As the season rolls on, agronomists are keeping a close eye on conditions.
While corn has been holding steady for most of the season, soybeans are telling a different story.
So the soybeans, they’re truly a mixed bag, because you may be one guy who planted early May and has a beautiful crop. Being the guy who planted a week later had a hard time getting a stand. It was beat down. Just very, very variable right now,” said Bayer Technical Agronomist Zach Webb.
On the cotton side, the outlook remains tough. Webb says growers have struggled from start to finish.
“The guys who planted late April have got a phenomenal crop right now. It looks beautiful. But May, as you may remember, was very wet, and wet and cotton planting do not go together. So we got off to a rough start with cotton. But we’ve had a lot of heat, which cotton loves. We’ve had ample moisture, and I’m telling folks now cotton is starting to look like cotton again.”
Despite current conditions, Webb says the cotton crop is starting to make a turnaround. USDA’s latest acreage estimates show U.S. growers planted around 10.1 million acres of cotton this year, which is down 10 percent from 2024.
The Louisiana cotton crop is the smallest on record, but strong yields are a silver lining. LSU AgCenter’s Craig Gautreaux reports from northeast Louisiana.
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