2024 DTN Digital Yield Tour Details

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (DTN) -- The DTN Digital Yield Tour returns for its seventh season on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

The Digital Yield Tour has always employed the power of satellite imagery and data science to provide insights into growing conditions around the Corn Belt, but the source of this year's data and the format is changing.

The 2024 Digital Yield Tour will be the first powered entirely by DTN, using the company's proprietary yield models, industry-leading experts and intrepid reporters to paint a picture of corn and soybean crop conditions as the important grain and pod-fill phases commence.

DTN's corn, soybean and wheat yield models use a wide array of publicly available data, like satellite maps of vegetative health, frequently referred to as NDVI maps; USDA county-level yield estimates; USDA crop condition reports and more. DTN's models are unique because they draw on proprietary research into crop growth modeling as well as DTN's historical meteorological and soil condition data to arrive at estimates.

"We're excited to continue this project using our proprietary yield models," DTN General Manager of Agriculture Grey Montgomery said. DTN's longtime partner for the Digital Yield Tour, Gro Intelligence, went out of business in June.

Montgomery said DTN respected Gro's work on crop yield modeling and is excited that the company's former head of commodity research and data science, Steve Matthews, joined DTN in July.

DTN's yield models draw on similar sources as Gro's, but they were built differently and for different purposes. When DTN partnered with Gro in 2018, its corn and soybean yield models had a proven record of accuracy, and the company's data scientists trained it on new data each season.

Gro's yield forecasting started at the county level and built up to the national level. DTN sees "the particular need for yield modeling at finer levels of geographic aggregation, down to the field level or draw area," Montgomery said.

DTN's yield modeling is an outgrowth of its acquisition of ClearAg, a precision agronomic modeling firm, in 2020.

John Mewes, Chief Scientist for DTN's ClearAg unit, said much of his research is in forecasting how a crop will grow under all the nuances of weather and climate conditions.

"Yield is the ultimate outcome of that," he said. "Our yield models leverage the data we have, like field-level soil temperature and moisture levels, which is unique."

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM 2024 DIGITAL YIELD TOUR

DTN uses its granular data to compile county-level yield estimates. Those estimates are aggregated on a weighted-average basis to arrive at a state yield estimate for the purposes of this tour.

Because the models are focused on local-level production, not a national scope, DTN will not be releasing a national yield estimate as part of the tour this year.

This year's tour will cover nine states over four days, along this schedule:

-- Tuesday, Aug. 13: Illinois, Ohio

-- Wednesday, Aug. 14: Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota

-- Thursday, Aug. 15: Indiana, Wisconsin

-- Friday, Aug. 16: Nebraska, Missouri

DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman said he's looking forward to digging into the yield tour's data, although the story appears to be moving all in one direction.

"We've got the best soil moisture profile across the Corn Belt in at least four years and probably longer," he said. August weather has been fantastic for crops in the grain and pod filling stage. "Other than the well-known problems in Minnesota, the Crop Progress ratings are high for most of the major producing areas. It's hard to argue with good yields."

If you would like to submit your field observations -- such as yield checks, weather observations, or perspective on field conditions -- please email katie.dehlinger@dtn.com.

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