Mississippi State, Mississippi
February 28, 2008
With soybean seed in short supply
in 2008, Mississippi soybean growers are facing increased
production risks including unproven varieties and poor quality
seed.
Mississippi State University
Extension Service specialists recommend producers research
available varieties to minimize these risks.
“We’re not going to have replant options this year because of
the seed shortage,” said Trey Koger, MSU Extension soybean
specialist. “Most likely we are going to have one shot at
getting a stand, and we don’t need to plant too early when
conditions are cool and wet. Be aware of our optimal planting
window from April 5 to April 20.”
Soybean seed demand is outpacing supply all over the state, with
the most popular varieties proving to be the most difficult, if
not impossible, to obtain.
Koger said for information about unfamiliar varieties, producers
should refer to Extension personnel, seed distributors, seed
companies, the Internet, other states’ variety trials and the
Mississippi Soybean Variety Trials.
“Over the past three years, we’ve tested 830 different varieties
in the Mississippi variety trials,” Koger said. “That’s going to
be an excellent resource to fall back on to provide information
on some varieties that we just don’t know a lot about.”
Results of the Mississippi Soybean Variety Trials are published
annually and are available at county Extension offices and
online at http://msucares.com.
Koger said a critical aspect to consider before buying soybean
seed is its germination rating, which describes the seed’s
chances of development.
“About 40 percent of the seed samples being tested for
germination in the state seed testing lab are running low
germination, with most of it due to mechanical damage that
occurred during harvest or post-harvest cleaning,” Koger said.
“That is a big concern. When seed has low germination due to
mechanical damage, we can’t do anything about it but plant more
seed to account for the low germination.”
The soybean specialist said other key traits to research include
a variety’s resistance to disease, ability to withstand
waterlogged conditions, performance on different soil types like
heavy clay, ability to grow on narrow or wide row spacings and
accelerated aging test score, which is a good measure of overall
seed quality.
Mississippi soybean acreage could approach 2 million in 2008 if
weather permits and seed is available for planting, Koger said.
This would be a 25 percent increase over 2007 and the state’s
highest acreage in a decade.
Demand is high for soybeans in 2008 due to their record price
levels and their comparatively low requirement for fertilizer --
a production input that has risen in cost by 25 percent to 40
percent since 2007.
Soybean seed supplies are limited because of adverse weather
conditions last year in seed-growing regions of the country,
said Dan Poston, MSU northwest district Extension soybean
specialist based in Stoneville.
“In southern Illinois, for example, extreme heat during pod fill
decreased seed viability, and the hot, dry conditions throughout
the year reduced production volume,” Poston said. “Rain delayed
harvest in several seed-growing regions, resulting in seed
deterioration and overall reductions in seed quality.
Consequently, seed companies have had to make major cuts in
their supplies for 2008 to remove poor-quality seed.”
Floyd Trammel, general manager of Farmer’s Inc., a seed
distributor in Greenville, said he normally orders enough
soybean seed to cover typical customer needs, plus a little
extra.
“When we did that this year, the seed companies came back and
cut those allocations considerably, some more than 50 percent,”
Trammel said.
He said the main varieties producers want are in the biggest
demand and shortest supply.
“Asgrow 4703, DeKalb 46-51 and Pioneer 94B73 are three of the
hottest ones that are being requested right now,” Trammel said.
Trammel said he bought varieties he usually does not buy in
order to offset the cutbacks this year.
“We’re going to have soybeans for our producers,” Trammel said.
“It just might not be the variety they asked for.” |
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