Louisiana Soybean Crop Looks Good But Could Use Some Rain

by Don Molino
for the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board

According to LSU AgCenter Soybean Specialist Dr. Ronnie Levy at the Dean Lee Research Station just south of Alexandria this year's soybean crop is really coming around right now.

"It looks a lot better than I thought," Levy says. "I know we had some early problems with too much rain and getting the crop planted late, but all in all, we've had some pretty good weather. However, we are starting to get dry in some areas of Louisiana."

Producers have reported very little disease, very few insects. Levy calls that "an almost scary year as far as no problems in soybeans."

But the weather is still key to the crop, as it usually is this time of year.

"If we could catch a little bit of rain in some areas of north Louisiana it would help," says Levy. "The dry land beans are feeling the pain of not having even a little bit of rain on occasion."

However, there is good news.

"The pods are full, the plants have adequate height and node count," reports Levy, "so we feel like we have a really good crop, probably one of the best we've had in Louisiana, excluding the record yields. If we can just get some rain and a little bit of sunshine we should have a bumper crop of soybeans in 2016."

(This report a service of the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board)