By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Ten carloads of experienced crop scouts converged on cornfields near Bloomington last week as part of the 2007 John Deere Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour, gathering data on corn and soybean crop yield potentials.

After sampling 135 fields, a tour director pronounced Illinois’ corn yield potential the most bountiful of all the Midwest corn-producing states.

“Illinois has enjoyed the highest crop ratings all summer, and now we know why,” said John Deere Pro Farmer eastern crop tour director Roger Bernard. “Even with a few nicks here and there, we found yields about 7.4 percent better than we measured on last year’s tour.

“We noted some tip back on ears, but this is clearly the best of the Midwest.”

Bernard added there was “no telling” how large Illinois corn yields could have been without a July heat wave that stressed corn plants.
Scouts on the eastern leg of the tour measured Illinois corn yields at an average of 160.35 bushels per acre, up more than 7 percent over last year’s estimate of 149.32 and above the tour’s three-year average of 145.

While Illinois corn crops benefited from favorable weather this summer, that should help increase yields, soybean crops will be average or slightly below, the study projects. Scouts pegged the number of soybean pods per 3-feet-by-3-feet square at 1,297.7, compared to 1,134.7 during the 2006 tour.

“Illinois has a decent bean crop, but it didn’t match up to the levels we were seeing in cornfields,” Bernard reported, adding the study revealed evidence of sudden death syndrome in some fields. “Lots of vegetative growth had been matted down by recent storms, making sampling more difficult. There is potential for late-season disease problems.”

The tour sampled 133 soybean fields and determined the count was down around 5.7 percent from last year’s figures and below the three-year average of 1,323.1.

Tour officials also released preliminary observations for Iowa crop fields, finding early season problems could limit corn yields to fewer than those of 2006.

“But there is a decent crop out there,” said western crop tour director Chip Flory. “We’ll know more when we pull all of the Iowa data together.”

Bean leaf beetles have been a problem in many Iowa soybean fields, Flory said, along with weather problems that could limit yields.

Scouts were scheduled to begin the final legs of their respective tours late last week in portions of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.

Some information taken from Illinois Farm Bureau, www.AgWeb.com and www.AgricultureOnline.com

This farm news was published in the Aug. 29, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.