USDA Forecasts US Corn Production Down and Soybean Production Up From 2023
The Crop Production report issued by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) forecasted corn production down from 2023 and soybean production up from last year. Corn production is down 1% from last year, forecast at 15.1 billion bushels; soybean growers are expected to increase their production 10% from 2023, forecast at a record high 4.59 billion bushels.
Average corn yield is forecast at record high 183.1 bushels per acre, up 5.8 bushels from last year. NASS also forecasts record high yields in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin. As of Aug. 4, 67% of this year’s corn crop was reported in good or excellent condition, 10 percentage points above the same time last year.
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Louisiana Crops Newsletter: August, 2024
As the cotton season progresses in Louisiana, there have been several reports of potassium deficiency. Potassium deficiency can weaken the plant, making it easier for plant pathogens to attack. It is very common to see fungal leaf spots on potassium stressed plants. Although pre-mature defoliation due to disease is possible, it is most likely the nutrient deficiency that is the leaf-dropping culprit.
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Applying Harvest Aids In Louisiana Soybeans
Use of a herbicide as a desiccant in soybean has become popular to potentially improve harvest efficiency in Louisiana. Herbicides such as paraquat, Aim, Sharpen, and sodium chlorate are labeled for use in soybean as a desiccant, but paraquat is the most widely used. The paraquat label states at least 65% of pods should be mature (Figure 1) or moisture content should be 30% or less for indeterminate soybean varieties; and at least 50% of the leaves should have dropped and remaining leaves should be yellow for determinate varieties. Table 1 gives the harvest aid application timing label requirements for the labeled products in soybean.
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Dicamba Update from LSU AgCenter Weed Scientists
As you are aware, the EPA existing stocks order resulting from the vacated labels of Xtendimax, Engenia, and Tavium herbicides in February of this year ended for soybean on June 30 and July 30 for cotton in Louisiana. Bayer (Xtendimax), BASF (Engenia), and Syngenta (Tavium) have each submitted proposed labels for EPA review and approval this summer 2024.
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Hurricane Preparation and Recovery Guides for Louisiana Producers
Louisiana agriculture generates approximately $3 billion in sales each year, but in most years agricultural productivity is negatively affected by hurricane damage. Louisianans are familiar with the devastation and loss of life and property that can accompany a hurricane event as the state experiences, on average, one hurricane every three years. The total economic losses from a single hurricane can reach tens of billions of dollars, while agricultural losses can exceed one billion dollars. Louisiana is a major agricultural producer for the United States, but the structures, livestock, and crops are highly exposed to extreme wind and flooding during hurricane events.
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LACA Walking And Talking Fields: July 2024
In the 11 coastal parishes we consult in, lack of rainfall has not been a problem. Many areas have already exceeded the mean annual rainfall accumulation, and it’s not even August. We have already in some areas received in excess of 65 inches, so we are certainly experiencing the opposite of what we dealt with last year.
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Pinnacle-Backed Viserion Grain Company Acquires Four Grain Elevator Assets from Greenfield Grain
Pinnacle Asset Management, L.P., a New York-based alternative asset management firm focused on global commodities markets, today announced that its portfolio company Viserion Grain, LLC, a subsidiary of global agricultural merchant Viserion International Holdco, LLC, has acquired four grain elevator assets from Greenfield Grain, LLC. The assets are located in Parkdale, Arkansas, and Dunn, Crowville, and Lake Providence, Louisiana. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Clemson Professor Leads $6 Million Study That Aims To Develop Sustainable Ways To Increase Soybean Yields in Heat and Drought
Mukhtar will lead a team of researchers in the Southeast — a region already disproportionately affected by the changing climate — studying how heat and drought affect soybeans, from the cellular level to the entire plant (known as single cell to field-based phenomics), and the associated microbial communities and soil. He and scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Mississippi State University and the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center aim to identify natural biological solutions through the microbiome that allow soybeans to survive and thrive despite extreme heat and drought.
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LSU AgCenter Researchers Are Part of $6 Million NSF Study on Developing Climate Resilient Soybeans
An extreme drought across Louisiana last year showed how vulnerable soybeans are to stressful climate conditions. LSU AgCenter plant pathologist Jong Ham has been investigating how soybean seeds treated with bacterial agents can help soybean plants fight stress. His research is part of a larger study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to determine how heat and drought affect soybeans.
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China Faces Soybean Glut as Peak U.S. Export Season Nears
China is facing an oversupply of soybeans as record high purchases boost stockpiles at a time when animal feed demand remains subdued, with prices of products such as soyoil and soymeal set to sink even lower.
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Bear Crop Damage Locally Minimal
Crop damage caused from bears in Franklin Parish was minimal.
This was the assessment given by Johnny Berry, large carnivore biologist for Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) to Police Jury members at their regular monthly meeting held on Thursday, July 11.
The number one crop, according to Berry, that suffers bear damage is corn with wheat being second most damaged crop in Louisiana.
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Market Update for Corn, Soybeans, Rice and Cotton: July 2024
The 2024/25 U.S. corn outlook indicates larger supplies, greater domestic use and exports, and slightly lower ending stocks. Beginning stocks for corn were lowered 145 million bushels largely upon greater use forecasted for 2023/24. Exports were raised by 75 million bushels based on current outstanding sales and shipments to date. Feed and residual use is up 75 million bushels based on indicated disappearance in the Grain Stocks report for June.
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NCGA, Joined by Other Ag Groups, Warns Commerce on Herbicide Tariffs
The National Corn Growers Association, joined by five other commodity groups, sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo asking her to consider the impacts on farmers as she reviews a petition by the agricultural chemical company Corteva that would place duties on imports of the herbicide 2,4-D.
“Restricting imports of 2,4-D will have wide-ranging consequences for farmers,” the letter said. “American farmers cannot solely rely on Corteva, which is the only domestic supplier of 2,4-D, because there is not enough supply to meet demand.”
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June 2024 Acreage Report and Grain Stocks Summary
The USDA recently released its annual Acreage Report which provides markets a more accurate idea of spring planting progress and what potential supply implications may be in store for the 2024 crop year. On the demand side, USDA also released its Quarterly Grain Stocks report which shows usage rates between March 1, 2024 and June 1, 2024. These changes in supply levels will impact 2023/24 ending stocks and 2024/25 beginning stock levels which will subsequently be reflected in the July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.
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Changes to Planted Acreage for Southern Crops in the June Acreage Report
On Friday June 28th the USDA released its annual Acreage report. The report estimates planted acreage of principal crops based on producer surveys conducted in the first two weeks of June. Nationally, principal acres planted were estimated at 315.177 million acres, up 1.866 million acres compared to the March Prospective Plantings report and 4.424 million acres lower than last year (Table 1). Southern states accounted for 22.8% of principal crop acreage.
Southern states account for 75% of rice production nationally, with Arkansas the largest producer. Rice acres planted were unchanged in Texas and Mississippi, declined 30,000 acres in Arkansas and increased 30,000 acres in Louisiana.
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