Timely rainfall, new production techniques and the deployment of
Roundup Ready varieties have made 1996 one of the best years ever
for Arkansas soybean growers.
Yields topped 30 bushels an acre and farmers planted 3.65 million acres--the largest acreage in a decade. The usual acreage runs between 3.2 million and 3.4 million.
"Our farmers are some of the most efficient producers in the South," said Dr. Lanny Ashlock, Cooperative Extension Service soybean specialis. "When they do get a good year, they are able to capitalize on it."
"They are adopting new technology as it becomes available and applying it in a practical way to their farming operations. We see yields increasing and production costs stabilizing, and in some cases decreasing."
After several hard years, rainfall, prices and good marketing have come together for Arkansas producers.
"A pretty good crop and good prices--that doesn't come along very often. Usually when we have a good crop, the prices are dirt cheap," said Ashlock.
"Some of the technology that farmers are trying is on the production side. Many growers are looking at deep tillage for some soils and at moisture-holding capacities. Extension and research have been working hard on irrigating soybeans on the flat clay soils."
The challenges on flat clay soil is poor internal drainage.
"If it's really flat, fields stay wet. If you get rain behind that..you've got a sloppy, wet field," Ashlock said. Extension agriculture engineer Phil Tacker has urged farmers to use border irrigation."
Farmers using border irrigation will flush a section of field with a little water. If there's rainfall a day or two later, producers don't wind up with a sticky mess.
Meanwhile, Ashlock, Tacker and UA agricultural engineer Earl Vories at the Northeast Research and Extension Center at Keiser are wrapping up a three-year study on the irrigation scheduling program.
So far, the study has produced no surprises. "It's not looking for new recommendations as much as it's validating the old recommendations," Vories said.
Roundup Ready soybeans, released last year by Monsanto, looked good where there were serious weed problems. Still, the seed's potential won't be known this year because of the limited number of varieties carrying the magic gene and the limited amount of seed available to farmers.
"The question," said Ashlock, "is how do these varieties compare with our conventional varieties that have been on the market for some time? I'm hearing both good and bad."
The soybean agronomist noted that many of the university research and Extension projects are funded by grower checkoff funds granted by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.
"We've had a strong soybean market recently," said Ashlock. "Producers are very comfortable marketing their crop. All that translates into an industry that's very sound. That's good news for the producers and processors and the state's economy."
Another plus for Arkansas soybean growers is the Farm Bill, according to Trent Roberts, executive director of the Southwest Soybean Council.
The bill will allow farmers in the Midwest to move out of soybeans.
"They want to grow corn. This will allow them to do that and it should be positive for us in the Mid-South," he said.
Roberts also said the expanding global market for soybean products won't hurt either.
