The harvest is underway in Arkansas and several crops including rice, corn and soybeans are well ahead of crop collection averages through mid-September.
Last week the rice crop went from 39% harvested to 60%. This beats the five-year average by 18%, according to the United States Department of National Agricultural Statistics Service. The early harvest numbers have been fueled by dry and hot weather in the Arkansas Delta during the last month.
“Rice harvest took off last week in the heat wave,” said Scott Stiles, extension economics program associate for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
“We’re amazingly a long way into rice harvest barely halfway through September,” said Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the Division of Agriculture.
“These conditions have been excellent for harvesting with speed, but not without its drawbacks” Hardke said. “The changing temperatures — from high to low and back to high — have led to some rapid grain moisture drops which are impacting milling. Mostly our milling yields appear good, but they have become more variable, that is, up and down, through these temperature swings.
This milling swings will likely drive down yields in a year when prices are down and international markets are competitive, he added
Soybeans collections rose too, from 19% harvested the week before to 25% last week, NASS reported. The five-year average is 13%.
“Soybean harvest is picking up speed as more of the soybean crop is maturing with the high temperatures we have had the past few weeks,” said Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the Division of Agriculture. “Later-planted fields could benefit with some rain, and many could be done with a good rainfall.
“Seed quality across the state is good so far,” Ross said. “If we continue to be dry and have warmer-than-normal temperatures, seed moisture could decline rapidly. Farmers need to make sure seed moisture doesn’t drop below 13% to avoid losing seed weight.”
About 85% of the corn crop, which is traditionally the frontrunner for the season, has been harvested, well ahead of the 66%, five-year average.
Jason Kelley, extension feed grains and wheat agronomist said that “corn harvest is quickly wrapping up across the state.
“In areas where rice is the predominant acreage, corn harvest is running a little behind as most producers have been concentrating on harvesting rice,” he said. “With continued warm temps and dry weather, corn harvest should get closer to completion in the next two weeks.”
NASS reported that no cotton has been harvested, but “some has been harvested around McGehee,” Stiles said. “Lots of defoliant has been going out over the past few days.”
The five-year average for cotton this week is 1%. Three percent had been harvested at this time last year.
Defoliating, or removing leaves from the cotton plants speeds harvest, reduces excess matter and staining of the bolls.
“We are very early in both the cotton and peanut harvest,” said Zachary Treadway, extension cotton and peanut agronomist for the Division of Agriculture. “The extremely wet spring spread planting dates all over the board, and we have some cotton that has been picked, and we have some that is just about to receive the first application of defoliant, and everywhere in between.
“For our later-planted cotton that is trying to finish, the hot and sunny days are advantageous as opposed to the cooler temperatures we had a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“The same is the case with peanuts. We have some being harvested, and some that are still a couple of weeks from being dug, so that’s roughly three weeks from harvest on those,” Treadway said.
While the dry weather may be a help for harvest, its effects on the lower Mississippi River levels is an increasing cause for concern for basis. Basis is the difference between a local cash price for a commodity such as soybeans, and its futures contract price.
“We continue to watch the Mississippi River slide lower,” Stiles said. “It’s projected to be minus 8 feet by Sept. 29th.”
“Thus far, the low river levels have not severely impacted grain basis,” he added. “Soybean basis on the Mississippi River yesterday was minus 22-cents per bushel and on par with recent years.
“We’ll continue to watch this unfold as soybean basis may weaken as we get further into harvest,” Stiles said.
Corn is faring somewhat better.
“Corn basis was zero,” Stiles said. “Export demand for corn is really strong right now and well ahead of last year. That helps support basis.”
The harvest might be slowed by a bout of wet weather. The National Weather Service is projecting rain for most of the Arkansas Delta on Tuesday (Sept. 23) through Thursday. Rain totals for the week could exceed three inches in some areas and will impact nearly all counties in the row crop region.
Despite the predicted rains, the entire region is under moderate or severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Most of the Arkansas Delta is in the severe category, but parts of Clay and Mississippi counties are in the extreme drought category.