Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour Prepares to Measure Drought-Stricken Crops

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa, Aug. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pro Farmer announces plans for undertaking the difficult task of gauging this year's corn and soybean crops. With almost all of the heartland suffering through an extensive drought, this year's Midwest Crop Tour will provide a detailed analysis of the likely outcome for 2012's corn and soybean harvest.

"Clearly, 2012 is shaping up to be an enormously painful year for most Midwest growers," said Chip Flory, Pro Farmer editor. "We're getting wild variations in reports from our members – everything from 'an OK crop' to 'corn only 2 feet tall,' and 'fields a total loss – plowed under.' The task of Crop Tour will be to peg numbers to these conditions."

Flory continued, "We've already seen the challenges that USDA is experiencing trying to measure this crop. I'm fully expecting our scouts to face some of the same difficulties. Our measurements are critical, but it may actually be the qualitative observations of our scouts that will prove most important. What sort of crop is out there?"

The Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour is in its 19^th year. A team of more than 100 growers, industry experts and media reporters will scout about 2,000 fields in seven Midwest states, Aug. 20-23. A summary of the Tour's findings will be presented at Ritchie Brothers' auction facility near Owatonna, Minn., Aug. 23. Taped on-location, Farm Journal's "U.S. Farm Report" television program will air a detailed panel discussion Saturday, Aug. 25.

In a new option this year, farmers may enter their own corn measurements into Pro Farmer's Virtual Crop Tour tool. Available at www.virtualcroptour.com during Crop Tour week, it will give each participant a personalized yield estimate, expanding Midwest Crop Tour participation to corn growers nationwide.

Each day's official findings and results from the Midwest Crop Tour will be published online at www.ProFarmer.com and www.AgWeb.com, and in the Aug. 24 issue of the Pro Farmer newsletter.

DuPont Pioneer has been the Tour's lead sponsor since 2008. Other sponsors include SFP, RCIS, Chevy Truck, Farm Credit Services of America and Gavilon.

For more information on Crop Tour logistics and remaining sponsorship opportunities, please contact Joe May, marketing director for Professional Farmers of America.

About Pro Farmer and Professional Farmers of America
Professional Farmers of America (PFA) is part of Farm Journal Media, the nation's leading agricultural media company. PFA provides news, perspective and analysis in a variety of formats, including the weekly Pro Farmer newsletter, the nation's most widely circulated agricultural newsletter. The organization is also known for its seminars and live events, including Midwest Crop Tour.

About Farm Journal Media
Farm Journal Media is the nation's leading agricultural media company. Its magazines are the 135-year-old flagship Farm Journal, Top Producer, Beef Today, Dairy Today and Implement & Tractor. The company produces and distributes the "AgDay," "U.S. Farm Report," "Corn College TV" and "Leave a Legacy TV" national TV programs and produces the industry-leading website AgWeb.com and the syndicated radio show "Consumer Ag Connection." Farm Journal Media also licenses detailed industry data through its FarmReach™ database, publishes the Pro Farmer and LandOwner newsletters, produces numerous large-scale live events and provides extensive custom publishing services.

For more information contact:  

Joe May
Telephone: 319.268.4361
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Farm Journal Media