Julien Beuzilin, LSU AgCenter entomologist, talks about stink bugs in soybeans at the Iberia and St. Mary Parishes Soybean Field Day on July 30. Photo by Bruce Schultz (Click on image for downloadable version.)

Clayton Hollier, LSU AgCenter plant pathologist, talks about fungicide resistance in soybeans. Photo by Bruce Schultz (Click on image for downloadable version.)

News Release Distributed 08/01/13

JEANERETTE, La. – Soybean prices are likely to hover in the $12-$13 per bushel range until this year’s harvest gives a clearer picture of the U.S. crop yield, according to Kurt Guidry, LSU AgCenter economist.

If yields are high, Guidry told farmers at the Iberia and St. Mary Parishes Soybean Field Day on July 30, then soybean prices could stay around $11.

“I don’t think we’ve got the $16 to $17 potential,” Guidry said.

Last year’s high prices were driven by a small U.S. and South American crop, he said, but this year’s South American soybean harvest has been good.

A drought in the Midwest appears to have been broken with recent rainfall, he said.

On the other hand, China is expected to buy more soybean products in the coming year.

Jimmy Flanagan, LSU AgCenter county agent in St. Mary Parish, said sugarcane farmers will respond to the prices. “I think next year if bean prices remain halfway decent, we’ll see a lot more land going into beans.”

Clayton Hollier, LSU AgCenter plant pathologist, told farmers that some areas of the state, including Madison, Tensas, Pointe Coupee, East Carroll and West Carroll parishes, have a problem with frogeye leaf spot disease that has become resistant to fungicides. Also, he said, some areas of Acadia Parish have aerial blight that has become fungicide-resistant.

“Resistance is becoming more and more of an issue,” he said.

Ron Levy, LSU AgCenter soybean specialist, said testing is conducted on 186 varieties at seven locations across the state to find out what varieties perform best. He said growers in Iberia and St. Mary parishes should look at the best performers in the tests at the South Farm of the Rice Research Station near Crowley.

Levy said the use of a harvest aid will be considered by farmers. The label for the most common aid, Gramoxone, requires a 15-day period between application and harvest, he said.

Julien Beuzelin, LSU AgCenter entomologist, said acephate is effective against redbanded stink bugs, but it is limited to 1.5 pounds per acre in a growing season. He said many farmers use two applications of three-fourths of a pound, two weeks apart. If stink bug pressure is high, he said, acephate also can be combined with a pyrethroid.

Bruce Schultz