Production Blog

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (DTN) -- As corn harvest rolls on and yield estimates become yield realities, the data continue to suggest that this year's crop won't be eclipsing any records for bushels per acre.

Last week, DTN spoke to Ryan Gentle, who serves as agronomy manager for Wyffels Hybrids in western Illinois. He shared that although there are some exceptional yields across portions of the company's footprint, overall average yield from hybrid demonstration plots is down from 2024.

"Across our Wyffels Worksites so far, we're down just a little," he said. "These are plots where we show off our new hybrids, including all of our brand-new stuff that we're going to sell for the first time next year. You expect the newer hybrids to gain a couple bushels just because of breeding and genetics."

Gentle shared that as Oct. 29, Wyffels had harvested 724 of its worksite plots with an average yield of 241 bushels per acre (bpa). Last year, the final average yield across 841 sites was 247 bpa.

In some states, yields in Wyffels' plots were trending above 2024 results. Minnesota worksites, for example, were averaging 240 bpa, 30 bushels better than last year, while those in South Dakota were 19 bpa higher at 231 bpa. However, both the Illinois and Iowa averages were down. Illinois was at 252 bpa, down 8 bushels from 2024; Iowa's average was at 228 bpa, down 21 bushels.

"Northern Iowa is probably down enough that it completely offsets anything that's going on in Minnesota and South Dakota," Gentle said. "Disease really took a toll on things."

Across his territory in western Illinois, Gentle said the best yields were located from about the Interstate 80 corridor south to about Springfield, Illinois. North of I-80, tar spot was the main driver for lower yields; southern rust was more prominent farther south.

"When I'm talking to guys, some say they're a little better than last year. Some are saying they're 10% off last year," Gentle said. "A lot of our customers had record corn yield last year, and this one's second best. So, it's still really good corn."

The disease pressure did allow for farmers to assess their fungicide programs, Gentle said, noting that application gaps were apparent this year.

"You saw where airplanes missed or where drones left streaks on both sides of a pass, so there's some things we learned there," he said. "In some of the severe cases, especially with the rust, two passes of fungicide is going to pay even at $4 corn."

As farmers begin to plan for 2026 and select seed, Gentle added that while considerations should be made for southern rust, it should only be part of the equation.

"Southern rust is just a wild card. Maybe one out of every 10 years we get it as bad as this year," he said. "On the other hand, you know we're going to have tar spot every year; it's just a matter of how early it gets started. That's why we encourage guys to plant a package and not go too heavy with any one hybrid."

Wyffels Hybrids publishes its worksite yield data online. It can be found here: https://www.wyffels.com/….

On Oct. 31, USDA announced that despite the government shutdown, the World Agricultural Outlook Board will release the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) in conjunction with the Crop Production release on Nov. 14. The reports were originally scheduled for release on Nov. 10.

To register for the free DTN WASDE Webinar on Nov. 14, 12:30 p.m. CST and hear reaction and analysis from DTN Lead Analyst Rhett Montgomery, including a live Q&A session at the end of the presentation, go to https://www.dtn.com/….

Jason Jenkins can be reached at jason.jenkins@dtn.com

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