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Eastern Route
August 17 — 20
Start: Columbus, OH◆
Day 1: Noblesville, IN
Day 2: Bloomington, IL
Day 3: Riverside, IA
Day 4: Rochester, MN
- Eastern Route
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Crop Conditions
Corn
July had very warm conditions paired with high dew points keeping nighttime temperatures high. Corn rolled into August with accumulated GDU’s at ~ 1740, ahead of the 5-year average.(Southeast Minnsota)
Soybeans
The vast majority of soybeans are at R3. Most fungicide and insecticide applications are complete. (Central Illinois)
Eastern Route Highlights
(Reports from local Pioneer field agronomists)
Eastern Route Daily Updates
- East Day 1
- East Day 2
- East Day 3
- East Day 4
Day 1 Stops on the Route
Columbus, OH →
Noblesville, IN
August 17
Pioneer Leader — Kyle Quick
Field Agronomist
Central Indiana
“Despite early challenges, corn in Indiana appears set for a good crop with timely rains and cooler night temperatures beginning as we move into the reproductive stages..”
Crop Conditions — Central Indiana
Corn
- Growth Stage: We had two major planting windows across the central part of the state. Fields south of US-70 were largely planted in April (R4 / ~2000 GDU), and those to the North between May 15 – June 10th (R1 / ~ 1500 GDU).
- Stand Establishment: The start of the season was warm and dry with most areas experiencing light to moderate drought conditions which allowed for the early planting window to the south.
- May brought in major rain and storm events that led to variable stands, particularly in areas that experienced 4”+ rains during emergence and early vegetative stages.
- Early Stress: Saturated field conditions led to shallow root development, particularly in our clay based, eastern timber soils.
- Nitrogen deficiency started showing up in early July in fields with poor drainage.
- Disease Pressure: Presents the biggest challenge in fields this year:
- April — July: Hot and humid weather led to heavy Gray Leaf Spot pressure. Lesions were moving to the upper canopy shortly after R1.
- June — July: Storm fronts brought Southern Rust into the state which could have a major effect on our later planted crop.
- Mid-July — Early August: Recent weather has been wet and cool under extensive cloud cover. Forecasts are calling for the same conditions. This environment favors Tar Spot.
- Infection site numbers are still relatively low. Tar Spot infections are easily found near ear leaves.
Soybeans
- Early planted soybeans have become a priority on most operations. Much of the state was planted by April to early May.
- April through June had limited spray days due to wind and rain events which made weed control difficult. Above average early soil temperatures encouraged both fast-developing weeds and crops.
- Later frost events (April 20 & April 21) thinned bean stands in early emerged fields with cooler no-till soils requiring the most replant.
- Heavy rain events during flowering led to white mold discovery in some areas of the state, but we have yet to see how widespread it will be.
- Overall soybeans look good having reaped much of the benefits of the early planting window and timely rains as the crop moves into reproductive stages with minimal disease pressure.
Photos — Central Indiana
Pioneer® brand P13777PCE planted April 15 - Fairmount, IN.
GLS and Tar Spot near ear leaf - Tipton, IN.
Southern rust – Lake County, IN.
Frost-damaged soybean plant - Rushville, IN.
White Mold in Soybean - Cass County, IN.
R4 soybean field - Rushville, IN.
Industry Spotlight
More Crop Tour Days
Day 2 Stops on the Route
Noblesville, IN →
Bloomington, IL
August 18
Pioneer Leader — Eli Klokkenga
Field Agronomist
Central Illinois
“Some interesting events in the 2026 growing season caused issues. Mostly because when you have extreme weather, you get extreme crops….”
Crop Conditions — Central Illinois
Corn
- Growth Stage: Nearly all corn fields in central Illinois are through pollination. April planted fields would be entering Dough (R4); corn fields are currently anywhere from Brown Silk to Dough (Aug 1).
- Emergence: Most corn fields in central Illinois show strong stands and even emergence. A few fields planted April 25-26 before a rain event are not perfect.
- Disease: A warm and wet June and early July had all of us anticipating a heavy disease year. However, we have had an unexpected number of clean fields. The central Illinois Pioneer sales rep team participated in a disease scouting blitz July 6th – 10th. They scouted 800 fields. Incidents of GLS, NCLB were low. The team found hardly any Tar Spot or Southern Rust. More than 96% of the fields were clean.
- Tar Spot: Largely a nonfactor this year. The leaf wetness from either rainfall and humidity on non-irrigated fields did not match up with the correct temperature for the disease to develop. Temperatures have been too hot for Tar Spot to spread.
