In the News -
November 2007
Rain delays harvest of promising Arkansas soybean crop
LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas soybean farmers are headed back to the fields to
finish harvesting a promising 2.8-million acre crop after recent rains and wet
fields caused a delay.
"The USDA is forecasting that farmers will average 38 bushels an acre for the
statewide average yield," said Dr. Jeremy Ross, soybean specialist with the
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. "If that holds true, it
would be a bushel less than the state record set in 2004."
Ross said it remains to be seen if that estimate is good.
"It might be a little high because of the hot August we had. That knocked our
yield down some, so I would be surprised if we actually get 38 bushels."
Ross said about 60 percent of the crop had been harvested when the rains hit
recently. Early in the harvest, he said he was hearing yields of 65-85 bushels
per acre.
One producer, participating in a yield contest to raise 100 bushels per acre,
flirted with, but did not break, the 100-bushel mark. "The closest to 100
bushels was 92 by a producer in Craighead County," Ross said.
The producer would have won $50,000 if he had bested the mark in a contest
sponsored by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and the Arkansas Soybean
Association. Thirty-six producers participated in the contest to encourage
Arkansas farmers to strive for higher yields. Ross said the one-time prize money
will roll over to another contest next year.
The season started out on a promising note.
"Early on, we were looking good, with low insect pressure, cooler
temperatures and adequate rainfall," Ross said. Then August hit, and it turned
dry and hot. It didn’t drop below 94 degrees in the daytime. A lot of the crop
was in the reproductive stage and we had a lot of flower and pod shed, which
probably reduced the yields."
In September, temperatures moderated and rainfall resumed, but because of the
stress the plants were under in August, the plants put on a lot of vegetation
rather than invest resources in reproduction.
Ross said the abundant vegetation on the plants at harvest drove up the
moisture level in the pods and farmers were given a reduced price at the mills.
Asian soybean rust was another problem some farmers faced in the summer. The
extension service discovered the disease first in southwest Arkansas and then
later in eastern Arkansas and warned farmers. A number of farmers were out the
additional cost of having to spray fungicides for disease control.
The disease is still in the state and will be until the first frost. Ross
said the extension service is still evaluating the extent of losses from the
disease.
Ross said farmers are receiving exceptional prices for their soybeans.
They’re anxious to harvest that crop and plant wheat behind, since wheat prices
are also exceptional and that money comes at wheat harvest in the spring.
For more information about soybeans, contact your county extension agent or
visit www.uaex.edu and
select Agriculture, then Soybeans. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of
the U of A Division of Agriculture.
November 2, 2007
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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