Farm Progress

Louisiana soybeans off to slow start, needing rain

Rain, then drought hamper Louisiana soybean progress.

Ron Smith, Contributing Writer

June 26, 2018

Louisiana’s soybean crop got a slow start, caught up some with warm April and May temperatures and by late June needed rain.

Louisiana Extension soybean specialist Todd Spivey, at the recent LSU AgCenter Expo, held at the Scott Research, Extension and Education Center in Winnsboro, said March-planting was sluggish. “March was cold and wet and a lot of beans that would have gone in in March were slow.”

He said even into April, conditions remained wet and cold. “A lot of our beans weren’t planted until the first or second weeks of May. We’ve come along since then, but when the wet weather turned off, it turned really dry, really fast.

“Now, were beginning to catch a little rain and the beans are looking pretty good, considering. It’s one of those things, if we’re going to have a drought, we’d rather have it early in the year.”

He says pest pressure has also been slow to develop. “About 60 to 75 percent of our beans are beginning to bloom across the state, so we are getting into the meat of the season. The goal going forward is to keep the beans stress-free.”

That may be difficult unless the hot, dry conditions that have persisted across the state for the last two months change..

Spivey says only 15 percent to 20 percent of the state’s soybean acreage is irrigated.

About the Author

Ron Smith

Ron Smith

Contributing Writer, Farm Progress

Ron Smith has spent more than 30 years covering Sunbelt agriculture. Ron began his career in agricultural journalism as an Experiment Station and Extension editor at Clemson University, where he earned a Masters Degree in English in 1975. He served as associate editor for Southeast Farm Press from 1978 through 1989. In 1990, Smith helped launch Southern Turf Management Magazine and served as editor. He also helped launch two other regional Turf and Landscape publications and launched and edited Florida Grove and Vegetable Management for the Farm Press Group. Within two years of launch, the turf magazines were well-respected, award-winning publications. Ron has received numerous awards for writing and photography in both agriculture and landscape journalism. He is past president of The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association and was chosen as the first media representative to the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Advisory Board. He was named Communicator of the Year for the Metropolitan Atlanta Agricultural Communicators Association. Smith also worked in public relations, specializing in media relations for agricultural companies. Ron lives with his wife Pat in Denton, Texas. They have two grown children, Stacey and Nick, and two grandsons, Aaron and Hunter.

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