Could Arkansas have a record soybean yield?
Nov 20, 2008 10:26 AM,
By David Bennett
Farm Press Editorial Staff
On Nov. 18, Delta Farm Press spoke with Jeremy Ross, Arkansas Extension soybean specialist. Among his comments:
Are all the soybeans harvested?
Yes, the season is just about wrapped up. The yield and quality look good statewide, with only a couple of exceptions. We’re investigating but are still not sure why those exceptions occurred. It could have been untimely rainfall or fertility issues.
There is already a lot of interest in soybeans for 2009. I recently spoke with a group of Mississippi County cotton farmers about soybeans. From what everyone is saying, it appears soybean acres will be on the rise next year.
Yields?
USDA has (Arkansas) yield estimate at 40 bushels (per acre). That would be a new state record. Early in the season, their estimate was 36 bushels. Every report they put out seemed to bump it up one bushel.
There’s a good chance we’ll hit that 40-bushel mark. I’ve talked to plenty of growers who say they did quite a bit better than they have in the past. So I think a 39- or 40-bushel average is in reach.
No one broke the 100-bushel mark this year. It’ll happen, though. If the crop had been planted bit earlier — we were two or three weeks behind the norm — that would have put some growers in a better position.
I think when one farmer hits 100 bushels, there may be a handful of others there with him. Conditions will have to be just right, though.
Any cause found for the odd malady that’s keeping some of the fields green (see http://deltafarmpress.com/soybeans/soybean-update-1110/index.html)?
Researchers are still working on that. Tests were run for the bud and stem blight pathogen. The first test came back positive but when it was run again, it came back negative. So the mystery continues.
On the Arkansas Soybean Research Conference…
We missed a couple of years with this meeting, but we’re reviving it. There will be a little more in-depth, up-to-date research information than at a typical production meeting. I think farmers will really benefit.
It’ll be at the Brinkley Convention Center on Dec. 9. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and will run through lunch. There will be presentations on soybean diseases, nematodes, soybean seed quality, and herbicide resistant weeds from Terry Kirkpatrick, Scott Monfort, Jason Norsworthy, and Rick Cartwright. Three graduate students will also speak on fertility, Liberty Link research and plant pathology.
email: dbennett@farmpress.com
