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Record corn yield projections questioned

Some Western Corn Belt crop experts are questioning the very high corn yield numbers put out by USDA earlier this month.

Todd Claussen, director of agronomy with Ames, Iowa-based Landus Cooperative, says he sees a lot of variability from field to field.

“I get that every day—‘Boy, the crop looks great’.–and yes, it does look good at 60 miles per hour,” Claussen says. “But when you get out in it—don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, there’s no catastrophe here—but we’re quite variable,” Claussen says.

Claussen says reduced stands are an issue in some fields.

“If you dropped 33 or 34 thousand, you’ve got a lot of 27-28 thousand—so we’re short of ears,” he says.

Jordan Carstens, who farms near Bagley, Iowa, says tip-back on corn ears will shave the high-end off his yield potential.

“We got into some heat there in July, when things were really going there, pollinating,” Carstens says. “Some of the tip-back I’m seeing, it’s on ears that probably would have been 45 kernels long—and they went back to 34 or 35.”

But Carstens still expects “a really good” corn crop.

“You never really know until you get the combine in the field and start weighing stuff up—but I think we’ll have a decent fall.”

The USDA estimated Iowa’s average corn yield at 197 bushels per acre, part of an expected record U.S. harvest.

Brownfield spoke with Claussen and Carstens at the Landus Cooperative Research Plot Showcase at Farnhamville, Iowa.

AUDIO: Todd Claussen

AUDIO: Jordan Carstens