Walking & Talking LA Fields--August 26, 2024
Louisiana Ag Consultants Association
Clay Brignac, Producer/Consultant
Brignac’s Crop Consulting
Bunkie, LA / St. Landry Parish
Everything is moving along pretty well. Cane planting is moving along pretty well, some guys are finished, and some guys are mid-way through, some guys just getting started. Getting really dry again in our area, and a good rain wouldn’t hurt anyone. Seems like most of the cane beans are finished up and harvested, but we have a lot of later beans that are filling pods right now and could really use a rain.
As far as rice, most of the rice is coming along really well, most of the guys got their early rice out, and the crawfish rice is getting pretty close to letting the water go. That crop looks pretty good, as well, but I think the biggest issue we’re looking at right now is getting rainfall. Things are looking better than they were at this time last year, but we missed that week or so of rain in July, and we’re almost having the same issues we did last year, especially when the heat picked up in August. The early rice that was planted in March and April is pretty much on the tail end of being finished up. We have a good bit of crawfish in our area, and that rice has a ways to go, but they’re letting the water go on it.
I haven’t really heard anything from the combines as far as the early bean yields or corn yields. It looked like a good crop with little to no damage, from what I have heard, but I haven’t nailed down any yields yet. We’re happy with the way the crops look, but could sure use a little rain. That’s where we are right now…
Richard Griffing
Griffing Consulting, LLC
Monterey, LA / Concordia Parish
Soybean harvest has progressed very rapidly. We’ve desiccated probably 90% of the soybeans, and I’m going to say 80% have been harvested. Yields are about average, cutting anywhere from 50 to 95 bu/A, irrigated, obviously, are the ones that are yielding higher. Things are just about over with in regard to soybeans.
We’re going to start defoliating cotton today…it looks pretty good. Basically through spraying insects in the later cotton, just looking out for stink bugs, brown and greens, in the cotton, but cotton is pretty much shutting down in this dry weather we’re having, this heat is finishing it up quick. I think we’ll be wide open defoliating next week, but we’re starting some today.
We really don’t want or need any rain right now, other than maybe on some late beans, which there’s not many of them, some replants in bottoms of fields where they drowned out, but that’s about all we could use a rain for, but I think everybody would just as soon not get any rain and get the field work done, and get their crop out.
Corn harvest is wrapped up. Yields were phenomenal. We had an excellent corn crop. Some dry land, probably 185 bu/A to irrigated corn with yields up to 230 bu/A averages, even some yields like that on dry land as well. Corn crop turned out pretty well for us. Certain varieties stood out over others.
As far as rice goes, hopefully we’ll finish rice harvest today. All the rice I scout is hybrid, and it went down pretty bad, but the yields are still really good. So far, dry is a little over 200 bu/A, 205-210, somewhere in there. So, we’re pretty pleased with the rice also, but it did go down bad, and we’re having to pick it up.
Harvest season has been great this year…everything is going well except the commodity prices. That’s got everybody in a doldrum with expenses. Even though they’re making good yields, it’s going to be tough to pay out.