Lenexa, Kan. (Aug. 15, 2019)—Pro Farmer scouts will blanket the countryside to measure this year’s corn and soybean yield potential during the 27th annual Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour, Aug. 19–22, 2019. The tour is conducted each year by Pro Farmer, a Farm Journal company, and is a closely watched late-summer ritual covering seven Midwestern states and the most thorough in-field inspection of yield potential during a critical time in the growing season. Planting delays throughout the Midwest have heightened attention on this year’s tour nationally and beyond. After adjusting sharply to USDA’s Aug. 12 reports, the attention of market watchers and the commodity trade will now focus on data coming out of Crop Tour.
“We go into this year’s Crop Tour knowing the crop is significantly delayed in maturity in many areas,” said Brian Grete, Pro Farmer Editor. “Typically, the less mature the crop is when we pull samples, the more difficult it is to gauge final yield potential. In some cases this year, corn will have just pollinated as we work our way across the Corn Belt.”
Jeff Wilson, Pro Farmer Senior Market Analyst, added, “We pull enough samples to provide representative data for a large geographic area. With USDA not conducting objective yield sampling in August this year, Crop Tour will provide the first large-scale field-level yield data for the 2019 crop. That’s important to all of agriculture.”
More than 100 scouts, industry experts and media reporters will cover approximately 2,000 fields across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota. A summary of Pro Farmer’s Midwest Crop Tour findings will be presented at Rochester International Events Center Aug. 22 in Rochester, Minn. Taped on location, U.S. Farm Report will air a detailed panel discussion led by Tyne Morgan on Saturday, Aug. 24.
Each day’s official findings and results for the Pro Farmer’s Midwest Crop Tour will be published on ProFarmer.com, where subscribers have exclusive access to comparative data from the past three years of the Midwest Crop Tour. Free trials also are available to access Crop Tour’s data at TryProFarmer.com.
Robust daily coverage also will be delivered on AgWeb.com, as well as on AgDay TV, Farm Journal’s daily news program that reports on topics important to agriculture. The tour will be widely followed on social media, including #pftour19 on Twitter.
Pro Farmer’s Brian Grete and Chip Flory will join tour scouts on AgriTalk radio at 10:06 a.m. and 2:06 p.m. CST each day to share the latest crop observations during the 2019 Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour.
Pro Farmer’s national crop production estimates will be released Aug. 23 on ProFarmer.com and published in the Aug. 24 issue of the Pro Farmer newsletter. A summary of the Crop Tour findings also will appear in the September issue of Top Producer magazine.
For media covering the 2019 Crop Tour, state estimates and a transcript of commentary from the Crop Tour leaders are available under embargo on a nightly basis. Media that are interested in receiving the data and commentary, and can agree to the embargo, should contact jherath@farmjournal.com to be added to the distribution.
Pioneer has been Crop Tour’s premier sponsor since 2008. Other sponsors include IBM, RCIS, Farm Credit Services of America, RAM, AeroVironment, Farmobile and Titan Tires.
ProFarmer, AgriTalk, U.S. Farm Report, AgDay and Top Producer are owned by Farm Journal.
About Farm Journal
Farm Journal is the nation’s leading business information and media company serving the agricultural market. Started 142 years ago with the preeminent Farm Journal magazine, the company serves the row crop, livestock, produce and retail sectors through branded websites, eNewsletters and phone apps; business magazines; events; nationally broadcasted television and radio programs; a robust mobile text marketing business; and an array of data-driven paid information products. Farm Journal also is the majority shareholder of the online equipment marketplace, Machinery Pete LLC. In 2010, the company established the non-profit, public charity Farm Journal Foundation dedicated to sustaining agriculture’s ability to meet the vital needs of a growing population through education and empowerment.