McLean survey estimates corn yields above 5-year average

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — First Mid Ag Services’ 28th annual yield survey estimates McLean County corn to average 227.12 bushels per acre, 14.76 bushels above the five-year average.

If the crop estimates reach fruition, it would be 3.82 bushels per acre above the 2023 final yield average and 5.08 bushels below the 2022 record.

The findings are based on 1,670 samples from 167 locations. The samples were taken on managed farms in every McLean County township by 10 First Mid farm managers.

Sample yield estimates ranged from 151.8 bushels per acre to 284.59. Eighty-nine percent of the locations returned a yield estimate over 200 bushels per acre, compared to 65% in 2022 and 88% in 2023.

A majority of the samples used for this estimate were taken the second week of August, and the number of kernels around the ear and the ear population were both above average. Kernel weight also came in as one of the highest ever.

With the hot dry conditions in the third week of August, aphids and possible disease, the kernel weight could be lower than First Mid Ag estimated, the survey report noted.

Last year, with more than 70 million bushels of corn produced, McLean County in central Illinois ranked first across the entire United States for total production in corn.

Yield Story

• Weather: Planting was later than the five-year average. There were much fewer fields planted in April, at 24 counts, than May, at 143 counts. Above-average moisture for April through June led to delayed planting. Above-normal temperatures allowed the crop to come up quick in June. From May until the end of July, there were timely rains, but McLean County in general is slightly under the five-year average for rainfall. The southern part of the county stood out with more moisture and more optimal planting. August started with temperatures staying in the mid 80s and a couple of rains with the last week looking hot.

• Planting Date: Planting dates for the samples taken ranged from April 16 through May 28 with an average planting date of May 11. The April planted corn estimated a roughly 4-bushel advantage — 230.5 versus 226.8 — in yield versus May planted corn. The sample sets showed a larger kernel length per ear and roughly 700 more ears per acre in the April planted corn.

• Emergence: Due to the majority of the farms getting the crop in with good soil conditions, the emergence was good. Final ear populations of approximately 33,200 ears per acre were recorded. This estimate was approximately 1,000 ears per acre higher than the five-year average estimate. The average plants per acre were near average with about 34,100 plants per acre recorded.

• Fungicide Application: Each year, samples sprayed with fungicide are tracked. Application typically occurs during the R1 timeframe between tassel and brown silk. This year, 93.6% of samples received a fungicide, more than the 79.6% sprayed last year. While pulling checks, disease pressure was noticed in both sprayed and non-sprayed fields. More fields were sprayed this year due to aphid pressures. Tar spot was noted, but not severe at the time of sampling.

• Nitrogen: Anhydrous applications were able to be completed either last year or early this spring. No significant difference between anhydrous or UAN was noticed. With timely rains, nitrogen seemed to be readily available for the corn crop. In the yield estimates, data was not collected from this statistic.

• Standability: Plant health was a non-issue throughout most of the season. The average stalk quality rating is 9.78 on a scale from 1 to 10. There were areas of green snap and lodging, especially noticed in east-northeast McLean County from the June 13 storm. As the crop moves towards harvest, stalk qualities should be monitored with the possibility of anthracnose, tar spot and other diseases could still have a negative effect on stalk quality and kernel weight.