Stage is set for massive U.S. harvest

With Midwest weather feeling more fall-like in recent days and the calendar slowly marching toward the first of September, another harvest season is right around the corner for farmers across the U.S.

Combines are being dug out of sheds to be cleaned and serviced, ditches are being mowed to allow for easier equipment movement and farmers are busy making final preparations for what quickly becomes the busiest time of the year.

Along with all of this, the mid- to late-August time frame each year also brings about crop tour season, with everyone from analysts to agronomists venturing out into corn and soybean fields to see what kind of table Mother Nature has set over the...