Arkansas planned acreage falls slightly overall; corn and wheat see deepest cuts

By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — While overall intended crop acreage fell just 2.5 percent in Arkansas in 2024 to about 7 million acres, some crops saw significant shifts in acreage, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Thursday.

SHIFTING ACRES — The 2024 Prospective Plantings Report, compiled by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, found that acreage for most of the country’s principal row crops will likely only shift a few percentage points one way or the other this year. The report is based on self-reported planting intentions from growers across the United States. Nationally, projected crop acreage fell about 2 percent in 2024, to about 313.3 million acres. (Graphic courtesy USDA.)

The 2024 Prospective Plantings Report, compiled by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, found that acreage for most of the country’s principal row crops will likely only shift a few percentage points one way or the other this year. The report is based on self-reported planting intentions from growers across the United States. Nationally, projected crop acreage fell about 2 percent in 2024, to about 313.3 million acres.

Arkansas corn and wheat acreage take a nosedive

Arkansas intended corn acreage fell sharply, down 27 percent, from 850,000 acres to 620,000 acres. Wheat acreage also fell significantly in the state, down 41 percent from 230,000 acres to 135,000 acres. Nationally, corn acreage fell 5 percent to about 90 million acres, while producers said they planned to plant nearly 47.5 million acres of wheat, about 96 percent of what was planted in 2023.

Jason Kelley, extension wheat and feed grains agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that the significant drop in corn acreage was no surprise, given that the state was coming off a near-record-high year for acreage.

“Our acreage goes up and down every year,” Kelley said. “Last year, 2023, was the second-highest acreage we’d had since the early 1950s.”

He said profitability was likely the main driver for growers moving away from corn throughout the region.

“It looks like the whole Southeast was off quite a bit — 15 to 27 percent,” Kelley said. “The Mid-South was down 20-27 percent. So, it looks like most of our surrounding states had the same mindset.”

Similarly, wheat acreage was down in the East, falling in all but seven states.

Hunter Biram, extension agricultural economist for the Division of Agriculture, also said the drop in Arkansas corn acres, paired with a rise in soybean acres, was expected.

“Two factors that typically influence this shift are crop rotations and expected margins, with expected margins likely the driving force behind any acreage shifts beyond normal,” Biram said. “Last year, corn margins were far more favorable compared to soybeans, and that showed up in not only the Prospective Plantings report but also in the Crop Acreage Report released last June.

Over the past 20 years, soybean and corn acreage have both grown in the United States, with corn typically leading by as much as 50 percent some years. Over that span, however, soybean acreage has tightened the gap, actually tying the national acreage in 2017 at about 90 million acres each.

“This year, soybean margins appear more favorable, albeit not by much compared to corn,” Biram said. “Last year, the favorable margins were mostly driven by a relatively high corn-to-soybean price ratio, meaning corn prices were much higher relative to soybean prices. This year, there isn’t a crop price to get too excited about, but prices for key fertilizers have fallen to levels similar to the period prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

Projected Arkansas hay harvests appear to be keeping pace with the previous year, with growers expecting to harvest about 1.15 million acres, 99 percent of 2023’s total.

Arkansas long grain rice surges, medium grain falls back

Arkansas intended rice acreage shifted only slightly, growing 1 percent over 2023 acreage to 1.45 million acres. However, grower sentiment appeared bullish on long grain rice, jumping 11 percent from 2023 acreage to a projected 1.36 million acres, while pulling back on medium grain, falling by 58 percent to just 90,000 acres.

Nationally, planned rice acreage grew 1 percent to more than 2.93 million acres.

Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said the report’s outlook for rice was in line with spring estimates.

“Long grain rice appears to be a profitable option, but seed supply issues are hindering further increases in acres,” Hardke said. “Medium grain is in lower demand for this year with few contracts or pricing premiums available in the wake of high acres and production last year.”

Biram added that the ambiguity of global markets is likely affecting acreage decisions.

“Among many drivers in rice acreage, one could be the possibility that India reverses their export ban on non-basmati rice, which was put in place in July 2023,” Biram said. “While that proved to be favorable for rice prices in the short run, with some cash prices reported at over $8 a bushel in the post-harvest window of January and February, the new crop futures contracts for rice are already indicating prices could land around $6.75 per bushel or lower. This is because when export supply is reduced in the global market, prices increases.

“Conversely, when export supply increases due to a lift on an export ban, for example, prices fall,” he said. “Perhaps producers were able to lock in price guarantees through area crop insurance, such as Enhanced Coverage Option or Margin Protection, trying to capture the tail end of a months-long price rally driven by the export ban. Otherwise, I suspect crop rotations and less-favorable corn margins are driving the increase in long grain rice acres.”

