The weather in the past months has really taken a toll on the crops at some Louisiana farms. Frogmore Farms is one of many that has lost harvest due to weather conditions.
John Branton, the managing partner and operator for Frogmore Farms, said, “As soon as the heat broke, we ended up getting a rain, which we thought was a blessing, but turned out to be 22 days of rain in August, and we got 12 inches at the end of the crop cycle. So what happened was that the crops simply rotted.”
Read MoreLast winter, Tensas Parish farmer Will Ratliffe was optimistic about this year's harvest. Commodity prices were up, and his 3,500 acres of soybeans, cotton and corn appeared set for a banner year.
But soon after, prices for fertilizer, fuel and other supplies climbed to unprecedented levels.
Read MoreDewey Donnell has spent a lifetime farming in northeastern Louisiana. Like most farmers in the region, he’s navigated his fair share of hurricanes, floods and other weather extremes. But he’s never seen an August like 2022.
“We had at least 10 days of straight rain beginning that third week of August,” Donnell recalled. “I’ve seen it come a lot of rain, but outside of a hurricane, I’ve never seen it rain like this at this time of year.”
Read MoreThe monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, released Monday by USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist, decreased corn supply for the start of the new marketing year, largely driven by a drop in production from a reduction in national average yield and area harvested.
Read MoreLouisiana corn for grain production is forecast at 71.8 million bushels, down 15 percent from the August 1 forecast and down 31 percent from 2021. Based on conditions as of September 1, yield is expected to average 165 bushels per acre, down 10 bushels from last month and down 18 bushels from last year.
Read MoreHit by inflation, farmers around the country have dealt with unprecedented input prices this year, and inclement weather has taken a toll on their yields.
Farmers in Louisiana have also dealt with inflated prices of everything from fuel to fertilizer, and unfavorable weather conditions mean smaller yields, shrinking their margins even smaller.
Read MoreFor the first time in 46 years, the Old River locks are being drained so they can be repaired.
“The only way for us to get our crops on the market is through the river,” Curt Engemann said.
Read MoreNortheast Louisiana farmers are concerned about having food to harvest after rainfall swept through the region, specifically soybeans.
Concordia Parish plants more acres of soybeans than anywhere in the state of Louisiana, according to ANR Agent Kylie Miller of the LSU Ag Center. The damage to soybeans will significantly affect the parish and state economies.
Read MoreThere’s been lots of rain in the forecast across the state and even here in Southwest Louisiana, and while the rain is great for crops, too much rain can be a different story.
“If it keeps doing this, we have some beans that are almost ready to harvest, if rain keeps setting in like it has been, they are just going to deteriorate,” said local farmer David Smith.
Read MoreParts of the Louisiana Delta region are waterlogged just as several soybean farmers were close to harvest.
RFD-TV's Tammi Arender caught up with Chris Johnson, who farms soybeans, corn, and wheat.
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Read MoreLouisiana soybean farmers are facing disaster as torrential rains continue to pound the crop at its most vulnerable point on the cusp of what had promised to be a bumper harvest just 10 days ago.
"It's bad; really bad," said Tensas Parish producer Ben Guthrie, who family planted about 4,000 acres of soybeans this year. "It's already pretty clear that there is a good bit of sprouting and rot and pod degradation, and it's still raining."
Read MoreAs we approach late into the summer, we should be on the lookout for late-season lepidopteran pests of soybean. Soybean loopers can build large populations in a short amount of time and can be exaggerated by the use of broad-spectrum insecticides for stink bugs and three-cornered alfalfa hoppers.
Read MoreThe 2022/23 U.S. corn outlook for this month calls for lower supplies, reduced feed and residual use, slightly higher food, seed, and industrial use, smaller exports, and lower ending stocks. Projected beginning stocks for 2022/23 are 20 million bushels higher based on a lower use forecast for 2021/22, where a reduction in corn used for ethanol is partially offset by greater use for glucose and dextrose.
Read MoreThe Crop Production report issued Friday by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) forecasted corn production down from 2021 and soybean production up from last year. Corn production is down 5% from last year, forecast at 14.4 billion bushels; soybean growers are expected to increase their production 2% from 2021, forecast at 4.53 billion bushels.
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