US crop tour forecasts record-large soy crop above government estimate

By Julie Ingwersen
ROCHESTER, Minnesota, Aug 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. soybean harvest will be even bigger than the U.S. government’s record forecast, advisory service Pro Farmer said on Friday, though it forecast a smaller corn crop than the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Near-perfect growing weather in most areas of the world’s top corn exporter and No. 2 soybean exporter boosted bets on big crops, keeping futures prices of both commodities near four-year lows. The lower cost of growing soy versus corn, floods in some areas, and a timely winter-wheat harvest encouraged farmers to plant more soybeans than last year.
Pro Farmer forecast a soybean harvest of 4.740 billion bushels, which would be about 6% above the 2021 record and more than the 4.589 billion bushels forecast by the agriculture department. The tour forecast an average soybean yield of 54.9 bushels an acre, after surveying seven states over the past week.
For corn, Pro Farmer estimated a crop of 14.979 billion bushels, less than the 15.147 billion seen by USDA but a crop that would still be the fourth-largest ever. The tour forecast an average yield of 181.1 bushels an acre.
The four-day tour, which began on Monday, projected above-average corn yields for six of the seven Corn Belt states surveyed, except for Minnesota.
“The eastern Corn Belt was phenomenal. I will never forget this crop year,” said Brian Grete, editor of Pro Farmer and leader of the tour’s eastern leg.
“Barring some disaster … (the 2024 crop) is set up well to finish, for both corn and soybeans.” (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; additional reporting by Tom Polansek and Karen Braun; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Rod Nickel)