Arkansas soybeans rise steadily

Arkansas soybean acreage grew slightly, rising 4 percent over 2023 to 3,100 acres. This puts the state’s growers slightly ahead of the national soybean acreage outlook, which rose 3 percent to about 86.5 million acres.

Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said it was no surprise to see Arkansas soybeans return to the “plus side” of 3 million acres.

“Historically, we’ve been above 3 million acres for the last several years, other than 2018-2019,” Ross said. “That’s when we had a lot of rainfall — the fall of 2018 and progressing into 2019. We had a lot of flooding issues, and 2019 was the lowest soybean acreage we’ve had since 1960.

“I think all of it points to China,” Ross said of the high acreage numbers. “China is our No. 1 destination for soybean exports. As their population increases, the demand for soybeans increases.”

He said much of 2023’s outstanding soybean yield was due to growers taking advantage of the early planting window, and that he foresees a similar fortune this year.

“Beans have been planted for almost a solid month in Arkansas,” Ross said. “Some of them look good, some not so good, mainly due to cooler weather. We had pretty much the earliest start ever last year, and we had record yields. I think some guys proved that when your beans are planted earlier, the yield potential is a lot better than delayed planting.

“Over the next seven days or so, it looks to be warm and dry, so I think there’s going to be a lot of land prep, and maybe some more beans planted,” Ross said Thursday. “I’m anticipating another good year.”

Peanuts hold, cotton grows

Arkansas producers appear to be holding steady, again planning to plant 35,000 acres of the legume, the same acreage as 2023.

Travis Faske, extension plant pathologist and acting peanut agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said that peanut acreage throughout the state will likely be higher than the reported intentions.

“I still think we will be a few thousand acres north of 35,000 acres by the end of planting season, as the two primary peanut buying points in the state have indicated an increase in acreage,” Faske said.

Planned Arkansas cotton acreage grew 6 percent over 2023 numbers to 540,000 acres. This exceeded the national outlook, which grew 4 percent to more than 10.6 million planned acres.

“I suspect the reason cotton acreage increased by 6 percent is because cotton lint prices are more favorable compared to last year, but nothing like what we saw in 2021-2022,” Biram said.

“While crop rotations can explain most of the corn-soybean rotation, cotton acreage can likely be explained by the fact that a cotton farmer is going to farm cotton regardless of the price, due to the lack of versatility in equipment used to produce cotton,” he said. “The cotton lint price may shift acreage, but the degree of that shift will depend on what the cotton lint price is.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Arkansas producers may be approaching ‘peak peanut’

By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture 

JONESBORO, Ark. — Arkansas may never be the No. 1 peanut-producing state in the nation, with our limited purchase on the Delta and Georgia being the legume juggernaut that it is — but the state’s growers have certainly made the most of their potential.

ADVICE FOR THE NEW YEAR — Tom Barber, extension weed specialist and interim vice president of agriculture and natural resources for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, discusses the future of weed control in peanuts during the Northeast Delta Peanut Production Meeting in Jonesboro, Arkansas. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

In 2023, Arkansas peanut growers set a state record for average yield with 5,800 lbs. per acre, across more than 35,000 acres. With another 5,000 acres or so, the state would’ve likely seen a new record for overall peanut production as well.

Travis Faske, extension plant pathologist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said he could easily exceed 40,000 acres of peanuts in 2024, setting the stage for record production.

“That’s about as much sandy soil as we have in Arkansas that isn’t already planting cotton,” Faske said. On March 12, Faske, who has served as the Division of Agriculture’s acting peanut agronomist for most of the past decade, was part of an expert panel addressing growers in Jonesboro for the Northeast Delta Peanut Production Meeting. About 50 growers and consultants from the area attended.

“If we get to 50,000 acres at some point, it will be because peanut prices are extraordinarily high,” Faske said.

Mike Hamilton, extension irrigation instructor for the Division of Agriculture, told attendees that researchers are zeroing in on the most efficient way to irrigate Arkansas peanuts.

“Historically, the biggest peanut states have center-pivot irrigation,” Hamilton said. “In Arkansas, we’re 90 percent furrow irrigated. Sometimes we have issues with wetting that soil bed, and getting it soaked through, which is something you don’t have to worry about with center pivots.”

As with most crops, proper irrigation is a tightrope, strung between the needs of the plant and the whims of Mother Nature, including rainfall patterns and pathogens such as Southern blight.

In 2023, Southern blight — a fungal disease Arkansas peanut growers must deal with to some degree every year — made a surprise appearance in early August, about three weeks earlier than in previous years, due to high amounts of rainfall in the area.

“It just came unseasonably early,” Faske said.

Tom Barber, extension weed specialist for the Division of Agriculture, said that Palmer amaranth, commonly known as pigweed, was the most pressing weed problem for peanut growers.

“In the area of the state where we grow the most peanuts, our pigweed populations are resistant to at least five herbicide modes of action,” Barber said. “That pretty much takes our peanut herbicides out of the game.”

