In a significant agricultural event, the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour for 2023 commenced in southeastern South Dakota on August 20th. Assembled in a hotel conference room, around 50 scouts, primarily from the Midwest, with others journeying from countries like Argentina and The Netherlands, marked the onset of this year's western leg of the tour.
These enthusiasts are slated to navigate across parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. Their main mission was to sample, assess, and calculate potential yields of corn and soybean crops using a blend of technical and qualitative evaluations.
Parallelly, another contingent of scouts, mirroring the first group in size, is engaged in a similar mission but in the eastern leg states, namely Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Few scouts came from places like Brazil and Singapore. Evaluation ends in Rochester, Minnesota, marking the four-day exercise conclusion.
This year's tour is unique due to its participants' diverse backgrounds and extreme weather patterns. The Midwest may experience some of the highest temperatures ever recorded, possibly due to a heat dome emerging from the south. This could affect heat-stressed crops and scorch the region. An experienced scout described this year as unparalleled in terms of challenges.
A significant number of the scouts, double as farmers, expressed concerns about this year's yields, citing inadequate rainfall during the growing season. They shared their expectations of average to below-average outputs during the tour's opening event.
Photo Credit: Pro Farmer Crop Tour
Categories: South Dakota, Crops