ST. JAMES, Minn. (Dow Jones)--Crop scouts on one route through southwestern Minnesota found consistency in corn and soybean fields Thursday, although yields were still expected to be below last year.
"Corn looks healthier than what we saw on Wednesday (in Iowa)," said Mike Nichols, a crop scout on the western leg of the 2006 John Deere/Pro Farmer Midwest crop tour.
Scouts on the western leg of the tour left Worthington, Minn., Thursday morning to survey corn and soybean fields on the final day of the annual event.
One group of scouts moved north and east from Worthington and found "healthy" corn and soybean fields. Virtually no disease pressure was seen in Minnesota corn fields, which was a stark contrast, scouts on this route said, from the disease problems seen the previous day in western Iowa.
In CottonwoodCounty, the scouts made four stops and found corn yields ranging from 139-196 bushels per acre. This compares to 2005, when the average corn yield was 184 bushels/acre.
Soybean pod counts in a 3-foot-by-3-foot area in CottonwoodCounty ranged from 552.5 at the lowest to the high of 1,389.
As the scouts moved farther east into WantonwanCounty, they found the highest yielding corn of the eight surveys taken so far Thursday. The corn in WantonwanCounty produced an average yield estimate of 200.4 bushels/acre, according to scouts.
"We're seeing a lot of consistency in the corn crop," said one tour participant.
Overall, plant populations for both corn and soybeans have been high, scouts along this route said. The fields seen Thursday on the lower end of the yield range had gaps in plant spacing that lowered the total number of plants and ultimately the yield potential.
Corn ear sizes are good as well, scouts reported.
The corn and soybeans in Minnesota are not as mature as has been seen in other states on the tour, and some crop scouts said that may be because it didn't get as hot in Minnesota growing regions as it did in other states. Extreme heat can advance plant maturity.
Scouts said that although the 2006 corn crop will be "good," it won't be as good as last year.
In 2005, the average yield in Minnesota was 174 bushels/acre. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the 2006 corn yield for the state, as of Aug. 1, at 160 bushels.
It looks like the state's crop will "easily" reach the USDA's 160-bushel figure, scouts along one tour route said.
Scouts will continue surveying fields throughout the day and will meet up with other tour partipants in Owatonna, Minn., Thursday night to issue final estimates for Minnesota and Iowa.
Source: Joe Poncer; Dow Jones Newswires; joe.poncer@dowjones.com