Soybean harvest on again
Nov 10, 2009 10:47 AM, By David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff
It isn’t a “straight-forward, black-and-white decision” on whether to harvest soybeans. Insurance often comes into play. Poor soybeans on heavy clay “will be difficult to cut. It’ll rut the fields up and you can hardly sell them. If you do sell them, you may get $2.50 to $3 from a salvage buyer. Given that kind of price versus the cost to harvest and deliver, it’s a lot to consider.”
Koger agrees. “You’ll have to get the fields back into shape and are unlikely to get that done this fall. That means growers will be working fields in the spring and could mean a later planted crop for some. All of that added together isn’t very attractive in fields where the beans might be abandoned.”
Asked about what winter meeting topics might be hot, Koger says, “Take out the disaster assistance, farm sales and folks going broke and the biggest thing will probably be how to make a good crop while pinching pennies. There’s not a lot of money going around, right now, and everyone will be looking for opportunities to save money. We need to have the right balance — not to cut back so much that you cut out needed profits.”
Lanclos admits “it’s very difficult for Syngenta to promote what we normally do with things like herbicide resistance management. People want to go with the cheapest programs possible and they can’t be faulted for that. They’re financially strapped and being forced.”
Even so, “for those farming long-term, it’s important to consider mode of action/rotation. Those are effective tools for managing not only next year’s pests but those further into the future.”
Koger says Mid-South growers should know “we’re pursuing every disaster payment assistance avenue in D.C. We don’t know what we’ll get at this point. But everyone in the tri-state region (Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi) has done well from a policy standpoint to make D.C. aware that this is a devastating situation. We need some help, quickly.”
e-mail: dbennett@farmpress.com
