Tough year for parish soybean crop

Heavy rain at the beginning of the planting season and a drought during the growing season did not do any favors for the state’s soybean farmers, including those in St. Landry Parish.
Vince Deshotel, assistant extension agent at the St. Landry Parish LSU Ag Center office, said, “It was a challenging year. In St. Landry parish, both old and young (farmers) said it was the toughest year in St. Landry Parish to make a crop. Having to replant and the drought haven’t been an issue in many years. Rain kept farmers from planting on optimum planting days and then we had a severe drought.”
Soybeans are the top crop in St. Landry Parish, and about 100,000 acres of the crop were planted in the parish this past season with about 95,000 acres harvested. Statewide, farmers harvested 1.41 million acres, with 1.5 million acres planted. This year’s harvested acres were up from last year’s 1.39 million acres.
“We have not made the final determination on bushels per acre for parish, but we are likely to learn it in the next weeks at a monthly Farm Bureau meeting,” Deshotel said. “I estimate about 30 bushels per acre, give or take a few bushels. It’s considerably lower than last year.”
Even though the state’s soybean crop is not as good as it has been in recent years, the yields were better than expected following the adverse weather conditions.
Ron Levy, LSU AgCenter soybean specialist, expected this year’s average statewide yield to be slightly more than 40 bushels an acre, less than last year’s state record crop of 57 bushels an acre. Last year’s state bushel per acre harvest was the top in the nation. The national average this year is 48.3 bushels per acre.
“Overall, the crop was not as good as we’ve had in the last three or four years, but still overall yields were good for Louisiana,” Levy said.
Levy said rains during the planting season created problems with getting a stand established, and the saturated ground also prevented deep root growth, making it hard for the soybeans to get enough moisture during the drought.
Some soybean farmers in the state also experienced insect pressure from loopers and stinkbugs, but farmers in the parish were spared from that particular plague.
“We had typical insect problems,” Deshotel said. “Soybean producers now normally treat for this. These bugs were not overly abundant, and the insect pressure was normal.”
Despite the sub-par year, Levy said soybeans remain the top money-making crop for farmers with prices above $8.50 a bushel.
AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry said the price should hold steady, and the amount of soybeans planted in the country is not likely to change next year.
“Looking ahead to the 2016 crop, prospects for prices remain mixed,” Guidry said. “Early projections for 2016 soybeans call for acres to fall only slightly from 2015 levels as a lack of attractive planting alternatives limits acreage shifts.
“With acres remaining mostly unchanged in 2016 and assuming that there are no surprises in the South American harvest in the spring of 2016, prices will likely remain in the mid $8 to low $9 level.”
The state’s better better-than-expected yields and similar soybean acreage from last year put the state’s total soybean production at 3.98 billion bushels, the largest level ever on record, Guidry said. He also said the record production estimate has depressed soybean prices.
In 2014, soybeans were selling for $2 a bushel more, and the anticipated record South American crop will increase the soybean supply. Demand for soybeans is high around the globe.
 “Demand continues to expand globally and offer additional opportunities for the U.S. to expand its exports,” Guidry said. “Currently, U.S. soybean exports for the 2015-2016 marketing year are roughly 7 percent higher than the same time last year. This strong demand base will likely limit just how far soybean prices may fall.”