It always seems to be the same thing every year. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) releases its crop estimates based on what they see in the field, and nobody wants to believe them. It doesn?t matter if the report is good or bad, farmers say USDA is looking in the wrong places. This August, yet again, farmers and traders will be watching what is found when the Midwest Crop tour hits the road.
Audio: Full Interview with Chip Flory
Pro Farmer hosts the annual crop tour which goes through seven states in just four days. Chip Flory is a fellow farm broadcaster and has been a part of the tour since 1993. We met up earlier this week to talk about what we might expect.
The process of gathering the data has not changed over the years. There is no reason to mess with what works and gives consistent results.
The Midwest Crop Tour runs August 19th-22nd. I will be going along on the tour?s Western Leg, once again, this year. We will be going through southeast South Dakota, Nebraska, western Iowa, and southern Minnesota. Be watching for those reports from the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
