Nearly Half of Louisiana Soybean Crop Lost to Flood Waters

by Don Molino

Louisiana soybean farmers planted just over 1.1 million acres of beans this season. LSU AgCenter soybean specialist Dr. Ronnie Levy reports the severe flooding in south Louisiana and heavy rainfall in north Louisiana earlier this summer apparently will cause roughly 420,000 acres-or roughly half-to be lost to the weather.

"It appears most of them stayed under water for too long, so those are going to be a total loss," reports Levy.

"Right now here are a lot of fields that had some water damage and we're seeing quality losses," says Levy, "and it all boils down to how soon produces can get back in those flooded fields and harvest the bean crop."

Some big thunderstorms rolled over the areas of the state already saturated by rain water last week which has further delayed getting the damaged beans out of the field.

"The longer they stay in the field the more damage they're going to have," points out Levy.

"So it's one of those things that we just hope we can get a few days of dry weather to where we can get in and harvest some of those beans that were affected," Levy concluded.

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