Remember the wet weather and ensuing problems with the soy crop this time last year? This year’s situation for soy growers is much more promising in comparison. Back of the envelope calculations show that N.C. soy growers failed to realize at least $40,000,000 in sales last year.
The 2015 crop was adequate in terms of harvested acres and statewide yield. It’s just that damage was heavy, there was a lot of purple staining, and the beans were heavily discounted at the point of sale. It might even be considered fortunate that an opportunity emerged to rail beans to distant locations where they could be blended with big volumes of better quality material.
The recent USDA supply & demand report shows that there are a lot of beans in the U.S. this season. North Carolina’s harvested acres will actually decrease about 11% this year, although overall production is expected to be roughly in line with last year. As always, some growers have had it too wet and some have had it too dry. The September N.C. crop condition report ticked a whole bushel off the statewide yield expectation. As far as crop quality goes, we are on track to see an improvement over last year. So good luck and safe harvesting!
