by Charlette Anne Smith
March 11, 2008 11:34 am
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The various situations that are affecting the soybean industry were discussed at the Annual Soybean Expo held at Claremore. Among them is the competition for good farmland from the producers of corn, the growing development of items in which soybeans play a major part and the status of the supply of beans and corn and wheat.
Ron Limon, chairman of the Oklahoma Soybean association spoke on the educations projects being funded through the check-off program. These included staffing a booth at the Tulsa State Fair, the Farm Show, Kids, Cows and Moore and sponsoring the Oilseed Crop Proficiency Award presented to Future Farmers of America members who have projects in that field. He also said funds were used for research projects including rust, foreign use, the effect of stubble height and double cropping. They are also looking at developing farm research plots.
Steve Snelson, president of the Oklahoma Soybean Association, told those present that his organization does not receive any check-off money, that in fact it would be illegal to do so as it is involved in the political of the promotion of the crop, but is funded through membership dues.
Bob Ross of the OSA, said he had been working with the corn producers on the ethanol situation and been spending time in Washington, D/C. talking the senators and representatives. He said he was concerned with the overspending that goes one there and planned to be there again next week to meet with Congress.
Dan Poston, Mississippi State University, spoke on the research being done and the impact of new technology on producers.
Poston is involved in research on the reaction of various types of soybeans to weather conditions, weeds and chemicals.
“About half of what we find out is research and half experience,” Poston said. “The research program includes agronomy, fungicides and weed control.”
Poston said while Stoneville, MS, the location of the research farm, was slightly farther south than this area, most of what he had determined should be applicable here. The drought the last few years in his area has been one of the reasons for doing a lot of the recent projects. One of the things they had found was that moving the planting time back to the first of April, or even in some instances into February, allowed the plants to get their growth and set the bean pods before they ran out of water. He also said better results in weed control had been obtained using pre-emergence applications any time after the first of January and the sooner the better as the time frame for doing so was often very short because of weather conditions and the fact once the weeds are established it is particularly hard to control them. This was especially important Applying fungicides early rather than later could account for a four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half bushel improvement in the yield especially on high yield varieties.
Rust control also can bring an improvement in yield, but care has to be taken to prevent injury to the plants. A careful examination of the leaves will show the presence of rust and failure to treat will reduce the yield.
The number of pods on a plant and the development of the nodes should be checked before apply chemicals.
One of the biggest problems with early beans is keeping the plant green,” he said. “You have to pay attention to the pods not the plant. Right now seed is scarce so you may have to plant what you can find. Also, spray has gone up.”
For more information on his research, Poston can be contacted at 662-820-0893.
Kim Anderson, crop marketing specialist from Oklahoma State University, spoke on the soybean market.
“Prices are up to where we haven’t seen them before,” Anderson said. “They’re so high we don’t know what we’re going to do. Since ’84, we’ve haven’t know what to do. What you have to remember is land, labor, capital and management is what you market. How to make money isn’t how high they sell, but how many you get in the bins. Ten dollar wheat won’t do you any good if you don’t produce any.”
Right now, with corn as high as it is there is a strong competition for land, Anderson reminded everybody. Corn producers are buying land.
“You can’t produce if you don’t have the land. When cotton went to 40-cents bean producers begin buying cotton land in Mississippi and Arkansas, It is the same now only corn producers are the ones wanting the land. If the 51–cent subsidy for ethanol isn’t renewed things can change. To add to the mix, stocks of wheat, beans and corn are at an all-time low in the U.S. but world-wide there is a good supply of beans. The supply of beans here will be tight until the next crop. You have to concentrate on growing a high quality crop and put the pencil to it before you decide if it will be corn or beans,” he said. “Get it into the bin and they will pay you for it.”
Bob Haselwood, United Soybean Board Director and a member of the Kansas Soybean Board, spoke on opening doors for farmer profitability through Soy Technology.
“As crude oil has gone up soybean oil has become more competitive. I don’t know how $16 beans plays out with $100 crude. I’m on the new uses committee. We look at proposals and try to sort out the ones that look likely to go from concept to production.”
Among these new uses is foam for car seats and head rests that are being used by Ford and General Motors in some of their vehicles, lubricants, hydraulic fluid, the elevators in the Statue of Liberty run on soy oil, bio-diesel is now mainstream. Other major companies that are using soy oil in their products include Lear and Case. Most newspapers are now printed with soy ink and soy-based solvents are being used to remove graffiti from walls.
“If someone will put up the seed money we will do the research. We are looking for companies that have the ability to go into production if the idea works out,” Haselwood said. “We work with state boards to co-op funding and promote at the local level. It is being used in asphalt and road millings to form a surface material, for coating roads and research is being conducted to use it in fuel cells and batteries for cell phones. We can’t do this without the help of the farmers.”
Additional information is available through the Oklahoma Soybean Board and the Oklahoma Soybean Association at 918-343-2326 or oklasoy@hotmail.com.
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