In late 2022, torrential rains hammered Louisiana’s farmers, laying waste to large swaths of cotton and soybean crops, especially in the northeast. Then, last year’s historic drought stunted growth and created a whole different set of problems.
Will Ratcliff, who farms about 3,500 acres in Tensas Parish, keenly felt both events, which came on top of historically high costs for fertilizer and fuel, driven in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Read MoreU.S. Soy complex exports (whole soybean, soybean meal and soybean oil) added $39.8 billion[1] to the U.S. economy in marketing year (MY) 22/23 on a volume of 67.6 million metric tons (MMT). The shining star: U.S. soybean meal exports broke records for both volume and value at 13.2 MMT and $6.91 billion, respectively.
“U.S. Soy exports in marketing year 22/23 were nothing short of extraordinary. A standout achievement was the record-breaking performance of soybean meal exports, reaching unprecedented volume and value levels,” said Steve Reinhard, United Soybean Board Chair and Ohio farmer.
Read MoreLast month, I advised anticipating a record (not trend line, but a record) 2024 national average corn yield in your marketing strategy. Then, in USDA’s annual production summary, the national average corn yield increased 2.4 bu. per acre from November to a record 177.3 bu. per acre. To get to that number, USDA took 583,000 of the worst-yielding acres out of the harvested acreage tally.
Read MoreWhat’s the power of one unassuming soybean? When it’s sustainably grown by U.S. Soy farmers and adopted by their growing roster of public and private partners, that single bean can simultaneously advance food security, renewable energy and environmental stewardship through an ever-expanding range of products people depend on every day.
Read MoreThis month’s 2023/24 U.S. corn outlook is for greater production, larger food, seed, and industrial use (FSI), increased feed and residual use, and higher ending stocks. Corn production is estimated at a record 15.3 billion bushels, up 108 million as an increase in yield to a record 177.3 bushels per acre is partly offset by a 0.6-million acre decline in harvested area.
Read MoreWill optimistic U.S. rice prices keep acreage up in key states like Arkansas, California, and Louisiana in 2024, or will a positive move in soybean returns encourage Delta and Midsouth growers to rotate to beans next year?
After two consecutive years of lower rice acreage, Arkansas farmers planted more than 1.4 million acres of rice in 2023.
Read MoreFeral hog management, H2A guest farm worker updates and electronic grading are among the items on the agenda for the 2024 Tri-State Soybean Forum as it rotates to Louisiana on Jan. 5.
The 68th annual event will be held at the new Black Bear Convention Center, 231 Black Bear Drive in the northeastern Louisiana town of Delhi. The event opens at 7:30 a.m. with registration and ends with lunch at 12:15 p.m. There’s no cost to attend and registration will be on-site.
Read MoreSoybean production guidelines are prepared by LSU AgCenter cooperating personnel from Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station researchers and by Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service specialists.
Read MoreTo manage johnsongrass, a noxious weed that crowds out cotton and sickens horses, farmers have tried herbicides, burning and hand-pulling. Now, researchers at University of California, Davis, have developed a more high-tech weapon against the invasive weed: artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Read MoreThis report also includes Marketing Year price projections for corn, cotton, rice and soybeans.
Read MoreLouisiana’s abrupt transition this year from one of the wettest states to one of the driest has had crippling repercussions for its farms and forests.
The state’s agricultural and timber industries have suffered nearly $1.7 billion in losses from the long-running drought and recent bouts of record high temperatures, according to a new report from Louisiana State University researchers.
Read MoreFarmer-leaders of the United Soybean Board (USB) elected Steve Reinhard from Ohio as the 2024 chair and 10 additional farmer-leaders to serve on the Executive Committee during the USB December meeting in St. Charles, Missouri.
Read MoreThe primary function of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation is to ensure farmers can continue to feed a growing world. One of the ways it does that is by helping move agricultural products through the Louisiana Farm Bureau Marketing Association. In this episode, Karl Wiggers sits down with grain marketing specialists Greg Fox and Grayson Close to talk about the company and how they help farmers across Louisiana sell their crops at the best price at the best time.
Read More“When is the best time to spray fungicides?” is a question that is central to managing many plant diseases. A good answer, however, is rarely simple and several factors, from the economics of fungicide applications to the biology of the pathogen, need to be considered.
Read MoreThe 2023 OVT Trial was planted at these LSU AgCenter research stations: Central Station, Baton Rouge; Dean Lee, Alexandria; Iberia, Jeanerette; Macon Ridge, Winnsboro; Northeast, St. Joseph; Red River, Bossier; and Rice, Crowley. The OVT at the Rice Research Station was not harvested due to adverse growing conditions.
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