By Mary Hightower
Soybean harvest made its debut in this week’s Crop Progress report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and Extension Soybean Agronomist Jeremy Ross expects it to move at a brisk pace.
Soybeans were reported at 4 percent harvested, which equaled last year’s rate and doubled the 2 percent five-year average.
Corn was 42 percent harvested, well ahead of last year’s 31 percent and the 19 percent five-year average. Rice was 16 percent harvested. It too, was ahead of the 2025 pace of 13 percent and the five-year average of 9 percent.
“Soybean harvest will probably be quick this fall,” said Ross, who works for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. “It’s mainly because of the heat, but the lack of moisture and the early planting date for a majority of the soybean acres will contribute to an early and fast harvest.
In the August Crop Production report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Arkansas' soybean yield was projected to be a record 57 bushels per acre, said Scott Stiles, extension economics program associate. Soybean acres in 2026 increased 33 percent over last year to 3.45 million — the highest since 2017.
Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist with the Division of Agriculture, said that rice harvest pace is line with expectations.
Source : uada.edu