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Weather-based forecasting service estimates corn yield at 183

Several private firms are releasing their own crop yield estimates ahead of this Wednesday’s USDA production report.

Bob McClure is with Main Street Data, a weather-based forecasting service.

“We’re forecasting a record national (corn) yield of 183 bushels per acre,” McClure says, “and we also expect USDA to raise their yield to 180-plus.”

McClure says they are forecasting record corn yields in five of the top producing states.

“Mainly Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin,” he says. “Iowa is a little bit in play because of the drought in the western part.”

But McClure says ample soil moisture supplies have helped sustain Iowa’s crop through much of the dry summer. (He made those comments prior to Monday’s windstorm which caused extension crop damage in parts of central and eastern Iowa.)

Main Street Data is projecting a national soybean yield of 51.4 bushels per acre.

Main Street bases its projections on several weather-related factors including weather forecasts, historical weather data, soil characteristics and soil moisture levels, along with yield samples.