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Crop scouts crossing the eastern Corn Belt as part of an annual U.S. corn and soybean crop tour report that corn yields are variable in areas west of Columbus, OH, while soybean pod counts are down from last year.

Crop scouts on the eastern leg of the crop tour found an average corn yield of 136.7 bu./acre in Ohio's district four, compared with 144.65 bu. in the same district on last year's tour, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires.

Crop scouts on one leg of the tour headed west out of Columbus and traversed the counties of Madison, Champaign, Shelby and Darke, sampling crops from seven fields.

"On the beans, we're seeing pod counts below 1,000, which is down a little more than we may have expected to see on the tour," said Roger Bernard, editor at Pro Farmer and eastern tour director.

Soybean pod counts in a 3 sq. ft. area in district four totaled 995.6, down from 1,242.67 in the same district last year.

"We're not seeing a lot of disease pressure, but just finding that the pods are not there like we had last year," Bernard said.

Dry conditions are evident in some fields by cracks that recent rain has not yet filled in, he said.

Corn conditions along one tour route have been variable with yields coming mostly in a range from 140-160 bu./acre.

Very little disease pressure has been seen, but some pollination issues are evident. "Some fields got planted at a time where the hot and dry conditions affected pollination, while other fields mostly escaped those yield-robbing impacts," Bernard said.

The group has seen quite a few "tipped ears," where the kernels do not fill completely to the end of the ear with 1-3 in. left unfilled.

Editor’s note: Richard Brock, The Corn And Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.