U.S. soybeans dropping leaves

Sep 18, 2019

Soybean progress is down 35 percent from last year, the USDA says

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The American soybean crop is inching closer to being ready for harvest.

About 15 percent of national soybean acres have dropped their leaves, the USDA’s Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin said on Sept. 17. That number is down from 50 percent last year.

On a state level, 71 percent of soybeans in Louisiana have dropped leaves. That figure is the highest of the 18 recorded states.

In some Louisiana fields, soybeans are ready for harvest, said Raymond Schnexnayder, a grower from Ventress, La.

“We’re about one-third of the way through our harvest and some (producers) are even further along. The USDA is usually a little behind on the numbers it puts out,” he told Farms.com. “We’ve had some nice dry weather and things have been going smoothly so far.”

Schnexnayder is pleased with the numbers he sees on his yield monitor.

The USDA pegged the average national soybean yield at 47.9 bushels per acre but the Louisiana farmer’s monitor is reading higher than that.

“We’re averaging about 70 bushels per acre,” he said. “We’re really happy with that, so let’s hope we can keep that going.”

U.S. farmers are also starting to plant winter wheat.

About 8 percent of the 2019 winter wheat crop is in the ground, the USDA said. That number is down from 12 percent last year.

Growers in Washington have planted 30 percent of the state’s winter wheat. That figure is the highest of the 18 documented states.

Farmers in five states (California, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina) haven’t planted any wheat yet, the USDA said.

Farms.com has reached out to farmers in Washington for a planting update.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.