As corn harvesting wraps up in the state, many farmers are now making headway into their soybean crops.
Hollandale farmer Chico Williams said they finished harvesting their corn Saturday after a brief delay when Hurricane Ida moved through Mississippi last week.
After a little more rain moved through the region Sunday, Williams said they were able to start cutting irrigated beans Tuesday.
With a small amount of damage to his low-lying soybean crops after the heavy rainfalls last week, Williams said overall, he isn’t too concerned for his crops.
“Nobody likes to lose anything but I still think the rains were beneficial despite the few beans that were drowned out,” he said.
So long as there aren’t any more rain delays, Williams said he thinks it should take about three weeks to finish harvesting their soybeans, possibly longer for some that are a little behind on their growth.
“The corn yields have been good so I expect the soybeans to be good as well,” Williams said, noting he expects the entire harvesting process to be complete before October.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Mississippi Crop Progress and Condition report for the week ending Sunday, Sept. 5, 61% of corn has been harvested in the state.
According to the report, 75% of the corn condition has been rated good, 13% is fair and 9% is excellent.
Also on the report, 100% of soybean has bloomed, 97% is setting, 36% is coloring and 19% is dropping, but none has been harvested yet. Soybeans so far have been rated 77% good, 14% fair and 5% excellent.
In Winterville, Bill Payne said he was fortunate to finish his corn harvesting before Hurricane Ida made its way through the region.
“We finished harvesting corn that Saturday and some of my neighbors were able to finish that Sunday before the rain came through,” he said. “We got two inches (of rain) and they were predicting six, so we can’t help but be happier about that. Two inches is better than six, but rain during harvest season is never good, whether it’s corn, beans or cotton.”
After the tropical storm rainfall, Payne said they have been hoping for plenty of sunshine to help the grounds dry enough to drive their tractors on and to help their beans finish maturing.
As of Tuesday, they hadn’t made it back into the fields yet. But, with a full week of sunshine in the forecast, Payne said he is confident they’ll soon be making progress with their soybeans.
“We’re about on the same schedule as we were last year,” he said. “The corn harvest was good and the beans look good if we can get them out before any more rain so they don’t get damaged.”
While corn can withstand a lot of water and humidity without fear of much damage, lower-lying crops such as soybean and cotton face risks of mold and diseases.
After the soybean harvest is completed, Payne said they will then switch gears for harvesting cotton in October.
“We just need it to stay dry till Halloween,” he said.
Tribbett farmer Mark Looney said he, too, finished harvesting corn before Hurricane Ida’s arrival.
“We were lucky with the hurricane that we only received an inch and a half,” he said, noting he still has his soybeans to harvest.
After looking at his harvest, Looney said, “The corn yield is looking very good.”
Giving their soybeans another week to fully mature, Looney said he thinks it will take about five days to harvest all of their soybeans once they start next week.
Until then, he and his fellow farmers are just hoping hoping for lots of sunshine.
