NAPERVILLE, Illinois, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Most of the U.S. Crop Watch producers reported quick harvest progress in the first week of October, and soybeans were the prime beneficiary as many areas are close to wrapping up those efforts.
Five Crop Watch soybean fields were harvested between last Monday and Sunday, three with slightly better than expected results and two with notably worse ones. Just two Crop Watch soybean fields await harvest: Ohio and North Dakota.
Most areas have a decent harvest window until about midweek, when a low-pressure system is expected to move across the center of the country. That could bring between 2 and 4 inches of rain to places including Iowa, northern Illinois, southern Minnesota and parts of Nebraska and South Dakota.
This will likely disrupt field work for several days, but some of the Crop Watch producers note that the moisture is still somewhat welcome as much of the U.S. Corn Belt remains under drought conditions.
Fields could take some time drying out now that temperatures have turned more seasonal after a summer-like start to the month, though most Crop Watch producers have not yet expressed serious concerns.
RESULTS
Crop Watch producers have been rating yield potential on a 1-to-5 scale with a score of 3 around farm average yield, 4 solidly above average and 5 among the best crops ever.
The 11-field, average soybean yield fell to a season-low 3.48 from 3.59 last week as the Crop Watch soybeans in eastern Iowa and western Illinois both landed a full point below pre-harvest expectations. Both producers reported small seed size caused by the exceptionally dry stretch of weather in August.
Final soybean yield scores in eastern Iowa and western Illinois landed at 2.5 and 2.75, respectively. The eastern Iowa beans scored 4.5 in each of the last two years, and the western Illinois beans ended at 4.5 last year and 4 in 2021.
The eastern Iowa producer noted that there were some better bean results than the Crop Watch field in his area, but it all depended on whether the field picked up moisture in August, and sometimes just one small rain shower made the difference.
The I-state soybean losses last week were partially offset by the beans in South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska, which all improved by a quarter-point upon harvest. South Dakota featured the best results, ending at 4.75 versus 2.75 last year and 3.25 in 2021.
The final Minnesota bean yield of 2.5 was lower than the scores in 2022 or 2021, which were 3.75 and 3, respectively. Nebraska’s bean yield of 3.25 slightly outscores last year’s 3 but falls well short of the 4.5 observed two years ago.
Average Crop Watch corn yield remains unchanged at 3.61, and there were no adjustments to any individual scores this week. Only four of the 11 Crop Watch corn fields have been harvested as of Monday morning, and the most recent one was completed on Sept. 29.
The following are the states and counties of the 2023 Crop Watch corn and soybean fields: Kingsbury, South Dakota; Freeborn, Minnesota; Burt, Nebraska; Rice, Kansas; Audubon, Iowa; Cedar, Iowa; Warren, Illinois; Crawford, Illinois; Tippecanoe, Indiana; Fairfield, Ohio. The North Dakota corn is in Griggs County and the soybeans are in Stutsman County. Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. Views expressed above are her own.
(Writing by Karen Braun Editing by Matthew Lewis)
