October 21, 2019
Mississippi producers are tracing the mixed results they see from the 2019 Mississippi soybean harvest back to early struggles getting the crop started.
Trent Irby, Mississippi State University Extension Service soybean specialist, said there were extreme environmental challenges for all crops this year. Wet weather and flooding delayed planting in many areas, forced replanting of many soybean acres and put the crop behind schedule.
“There’s a large window in which you can successfully plant soybeans and they’ll have sufficient time to develop and mature,” Irby said. “However, it’s well documented that, as the planting date delays beyond late April, which is the prime planting time, yield potential declines.”
Mississippi soybean fields are estimated to yield 51 bushels an acre in 2019. This yield is below the record-setting pace set over the last two years. The state hit an average high of 54.5 bushels per acre in 2018.
Irby said very few soybean acres looked good early in the season.
“The earliest planted acres went through the worst conditions,” Irby said. “There was major river flooding in the south Delta, and in many other places, fields were repeatedly flooded by heavy rains and had to be replanted.”
Made up some lost ground
Even with the early-season challenges, timely rains and mostly ideal weather in July allowed the crop to make up some lost ground.