- Southern Rust: Found in eastern Iowa and parts of western/deep southern Illinois. This has piqued the interest of central Illinois farmers.
However this time last year a central Illinois field scout would turn orange from rust walking in fields. This summer it can hardly be found. We are keeping an eye on this year's Southern Rust spread but are hopeful the disease intensity is a far cry from last year’s impact. - Bacterial Leaf Streak: tending to be found corn on corn in western Illinois, getting mistaken for bad GLS pressure. It is not a widespread issue, but questions are flaring up from those that scout fields.
- Pollination: overall pollination was good in central Illinois. We are seeing some random cases of scattered/scrambled kernel set on small percentages of ears across brands and genetic families. Kernel counts appear strong in general. We could use rain to minimize tipback as grainfill continues.
- Aphids: can be found in specific genetics. Some growers are throwing in insecticide with a VT fungicide pass where pressure is high enough to be a concern. Corn leaf aphids are typically worse on later planted fields.
Soybeans
- Growth Stage: The vast majority of soybeans are at R3. Most fungicide/insecticide applications are complete.
- We took a large volume of calls about thin stands of beans during planting and emergence evaluation..
- Fair amount of replant in soybeans in central Illinois. High residue from previous crops, crusting, cold wet weather at times during planting and frost were all factors. “Consistently thin” was a popular term. Many stands of around 70-80K plants per acre were left untouched.
- A wet June across central Illinois stunted early soybean vegetative development. Lots of concerns were expressed over ponded areas in fields and general crop size. However crops seem to be adding new growth and healing up as we progress.
- Root Rots: Low lying areas and areas of field where water runs across surface during big rain events suffered from root rot diseases Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, or Phytophthora or a combination hurt stands.
- Many questions surfaced around Dicamba cupping in Enlist E3® soybeans. We saw many fields that had oversaturated/low soil oxygen that took longer to metabolize this event. Little to no yield impact is expected from this issue alone.
Photos — Central Illinois
Traces of Tar Spot - mid-July
Tar Spot heat map - mid-July
Ponding from 12+ inches of rain in June.
Frost damaged soybeans - April 20
Tile lines showing up in oversaturated soybean field.
Soybeans on high, medium and low ground during June.
Soybean plant crown expansion from over saturation.
Damping off from Phytophthora.
Industry Spotlight
Soybean Product Performance / Traits
More Crop Tour Days
Day 3 Stops on the Route
Bloomington, IL →
Riverside, IA
August 19
Pioneer Leader — Eric Zumbach
Field Agronomist
Southeast Iowa
“A very dry first half of May challenged emergence in corn on some acres. Dry May conditions caused crusting across southeast Iowa where soil conditions were marginal at soybean planting.”
Crop Conditions — Southeast Iowa
Corn
- Planting Environment: A wet April at the start of planting pushed back operations to later than in the past few growing seasons. A continued wet forecast was predicted for late April until early May. Growers did begin to plant in some marginal conditions.
- Stand Counts: 758 stand counts were collected late May/Early June in southeast Iowa. Average plant population of all fields collected were 32,300 which was 95.1% of the targeted rate.
- Corn-on-corn can still be a challenge with stands lagging 1.5% behind the corn following soybeans.
- Diseases: Bacterial leaf streak was one of the first identified diseases in southeast Iowa corn.
- Southern rust was identified July 18th in Benton County with Cedar, Keokuk, Louisa, and Muscatine counties getting confirmation a few days later.
Soybeans
- Stand Counts: 543 stand counts were collected in soybean fields in eastern Iowa. The final stand of those 543 counts were 108.9K plants per acre.
- Conventional tillage systems showed the best emergence.
- Seeding Rates: Despite conventional tillage having a lower targeted seeding rate, it achieved the highest final stand (133.7K) versus no-till or reduced till.
- No-till and reduced tillage recorded higher seeding rates but resulted in a final stand below the conventional tillage systems.
- Weed Management: Soil-applied herbicide programs worked well. The wet June did delay post herbicide applications in soybeans with many good-looking fields as we approach August.
Photos — Southeast Iowa
Kicking off the next 100 years with a great looking PKP trial showcasing new hybrids for southeast IA growers — Benton County, IA.
Great looking population trial near Keystone, Iowa, showcasing some exciting new hybrids for SE IA.
Very good pollination across southeast IA.
Tough emergence conditions for April-planted corn, Johnson County, IA.
Saturated soils in June limiting nutrient uptake and showing nitrogen loss. Iowa County, IA.
