Mississippi State, Mississippi
September 28, 2007
Drought, Asian soybean rust, then
rain at harvest combined to make Mississippi soybean production
a struggle this year, but high prices are making producers happy
with their harvest.
Dan Poston, soybean agronomist with the Mississippi Agricultural
and Forestry Experiment Station in Stoneville, predicts a
“decent crop” for most producers.
“I think we may have a state yield average in the
mid-30-bushels-an-acre range,” Poston said. “That’s a large
improvement over the 26 bushels an acre we had last year, and
close to our state five-year average of 34.2 bushels per acre.”
Soybeans got a later-than-usual start in Mississippi this year.
Corn planting and harvest schedules were a priority for many
producers who delayed planting soybeans to avoid overlapping
harvest times with corn.
Dry weather in April postponed some planting until rains
softened soils enough for planting to resume.
About 65 percent of the state’s soybeans are grown without
irrigation. The summer was very dry until rains fell heavily in
July.
“These rains were a kind of catch-22,” Poston said. “They were
really good for a lot of the dryland acres. Those with good
drainage made some respectable yields because of this rain. But
many irrigated fields are flat with poor drainage, and the rains
brought too much moisture to some of these fields.”
Most soybeans in northeast Mississippi are nonirrigated and
received very little rain at any point in the growing season.
Yields in some fields are so low that they may not be harvested.
Soybean harvest was almost 70 percent complete by the last week
of September. This is behind schedule because of the late
planting dates and rains that fell throughout the month.
“Rain came during harvest when we didn’t need it. Now we’re
concerned about pod quality and seed rot,” Poston said. “Our
test weights are low compared to what they should be. This
results in a price deduction at the grain elevator.”
Producers are getting $10 a bushel for soybeans delivered now,
and January contracts are more than $10.50 a bushel. Last year,
soybean producers got between $5 and $6 a bushel.
Growers had few problems other than drought this summer, even
though Asian soybean rust is present in the state.
MSU plant pathologist emeritus Billy Moore said Texas,
Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas had historically high
rainfall amounts that caused soybean rust to develop much faster
than in Mississippi.
Kentucky and South Carolina also had a few areas with rust.
“Rust apparently followed the weather patterns this year,” Moore
said. “I don’t think commercial fields in Mississippi will have
any measurable losses to soybean rust.”
Soybean rust is no longer a threat to most of the state’s
soybeans.
Some beans were double-cropped with wheat and were planted quite
late.
These fields are still in production and are being closely
monitored for soybean rust. Moore said that even if rust infects
these acres, it probably will not have time to become a problem.
Rust was found in commercial soybean fields in Washington,
Sunflower, Bolivar, Coahoma, Quitman, Tallahatchie and Leflore
counties in the Delta, and Adams, Hancock, Pearl River and
Wilkinson counties in southwest Mississippi.
“I suspect a lot more fields have rust in them, but conditions
were not favorable for the disease to develop,” Moore said.
Those wanting regular updates on Asian soybean rust in the state
can call the soybean rust hotline at (866) 641-1847, and then
press 3 for Mississippi information. |
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