Inside INdiana Business is reporting that halfway through the growing season, Indiana appears to be on track for a good crop of corn and soybeans. A weekly report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows 65% of corn and 67% of soybeans are rated good to excellent.
That analysis matches that from several teams of field scouts who took part this week in the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour, an annual event hosted by the Iowa-based grain marketing publication.
As the field scouts crossed the Hoosier state, they pulled ears of corn and counted soybean pods within certain parameters to get an estimate of how big the crop could be.
Pro Farmer is estimating the statewide average yield of corn is 179.84 bushels an acre, which is nearly 5% higher than its three-year average.
For the past 28 years Pro Farmer, a subsidiary of Farm Journal media, has dispatched teams of agronomists, farmers, grain marketers and grain buyers across seven Midwest states to estimate how many bushels of corn and soybeans American farmers will potentially harvest in the fall.
Meanwhile, USDA last week released its mid-season estimate of the crop size. It is estimating Indiana corn yields at 188 bushels an acre, producing 987 million bushels of corn from 5.2 million acres.
The ag department expects the state soybean average to hit 61 bushels an acre, producing 346 million bushels of soybeans from 5.6 million acres.