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Serving Princeton, Rosewood, Brogden, E. Johnston Co., W. Wayne Co., North Carolina |
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HeadlinesThis week's Pigskin Pickin' results Ken Williams values education, helping students grow Chief Lewis answers harassment claims Princeton businesses oppose railroad crossing closing Lead testing available to concerned parents Pfeiffer nominated for teaching award Pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak Football: Midway raids Dawgs' offense, 36-7 Football: Rosewood neutralizes Roanoke threat, 14-11 Cross-Country: PHS girls, boys top CBA Photos Obituaries Amy M. McCormick, Alice Best, George Anders Jr., Roland L. Barefoot Movies 3:10 to Yuma Local Showtimes
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Soybean crop situation12 September 2007 — Johnston County soybeans range in condition from good to extremely poor. Farmers are trying to decide if their crop is suitable to keep or if it should be cut for hay. Many are asking the question, "Have we run out of time to make a grain crop from our drought-stressed soybeans?" The answer is probably yes. Soybeans are able to develop a flower into a physiologically mature seed in about 45 days. The problem is that we are within 45 days of the average first killing frost. If soybean plants get relief from both the heat and the lack of moisture, expect them to resume somewhat normal growth. Once again, they may not have enough time to develop before frost. The dried up flowers that are still on the plant (and thus haven’t died yet) are a little further along into the 45 days than a fresh flower will be, but not much further. They’ll probably need 40 days or so before a killing frost. The few big pods which were too big to abort when the stress first hit, and which are still on the plant, are of course well along into their 45 days, and will likely be mature before a killing frost. Do not expect a soybean plant to both develop the big pods that are on the plant, and to put on new flowers. It will more likely do one or the other. If there are only one or two pods on the plant, I expect it to set new flowers, and forget about those one or two pods. If there are 30 or more pods on the plant, I expect it to put the priority on developing the seeds in those existing pods, and forget about setting new flowers. We have seen too few situations where the plants had to choose between the two priorities to know what to expect for plants with 3 to 29 pods per plant. Predicting soybean yield today is nearly impossible. The plants are most likely carrying more potential yield (referring to potential pods and seeds) today than the next few weeks’ weather will be adequate to develop. There is no way to accurately predict how good a growing season we will have between now and frost. Producers should check with crop insurance adjusters before harvesting or cutting for hay. If you are considering converting the crop to a forage crop, remember to check the pesticide labels to see if the pesticides you used pose a problem for that crop as a forage crop. There are several products which prohibit use as forage following pesticide application. One dead cow could make the decision to ignore a pesticide label an expensive decision.
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Wayne Wilson News Leader
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