The US soybean harvest is off to an unusually fast start. The Department of Agriculture's latest Crop Progress report put 6% of the crop in the bin as of 13 September, twice the five-year average, with combines running in 13 of the 18 largest soybean-growing states.

The South is furthest along. Louisiana led the country at 59% harvested, 11 points ahead of its average; Mississippi had cut half its crop, 18 points ahead of normal; Arkansas stood at 35%, 19 points ahead; and Tennessee at 26%, 17 points ahead. Kentucky reported 17% harvested against a five-year average of just 4%.

Brett Gordon, a technical agronomist for Stine Seed Co. covering Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, said many fields had begun dropping leaves and desiccated fields were common. "Yield reports I've heard have been very good," he said. In Kentucky, Beck's agronomist Rob Nalley said early-maturity varieties were coming off first and that a few field averages were approaching or topping 100 bushels an acre.

The Corn Belt is only beginning. Illinois had harvested 4% of its soybeans, double its average, while Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota were at 3% and Kansas, Minnesota and South Dakota at 1%. Phil Krieg of Syngenta Crop Protection in Illinois said early-planted, early-maturing beans were being cut on the eastern side of the state, with some yields above 90 bushels an acre where fields had been managed for yield, though heat and dry weather would take a toll on double-crop beans.

USDA's 11 September Crop Production report points to higher yields across the South and the eastern Corn Belt: Mississippi is forecast at 61 bushels an acre against 56 last year, Tennessee at 50 against 42, Kentucky at 53 against 42, Illinois at 66 against 62.5 and Indiana at 63 against 59.5. The Plains tell a different story, with Kansas forecast to fall to 35 bushels from 48.5, North Dakota to 30 from 34.5, South Dakota to 42 from 47 and Minnesota to 49 from 52.5.

Crop condition ratings reflect the same divide. Mississippi rated 69% of its soybeans good to excellent and Tennessee 75%, while North Dakota had 32% rated poor or very poor, Kansas 29% and South Dakota 27%. Jared Goplen, agronomy manager for Wyffels Hybrids in Minnesota, said most fields there were only starting to turn colour and harvest was still a week to three weeks away.

For grain traders the early pace matters: a fast harvest brings new-crop supply to market sooner, while the split between a strong southern and eastern crop and a drought-hit northern Plains crop will shape how much the national average yield, currently forecast at 52.8 bushels an acre, holds up as the season goes on. Reporting by Kacey Birchmier.

Source: Successful Farming