Iowa Corn Yields Rise, Minnesota Gains Smaller, Crop Tour Says

By Jeff Wilson and Ron Day

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Corn yields in Iowa improved more than the government said earlier this month after cool, dry weather in July and August helped plants recover from June flooding, according to the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour.

Yields may average 168.3 bushels an acre, up 0.4 percent from a similar tour last year, based on 325 fields sampled, the farm group said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had forecast Iowa corn yields would match last year's average of 171 bushels.

Higher yields could pressure corn prices, which have reached records this year amid a surge in demand for their use in animal feed and biofuel. The USDA on Aug. 12 predicted a U.S. corn crop of 12.288 billion bushels, the second largest to last year's 13.074 billion bushels.

``Disease and insect pressures are extremely low this year,'' improving the yield potential, said Gary Wietgrefe, area account manager for Syngenta Seeds Inc. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. ``It's just a healthier crop that usual.''

Corn yields in Minnesota, the fourth-biggest U.S. grower, averaged 178.4 bushels an acre from 133 samples, up 5.5 percent from last year's tour result of 169.1 bushels. Minnesota corn yields may rise 13 percent to 165 bushels from 146 bushels a year earlier, the government said earlier this month.

Corn for December delivery fell as much as 1.1 percent to $6.1075 a bushel in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade and traded at $6.125 as of 12:49 p.m. in Singapore.

The contract touched $6.25 yesterday, the highest since July 21. The price reached a record $7.9925 on June 27.

`Juiced Up'

Corn crops in Minnesota and Iowa increased because farmers planted more genetically modified seeds on each acre because varieties fight pests and are resistant to some herbicides, allowing increased populations.

``The big thing is the ear count,'' said Chip Flory, editor of Pro Farmer. ``When a farmer decided to put the crop in the ground, he figured `let's go ahead and juice up the population.'''

The numbers of ears found in 60 linear feet of corn rose 1.7 percent to 95.7, up from 94.1 ears a year earlier and above the three-year average of 93.6, the tour results show. Ear counts in Minnesota rose 2.4 percent 97.9 compared with a year earlier.

The tour sample of soybean fields found fewer pods that may fill with beans than the government forecast for Iowa, the top U.S. producer. Soybean pod counts in Minnesota almost matched the same percentage drop in yields forecast by the USDA this month. The worst Midwest flooding in 15 years delayed planting of the U.S. crop, reducing the yield potential.

Pods Fall

Tour participants measured pod counts at 1,091 in a 3-foot- square sample in Iowa, down 10 percent from the tour average of 1,218 pods last year, when the state produced 51.5 bushels per acre, participants found. The USDA forecast on Aug. 12 that the yields would fall 8.7 percent.

Minnesota pod counts fell 2.3 percent to an average of 1,007 pods. The government earlier this month forecast soybean yields may fall 2.4 percent to 40 bushels per acre, based on conditions on Aug. 1. That compares with 41 bushels in 2007. Minnesota is the fourth-largest soybean-producing state.

The crop tour has been managed since 1993 by Professional Farmers of America, a marketing company based in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and attempts to gauge corn and soybean yield potential in seven of the top producing states in the Midwest. Participants sample crops about every 20 miles throughout the selected states. The Midwest grows about 70 percent of the two-biggest U.S. crops.

Midwest Floods

``Variability is the story this year,'' because the flooding delayed planting beyond optimal seeding dates, said Roger Bernard, senior editor for Pro Farmer, an agricultural marketing newsletter. ``The planting window in Iowa was not very big before the flooding rains in June,'' reducing the yield potential of the crops, Bernard said.

Soybeans for November delivery fell as much as 0.9 percent to $13.3625 a bushel and last traded at $13.4175. Futures touched $13.70 yesterday, the highest since Aug. 1. The price has surged 61 percent in the past year, reaching a record $16.3675 on July 3.

The U.S. corn crop was worth $52.1 billion last year. Soybeans were valued at $26.8 billion.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Wilson in Austin, Minnesota at jwilson29@bloomberg.net; Ron Day in Austin, Minnesota at