that tweets from the scouts during the day and summaries later in the day matter the most to traders much of the time this week!
you are correct MM. I have a close friend who does the tour every year. I trust his experience and judgment much more than the 8pm Friday night massaged numbers
Nebraska corn samples on #pftour25 averaged to 179.5 bu/acre, up 3.6% from last year's tour but short of 2021's high (182.35). Pod counts for soybeans at 1348.31 are up sharply from a year ago and a tour best for Nebraska in over a decade.
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Average Indiana corn yield on #pftour25 comes in at 193.82 bu/acre, barely edging 2021's record (193.48). Pod counts in Indiana were down 2.3% from last year's tour but up 6.3% on the three-year tour average.
