Episode 306: DTN 2026 Digital Yield Results: Drought Takes Its Toll

The 9th Annual DTN Digital Yield Tour took place August 10th through the 14th, 2026, offering an early forecast of the crop that’s still in the field, based on DTN’s proprietary models and data. And this year, for the first time ever, DTN released national corn and soybean yield estimates, in addition to state-level analysis for more than a dozen states.DTN Crops Editor Jason Jenkins joins us today to walk us through the results of the tour, sharing national and state-level information alongside ground-truth stories from farmers in the field. We’ll hear first about conditions in the I-states, the Dakotas, the recently flood-hit Eastern corn belt, and the Southern plains and Missouri where drought has persisted in some areas while elsewhere, conditions are good. We’ll also talk about the “best of the rest” touching on results from Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Colorado, and then hear Jason’s outlook on what might be ahead for crop conditions between now and harvest.