Anthracnose Leaf Blight, Johnson & Iowa counties, IA.
Bacterial Leaf Streak — Cedar County, IA.
Less than ideal planting conditions in April followed by a dry May created some replant of soybeans, Iowa County, IA.
Industry Spotlight
Agronomy Trials and Partnerships
More Crop Tour Days
Day 4 — Final Stop
Riverside, IA →
Rochester, MN
August 20
Pioneer Leader — Josh Shofner
Field Agronomist
Southeast Minnesota
“Southeast Minnesota had dry but very cool conditions for most of April and May...June was very favorable, and stress factors were few and far between.”
Crop Conditions — Southeast Minnesota
Corn
- Planting: Southeast Minnesota had dry but very cool conditions for most of April and May. Planters hit the field in mid-April; the average planting date was ~April 28. Planting wrapped up by May 15.
- Growing Environment: Despite excellent soil conditions, cool temperatures resulted in some minor uneven emergence. Stand counts were in line with the 5-year average and came in at 95.1 percent in replicated PKP trials.
- No-till, reduced tillage, and cover crop systems had the most challenges this spring due to the cool conditions. Despite very good soil conditions, cool temperatures paired with cold soil temperatures led to more uneven emergence, crusting, and tight soils after planting; yet replant was very low across southeast Minnesota.
- Weather: Rainfall was slightly below average but very timely. The I90 corridor did encounter a narrow band of heavy rainfall at the end of June and beginning of July. That rain event led to some flooding and crop damage. However the corn stage, and overall dry conditions, allowed plants to handle the weather better than we exected.
- July had very warm conditions paired with high dew points that kept nighttime temperatures high. Corn rolled into August with accumulated GDU’s at ~ 1740 GDU’s, ahead of the 5-year average.
- Pair these conditions with early planting dates, and crop maturity is in a strong position for southeast Minnesota.
- Disease: Northern Corn Leaf Blight, Tar Spot, and Bacterial Leaf Streak have been the most common diseases observed. High temperatures may have slowed disease progression. However scouting will be important until late August.
- Fungicide: The new Granular Fungicide timing model has assisted a lot of growers in application timing this summer.
- Corn rootworm pressure observations have been below average. Other insect pressure has been low.
Soybeans
- Planting: Planting season was very similar to corn. WIth an early start and fast planting window; most soybean planting wrapped up by May 15 to May 18 under very good conditions.
- Weather: In some cases cold soil temperatures did lead to challenges. Several freezes during May dinged the crop. No-till acres were a challenge this year across the board for soybeans. The vast majority of replant took place in no-till and cover crop systems.
- Stand Counts: Despite no-till challenges, soybean stand counts were good. The average planting date was May 4, with a stand establishment of 83.4 percent. This was an improvement over the past two springs.
- Increasing seeding rates on April-planted soybeans has improved our stands on those early windows.
- Waterhemp is still a challenge; the Enlist® system is still the strongest when paired with a good pre.
- Disease: A couple of heavy rain events led to some case of Phytophthora Root Rot. White Mold was observed in some historically high pressure areas by late July.
Photos — Southeast Minnesota
Armyworm feeding became widespread in this corn field after a dense cover crop was terminated. Cover crops can serve as an egg-laying and food source for armyworms, and once vegetation is depleted, they can and will move into the corn. Photo: Josh Shofner.
Patchy stand loss caused by white grub feeding. Grubs consume roots and underground plant tissue, leaving scattered areas of missing or weakened corn plants. Photo: Josh Shofner.
Northern Corn Leaf Blight beginning to establish in this corn field. Extended periods of leaf wetness, moderate temperatures, and susceptible hybrids favored disease development. Photo: Josh Shofner.
Phytophthora root and stem rot showing up after the heavy late-June rains. A reminder of how weather can quickly expose field variability and disease pressure. Photo: Josh Shofner.
Reduced-tillage soybeans struggled to emerge after a cold rain sealed the seedbed. Photo: Josh Shofner.
A cold, dry spring caused corn seedlings to break through the soil unevenly or contend with a mild crust. Photo: Josh Shofner.
Industry Spotlights
In-Season Monitoring
Pioneer’s Next 100 Years
More Crop Tour Days
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My Local Pioneer Team
Our unmatched team of local professionals live and work in your community. They’re ready to help you select high-yielding products and provide year-round service and expertise. Have questions? Ask your local Pioneer sales representative today.
Our unmatched team of local professionals live and work in your community. They’re ready to help you select high-yielding products and provide year-round service and expertise. Have questions? Ask your local Pioneer sales representative today.