U.S. soybean planting begins: 2020

Apr 22, 2020

American farmers have seeded 2 per cent of the national crop, the USDA reported

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Soybean planting is in its early stages across the United States.

American producers have seeded 2 per cent of the national soybean crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin said on April 21. That figure is up by one percentage point from this time last year.

In total, the USDA is projecting U.S. farmers will plant around 85 million soybean acres.

Growers in Louisiana and Mississippi lead the country with 24 and 21 per cent of soybeans planted respectively.

Farmers in Kentucky have planted 9 per cent of their soybean crop and are happy with how things have gone so far.

“We planted about 120 (out of 1,200) acres of soybeans yesterday,” Richard Preston, a producer from Hardin County, Ky., told Farms.com. “The conditions were pretty much perfect.”

Mother Nature, however, has other plans.

The weather forecast in Preston’s community is calling for cold and wet conditions, putting further planting dates on hold.

“We’re not going full speed because of the weather that’s coming,” he said. “It looks like we’re going to be slowed down for the next eight days.”

Corn planting continues across the country as well.

American farmers have seeded about 7 per cent of the U.S. corn crop, the USDA reported. That figure is up from 3 per cent last week.

The USDA expects growers to plant around 94 million corn acres in 2020.

Farmers in Texas have seeded 64 per cent of the state’s corn crop, followed by North Carolina at 49 per cent.

Some growers in the Lone Star State are finished planting and have crops in the vegetative stages.

“We typically start planting around the middle of February, so we’re actually done” Aaron Martinka, a grower from Milam County, told Farms.com. “Corn in this area is anywhere from V5 to about V8.”

Martinka’s 3,000 acres of corn sit in what he describes as a “honey hole.”

Producers to the south of him are dry and growers to the north of him are wet and may have to file prevent plant acres, he said.

“I’m wondering how my conditions are going to be for the rest of the season,” he said. “We’re just right and we haven’t had any disease pressure yet.”

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.