Seeing Fields of Dreams Along the Pro Farmer Crop Tour

Seven states, thousands of miles and countless acres. Garrett Buckley and I joined the 2021 Pro Farmer Crop Tour and stopped at Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 fields along the way.

As I travelled east from St. Louis to Ohio, the corn looked great. (Knock on wood) It may even be a bumper crop! Plenty of rain, mild temperatures and perfect weather for pollination really set the stage for a great growing season.

During the seemingly endless hours of driving, I kept coming back to one question: ‘Just how much water is in those fields?’

From what I saw in the fields I walked, the standing water either drained well or wasn’t enough to affect the crop.

I got to speak with some farmers in Indiana, and David Mohler, who farms in Clinton County, thinks his corn may be on pace to be his best ever. The beans looked good too, but early rainfall stunted their growth a bit.

We all know replants happen, and in southern Ohio, that appeared to be the case. Heavy rains may have washed out the early crop, but it looked like the corn had caught up. While it looked a little ragged in some locations, it was still a pretty decent crop for those farmers.

I also got to the chance to speak with Lori Reese, one of our amazing agronomists in Ohio, about what she has seen in the fields this summer. Lori said the weather has been great, with rain early to get the crop out of the ground and recently to help fill it out. Overall, she thinks it will be a good, but not a great, crop.

Over in Nebraska, agronomist Garrett Buckley said farmers have been dealing with some early wind and hail. One thing Garrett noticed is that the plants treated with Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 had increased standability despite these weather events.

In Iowa, Garrett noticed a lot of field variability. Uneven emergence, coupled with an ongoing drought has led to uneven ear height and yield variability. Despite the drought, Garrett noted that some late-season rain would go a long way to realizing a decent crop for farmers in the area.

Overall, we’ve seen some outstanding corn on this tour. The west was drier and the yields may be down, but the east saw lots of rain and I expect the crops there to be some of the best in recent memory.

It was a fantastic tour and I can’t wait to see what harvest has in store.