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Michigan’s corn industry creates official crop tour

There’s never been an official yield tour in Michigan, until now.  The Corn Marketing Program of Michigan has launched its Between the Rows Tour and is compiling yield checks from eight locations across the state.

“We wanted to see what was the yield for the state, secondly we wanted to connect with the growers out in their communities.”

Executive Director Jim Zook says they’ve been a bit surprised by some of the results.  He tells Brownfield even with variable crop conditions, USDA’s estimates are not too far off from the tour’s.

“We’ve had an average in the fields we’ve checked of about 170 bushels per acre.” He tells Brownfield, “That goes against USDA’s number of 165 that they have predicted for Michigan.”

Brownfield spoke with Zook at the Kies Farm in Allen this week. The Michigan Corn office reports as of today, the tour’s average yield is 168 bushels per acre.

Between the Rows will conclude in the Thumb next Friday near the state’s first ethanol plant.

AUDIO: Interview with Jim Zook (5:14 mp3)