Pro Farmer predicts “stellar” corn crop

The Pro Farmer crop tour had good news for growers after making its way through eastern and southeastern South Dakota earlier this week. Samples from 60 cornfields found an average of 161.75 bushels per acres, an increase of 118% from last year’s estimate.

While this estimate may not reflect the entire state, Chip Flory, editor and western tour director, says the South Dakota corn crop is better than average and should add a few bushels on top of the USDA-NASS estimate of 138 bpa.

“In terms of maturity, the South Dakota corn crop is in late milk or very early dough stage,” said Flory. “This corn crop will need every bit of September, and it would be nice to get 10 days of October before the first frost. We have a bit of a race going on.”

For Chip Flory’s audio report and more from South Dakota, click here: http://www.agweb.com/article/stellar_corn_yields_predicted_for_south_dakota/

Follow the Pro Farmer crop tour on Twitter using the hashtag: #pftour13