The Safra Tour organized by Pro Farmer started this week the largest private initiative in the United States. According to AgResource Consulting, represented by economist Dan Basse, the reviewers’ first impressions were that corn and soybean production throughout northern Illinois and northeast Iowa was “better than expected.”
“As we progressed west through the Midwest from Iowa, we saw quality degradation due to periods of heat stress,” says the AgResource team. After that, the group moved further west toward western Iowa and Nebraska to study drought issues.
The team found that the corn harvest in western Iowa “is not very high, which is due to the moisture stress that occurred from early July through early August. However, the further west, the lower the corn yield. AgResource believes a decline in US corn yields this year will occur in western Iowa and extend to Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas and Missouri.”
The Safra Pro Farmer Tour consists of teams of volunteers conducting research in various soybean and corn fields in seven North American Midwest states. Earnings and US yield forecast for corn and soybeans will be released next Thursday, August 25th. The market is waiting for the data from Pro Farmer. In the past, the tour has sometimes presented accurate yield data compared to the September and late NASS reports.