Tour: Corn harvest in South Dakota and Ohio better than 3-year average

By Karen Braun and Julie Ingwersen

GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Corn yield prospects in Ohio and South Dakota were below last year’s results but above the three-year average, scouts on their annual tour of major U.S. growing states said on Monday.

Although observers on the four-day harvest tour believed there was solid soybean crop potential in both states, some doubted that South Dakota’s corn yields would reach the high levels predicted by the government – and whether Ohio might have more grain than expected.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture this month forecast a record U.S. soybean crop and the third-largest corn harvest – a crop that comes at a time when prices for grains and oilseeds have fallen to nearly four-year lows amid robust global supplies and growing concerns about demand from China, the largest soybean buyer.

According to the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour, average corn yields in South Dakota were estimated at 156.51 bushels per acre (bpa), below the 2023 Crop Tour average of 157.42 bpa but above the three-year average of 142.44 bpa.

Some observers noted that persistent rain early in the growing season had reduced the number of cobs on the plants, resulting in yield losses in some fields.

“It was disappointing,” said harvest scout Sherman Newlin.

In Ohio, the state’s average tour corn yield was forecast at 183.29 bpa, just below the 2023 crop tour average of 183.94 bpa and above the previous three-year average of 181.06 bpa.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts corn yields in South Dakota to increase by 7% and in Ohio by 5% this year compared to 2023.

During the four-day harvest tour, during which no soybean yields are forecast, the amount of soybean pods in a 3-by-3-foot square in South Dakota was estimated to average 1,025.89 pods, more than last year’s average of 1,013.00 pods and more than the three-year average of 960.42 pods.

According to the data, the average number of soybean pods per 3 x 3 feet (0.91 x 0.91 m) of area in Ohio is 1,229.93 pods. This is less than the previous year’s average of 1,252.93 pods, but more than the three-year average of 1,193.31 pods.

The Tour will release predictions for Indiana and Nebraska on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Karen Braun in Grand Island, Nebraska, and Julie Ingwersen in Noblesville, Indiana; Writing by PJ Huffstutter; Editing by Jamie Freed)