Soybeans are at a citical point

Local soybean crops have now reached a critical stage in which they must have rain or else face damages. “We have reached a critical point for soybeans with eminent rainfall needed for the majority of the county,” Weakley County Agriculture Extension agent Jeff Lannom reported. “Corn harvest has started on a few early planted areas.” 

 According to the weekly Tennessee Crop Weather report, the majority of the state received precipitation, but it wasn’t enough and farmers expressed concerns that the lack of a good rainfall will lead to increasingly deteriorating conditions. Numbers show that the Martin area had a high temperature of 94 and a low of 60 with an average of 79. Precipitation for the week was .26 of an inch with one rainy day and a total rain inches count of 46.21 since Jan. 1. Despite the seriousness of the situation, however, the majority of corn, soybean, cotton and tobacco crops remain in good-to-excellent condition. For the week, statistics show blooming soybeans at 98 percent for this week, up from 93 percent last week with a 2010 percentage of 99 and a five-year average of 97 percent. Setting pod soybeans are up 10 percentage points this week from a 72 to an 82 with a five-year average of 89 percent. Dropping leaves soybeans are at three percent with a percentage of 13 for 2010 and a five-year percentage of 10. Fifty-three percent of corn, 64 percent of cotton, 34 percent of pastures, 55 percent of soybeans and 49 percent of tobacco is in good condition.

 There were six and a half days found to be suitable for field work across the state and temperatures were near or slightly above normal across the state for the week. WCP 8.25.11