Pro Farmer Crop Tour concludes, projects lower corn, higher soybean yields vs. 2025

Pro Farmer is projecting a smaller U.S. corn crop in 2026 after its annual Crop Tour found lower yield potential across much of the Corn Belt. The organization estimates the national corn yield at 173.2 bushels per acre, with production totaling 15.344 billion bushels. The yield forecast is about 5% below 2025 levels and marks the first time in three growing seasons that Pro Farmer has not projected a record yield. Pro Farmer economist and Eastern Crop Tour lead Lane Akre said samples showed smaller crops than last year across multiple states. Expectations that Iowa could offset weather-related losses in Indiana and Illinois were tempered by drought in western Iowa. “When that spread is 20 bushels” in major eastern producing states, Akre said, it becomes difficult for Iowa to compensate. Soybeans provided a brighter outlook. Pro Farmer projected a national average yield of 53.3 bushels per acre and total production of 4.57 billion bushels, slightly above the 2025 yield but about 1 bushel below 2024.