General comments
We are Verdova, and we strive to help growers generate value from their on-farm data. If you are unfamiliar with Verdova, Verdova is likely the data partner for a program you have participated in.
We share harvest reports each year to give growers meaningful insights from the data that we collect across our network. If this is your first Verdova Harvest Report, welcome! We hope that you find the data both interesting and helpful for your operation.
Consistent with prior years, the analysis emphasizes the I-States (Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana), which represent approximately two-thirds of the acres in our network. Data from other regions are also included where they provide meaningful insights.
This is the second and final harvest report for 2025. The first is accessible here. Please feel free to share both links and reference the data as you see fit.
What has Verdova been up to?
The past year, we have been busy building out our grower-facing platform, improving our data pipeline, expanding our work as a data partner for Carbon Intensity and Pay-for-Performance programs, and exploring new opportunities to help growers get more value from their data.
If you're a grower and want to learn more about Verdova or connect with our team, we'd love to hear from you at success@verdova.com.
If you're a business currently partnering with Verdova or interested in exploring a partnership, please contact us at success@verdova.com or call Clay Sellmeyer (217) 993-1256.
Harvest comment from Bill Simmons (with Verdova data)
Bill is an agronomist
and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois.
Note: all yield values are in bushels per acre (bu/ac).
The 2025 growing season is in the books, and I will offer some observations on the Verdova
yield data. There is a thought that no two years are the same and that each crop season is
unique. That may be true, but it is hard to prove that point comparing 2024 and 2025 yield
data. Across all the states contributing data, the overall soybean yield for 2024 (66.3
bu/ac) and 2025 (66.3 bu/ac) was identical. For the I-states, the soybean yield was higher
but also very similar across the two years (70.4 in 2024, 70.3 in 2025).
Corn yields were also amazingly close within years with the I-states once again showing a higher
yield than the entire composite group. Corn yields in 2024 were 217 bu/ac across all the data
and 234 bu/ac within the I-states while 2025 yields were 221 bu/ac and 233 bu/ac, respectively.
The rainfall patterns and temperature profiles across the two years may have been different, but
the resultant yields were amazingly similar. Local sentiment in my Central-Illinois area was that
soybean yields would be down because of the unseasonably dry pod fill period. Stored soil water
and deep well-rooted soybeans may have made the difference.
Soybean planting continues to get earlier
In 2025, 63% of producers that primarily use a corn-soybean rotation planted the first 5% of
their soybeans before the first 5% of their corn while the other 37% planted corn first.
This is evidence of a continuing shift toward early planted soybeans, a concept that
originated in the last 10-15 years in the Central Corn Belt. The new approach has been made
possible by widespread adoption of soybean seed treatments that allow the seed to survive
longer residence time in the soil prior to emergence. The benefits of early planting are
associated with a longer vegetative growth period prior to the onset of reproductive growth
stages when day length begins to shorten starting June 21st. There is always the risk of a
killing frost but soybeans have some cold tolerance and can often survive a few hours of
slightly below freezing temperatures.
The table below shows the planting date shifts over a 10-year period in Illinois, a trend that
is likely similar in adjacent states at similar latitudes. This last year 20% of the soybeans
were planted by April 22nd whereas 20% of corn was planted by April 25th. Twenty years ago (2005)
the 20% planted dates for soybean and corn were May 8th and April 15th, respectively.
Soybean and corn planting dates (Illinois)
| Soybeans | Corn |
|---|
| Year | 20% Planted | % Planted @ May 1 | 20% Planted | % Planted @ May 1 |
|---|
| 2005 | May 8 | 10 | Apr. 15 | 80 |
| 2015 | May 3 | 10 | Apr. 20 | 60 |
| 2025 | Apr. 22 | 30 | Apr. 25 | 24 |
Sources: 2005, 2015, 2025
Yield response to planting date
This year's yield data seems to support the concept of planting soybeans first as soybean
yields declined slightly over the planting period from before April 1 – May 15 then
dropping dramatically for planting dates from mid-May and beyond. The data set for
pre-April 1 planting is not large and mostly occurred in the last week of March.
Corn yields peaked for the April 16-30 planting window. Corn is not overtly affected by day
length and a lot of the yield potential is determined by soil-water and temperature conditions
in the two weeks bracketing the beginning of the reproductive growth stages.
Yield by planting date
| Planting Date | Soybean Yield | Soybean Maturity | Corn Yield |
|---|
| < Apr 1 | 82.1 | 3.4 | 169.0 |
| Apr 1-15 | 78.0 | 3.0 | 237.0 |
| Apr 16 - 30 | 76.3 | 3.0 | 246.0 |
| May 1 - 15 | 67.6 | 2.4 | 223.0 |
| May 16-30 | 46.9 | 2.7 | 133.0 |
| > June 1 | 35.4 | 4.1 | --- |
Corn yields are strongly affected by soil type
Challenging soil-water conditions can often highlight soil quality differences that affect
corn yields. Deep loess (windblown glacial silt) soils over assorted glacial material can
provide adequate water holding capacity and robust soil organic matter mineralization and
secondary nutrient supply that enhance corn yields. The greatest yields occurred on thick
loess soils over glacial till and sandy soils that had surface irrigation. The thin loess
soils of the Western Corn Belt and the unglaciated residual soils developed from
sedimentary and metamorphic rock (Upper South) had the lowest corn yields.
Corn yields by soil groups
| Soil Group | Corn Yield |
|---|
| Thin loess often in Western Corn Belt | 129.4 |
| Residual soils without loess | 173.3 |
| River bottoms | 196.8 |
| Glacial outwash plains with gravel subsoil | 224.6 |
| Thick loess over glacial till | 239.3 |
| Sandy soils often irrigated | 247.7 |
| Thick loess over clayey glacial till | 251.5 |
