SPENCER, Iowa (Reuters) - Corn and soybean yield potential in western Iowa was mixed after volatile summer weather including high heat and flooding that benefited crops in some areas and dragged down production prospects in others, scouts on an annual crop tour said on Wednesday.
The Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour estimated corn yields in Iowa's crop district one in the northwest corner of the top corn state at 186.87 bushels per acre (bpa), up from 178.67 last year and the tour's three-year average of 184.56.
Crop district four yields were pegged at 186.77 bushels per acre, versus 179.36 last year and 182.30 on average for the west-central district. In crop district seven in the southwest corner of the state, yields were seen as 179.82 bpa, down from 185.65 a year ago and the three-year average of 181.26.
Soybean pod counts per 3-by-3 foot area averaged 1,081.82 in district one, compared with 986.49 last year and the three-year average of 1,142.07.
In crop district four, average soybean pod counts were 1,258.49, up from 1,158.06 in 2017 and the three-year average of 1,234.55. Crop district seven soybean pod counts averaged 1,445.07, well above 1,133.76 last year and the three-year average of 1,270.41.
Scouts surveyed 189 soybean fields and 190 corn fields in western Iowa. The state is projected to be the largest production state for corn and the second largest for soybeans this year.
(Reporting by Karl Plume)
