Soybeans

“You think you’re done, and then you get to start all over,” a disgusted farmer told me, “rain, late planting, flooding, replanting, armyworms, we’ve had it all thrown at us this time.”  With China as the largest customer of US Soybeans, pricing in 2019 has also been an issue. From the high price of over $17 per bushel in 2012 to the average price of a little over $8 per bushel this year, there’s not much room to plant and replant and remain profitable.  Farmers all over our area are having some of the same concerns.  

While I am writing this, China has agreed to suspend additional tariffs, while they rose to 32% on soybeans over the summer and as high as 72% on other ag products, it sounds as if there may be something to be hopeful about.  If not, the research being done to discover other uses for soybeans needs to take a drastic rise.

Soybeans, like cotton, are a major crop in West Tennessee.  $676 million went into the 2018 TN farm economy from Soybeans.  What is a soybean used for in our foods? I mean, there’s only so much edamame you can eat!  Soybeans do a whole lot more in our lives than that—soy candles, soy diesel, as a matter of fact, since the mid-1990’s the ongoing farmer sponsored soy checkoff research has led to the development and manufacture of more than 800 products that contain soy, including soy-based spray foam insulation, plastic composites for cars, boats and agricultural equipment, paint, ink, and wood adhesives used in plywood, hardwood, and particleboard. Soybean meal is also being used as a filler in plastics, rubber, synthetic fibers, resins, and adhesives.  You’ll also find soybean feedstock in detergents, candles, and personal-care products—and the list of new uses for soy-based components keeps growing.

In an interview with the United Soybean Board, Dresden farmer Kenneth Moore said crop production in the Midsouth is challenged by either too much or not enough water. Moore, a past chair of the Tennessee Soybean Board, farms with his son, Ben. The pair grow corn, soybeans, and wheat along with some cattle and also plant cover crops to help maintain soils. Ben has added a 4,800-head barn to raise pigs for a vertically integrated commercial operation.

“I have raised crops for 48 seasons in my lifetime, and no two years have been the same,” says Moore. “We may have had about five years of ideal production. The rest each had their own challenges. You just learn to deal with it and make adjustments as you go.”

The Moores farm both bottomland and upland ground in northwest Tennessee. They have added tile to manage drainage issues on the bottomland and irrigate some acres in the upland fields to compensate for less water. Fields contain a variety of soil types, often within the same field.

“Not disturbing the soil is our top priority,” says Moore. “We no-till all of our crops to prevent soil erosion and build up organic matter. We use the manure from the pig barn for nutrients, too.”

In addition, Moore has partnered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop structures to improve conservation in environmentally sensitive areas. For example, they have added field border strips to reduce soil erosion while providing habitat for wildlife. They also use mats to jump start grass growth in their waterways and catch basins to slow water down.

“If I could change anything here, it would be that water can be a limiting factor. We may add more irrigation to manage that,” he says. “I also consider marketing part of our sustainability. The last few years have been challenging, and it is always our goal to sell more profitably.”

While his interview was about the challenges of water and it’s effects on sustainability, Moore brings out something that farmers, successful farmers, have always done with their land.  Keep doing the things that make it better, livestock build up the soil, fencerows are tended, farmers just take care of the land because they know they are passing it down to the next generation, and that’s the important thing.