Javen Smith couldn’t help but smile and shake his head in near disbelief as his yield monitor ticked past 60 bushels per acre as he cut soybeans last week on his farm near Atlantic.

"I’m very surprised," he said. "We went through July with very little moisture, then we had that heat dome set in in August. I thought beans took a toll."

Smith said early corn yields were also exceeding his expectations at around 190 bushels per acre.

He attributes some of the yield surprise to scouting and management recommendations provided by his Pioneer seed representative, John Becker with Seed Pros North in...