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| Kentucky’s soybean crop suffering drought effects |
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| By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent
LEXINGTON, Ky. — As the drought continues across the state and much of the southeast, the agriculture news just seems to get worse with the latest casualty coming at the hands of soybean producers.
Last week’s report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service stated the “quality of the soybean crop declined further this week. Some fields may be cut for hay instead. Soybean condition was rated 28 percent very poor, 21 percent poor, 35 percent fair, 15 percent good and 1 percent excellent.”
University of Kentucky College of Agriculture specialists have been answering questions from producers concerning the soybean harvest including harvesting their crop for forage if the dry conditions continue.
Unless tropical rains make their way this far north, long range forecasts predict the third driest summer on record will continue into what is normally the driest part of the year despite an expected return to near normal temperatures and precipitation.
“The long range outlooks for Kentucky continue the above normal temperatures all the way through October,” said Tom Priddy, University of Kentucky agricultural meteorologist.
“The below normal rainfall is in the outlook through the end of August and then the September, October timeframe is calling for near normal precipitation. However, that said, as we move into October, we’re moving into our climatologically driest part of the year.”
Priddy’s remarks came just a few weeks ago, but not much has changed weather-wise as the state moved through record high temperatures for most of the period.
UK specialists said crop conditions vary across the state, even within counties, and farmers should determine what is best for their particular operation based on their needs, crop insurance coverage and other factors. They also recommend a few steps for soybean producers to take as they move closer to the harvest season before determining if there is enough growth to provide adequate yield for forage.
First, farmers should discuss the option with their crop insurance company to make sure they take the proper steps to meet their coverage requirements.
In Kentucky, many double-cropped soybean acres are not covered by crop insurance, because they are planted after insurable planting dates established by the U.S. Risk Management Agency.
These dates vary by county.
Second, producers should document their activities with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in case federal disaster programs are expanded to include soybeans, according to Bob Finch, chief of farm programs for the Kentucky State FSA office.
Without this documentation, farmers would not be eligible for disaster relief if it becomes available.
Many farmers have already been made eligible, depending on their location, for heat related disaster assistance in the southern portions of the state. Last week Gov. Ernie Fletcher sent a letter to the state’s congressional delegation encouraging swift legislative action to include direct disaster assistance to state farmers.
“This year’s weather has dealt our state’s farmers numerous challenges,” wrote Fletcher. “Financial losses have already exceeded several hundred million dollars for our farmers and quick aid is needed to alleviate further hardships.”
Producers should also review labels for all chemicals used on the soybean crop for any restrictions for grazing or harvesting soybeans as a forage and follow these label requirements. Finally, farmers should determine if the beans are worth harvesting as grain, forage or neither, said Garry Lacefield, UK forage specialist. In some cases, yields may be so low that the soybeans are not worth harvesting.
The decision whether to harvest soybeans as forage is an individual one. If yields appear to be adequate and a farmer can properly ensile the soybeans, then harvesting them for forage could be the last, best option to capture some value from the crop and help feed livestock this winter. But, farmers need to take the proper steps to ensure they don’t lose out on crop insurance or possible disaster relief as they look to salvage something from the crop, Lacefield said.
For those producers still looking for a satisfactory harvest, Don Hershman, UK plant pathologist said there are other concerns to go along with the dry conditions.
According to Hershman in most areas of the state that are still very hot and dry, drought and or charcoal rot are the greatest production risks to soybeans.
“Charcoal rot and drought will be the biggest yield limiting factors in this year’s soybean crop,” he said.
Hershman pointed out that yields can be severely compromised by charcoal rot. However, because the disease is most common during drought conditions, most producers attribute low yields in dry years to lack of sufficient soil moisture and do not usually realize that charcoal rot has also taken a toll.
He also said that soybean rust was likely to make its way into the state sometime in September, a month earlier than last year but too late for any damage to occur to full season beans.
Only double-cropped plantings could be at risk.
“People are hearing a lot about it because of the finds in other states, but the main thing is for Kentucky farmers not to get too concerned,” he said. “If it did drop spores in Kentucky, and I believe it did, we are still several weeks away from it developing enough for us to even find it, much less needing to spray for it. In my opinion, the absolute earliest we may need to treat soybeans in potentially impacted parts of the state would be late September. By that time, most full-season crops will be far enough along that spraying will not be necessary. Double crop beans continue to be at greatest risk for possible damage by SBR where rains have occurred.”
This farm news was published in the Sept. 12, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
| 9/12/2007 |
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