Barber, who was named interim associate vice president of agriculture and natural resources for the Division of Agriculture in February, said the key to successfully controlling pigweed and other weeds in peanuts was the timely, overlapping application of residual herbicides.

“The biggest thing with peanuts is that when they come out of the ground, it’s a slow start,” Barber said. “It takes them a while to get going and to canopy. So there’s a long period of time when we can possibly have pigweed clusters. So, we use residual herbicides to prevent those clusters from coming up.”

Barber said that the long-term key to controlling pigweed, whether in peanuts or any other crop in the region, will come down to cultural practices such as crop rotation and the use of cover crops between one year’s harvest and the next planting.

“From a weed-control standpoint, talking about crop, yield and profitability — most crops are the same: We have a weed-free period at the beginning of the year,” Barber said. “That’s the critical period for weed control in all our crops.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.

Southern root-knot nematode in soybean: Risks and control options

By Sarah Cato
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LONOKE, Ark. – Although most crop pests attack from above ground, some of the most damaging threats – nematodes – lurk beneath the soil.

ATTACKING FROM BELOW — Southern root-knot nematodes damage plants by invading the root system and developing specialized feeding sites that rob plants of nutrients and water. As a result of this infection, they cause knot-like swellings, or galls, to form on infected plants. ( U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Travis Faske)

Nematodes are microscopic, unsegmented roundworms. Some nematodes infect plants and are called plant-parasitic or -pathogenic. The southern root-knot nematode, scientific name Meloidogyne incognita, is the most damaging – and most common – nematode species in Arkansas soybeans.

Southern root-knot nematodes damage plants by invading the root system and developing specialized feeding sites that rob plants of nutrients and water. As a result of this infection, they cause knot-like swellings, or galls, to form on infected plants. Galls become a part of the root, whereas nodules are attached to the root system.

“The southern root-knot nematode is the most yield-limiting, plant-pathogenic nematode that affects soybean production in the Mid-South,” said Travis Faske, extension plant pathologist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “It’s found in nearly all soybean producing counties in Arkansas and can cause significant grain yield losses when a susceptible variety is planted in a field with a high population density of root-knot nematodes.”

But how can growers control them? It starts with knowing your fields, Faske said.

“The foundation of any nematode control program is the identification of the types of nematodes present and an estimation of their relative population density,” he said. “The most effective way to do this is through soil samples assayed by a nematology laboratory.”

The Division of Agriculture runs the Arkansas Nematode Diagnostic Laboratory near Hope, which offers soil nematode assay for a small fee to any Arkansas producer. With the information from soil samples, producers can make site-specific management decisions to prevent widespread damage. This Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board is working in partnership with the Division of Agriculture to provide these assays to soybean producers for free. Those interested can contact their local county agent.

Crop rotation and resistant varieties

“Crop rotation can be a very useful nematode management strategy,” Faske said. “But it’s important we match the cropping sequence to the nematode species we’re dealing with.”

For southern root-knot nematode specifically, Faske said planting peanuts or sesames can effectively lower the nematode density but corn, grain sorghum, cotton and vegetable crops will likely make the situation worse. Rice is a host, but growing rice in a flooded field for two months will significantly reduce nematode densities in the soil.

In addition to crop rotation, resistant soybean varieties are another tool for producers to manage root-knot nematode populations.

“Resistant varieties offer an advantage to producers struggling with nematode populations by reducing galling and increasing grain yield,” Faske said.

Screening varieties

Each year, Faske and his team run trials assessing the commercially available soybean varieties that are marketed as suitable for production in fields where southern root-knot nematodes are present.

“This year we tested 44 varieties that are marketed to growers for root-knot nematode-infested fields,” Faske said. “We tested these varieties in a field with a high population density of southern root-knot nematode, a density that would be considered severe for soybean production in Arkansas. This puts the most stress on the soybean to perform under the most stressful conditions.”

The trials test the susceptibility of each variety to southern root-knot nematode as well as yield performance.

“This really is one of the most important trials we do each year in our program,” Faske said. “There are no other programs that I’m aware of that provide susceptibility and yield data of commercially available soybean varieties for Mid-South farmers.”  

Ensuring that varieties marketed as suitable for root-knot nematode fields actually are resistant, and testing their yield performance provides growers with valuable, science-based information when making planting decisions, Faske said.

“Some of these varieties are marketed as being suitable for production in a southern root-knot nematode field. They are not,” he said. “This research provides an unbiased assessment of soybean varieties marketed as ‘moderately resistant’ or ‘other’ in a comparison trial. If your favorite brand is not in this test it is because there is no resistance to southern root-knot nematode in their portfolio or they did not send us seed to test.”

The results of this trial are available on the Division of Agriculture plant disease website and the Arkansas Row Crops blog. Funding for the trials is provided by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.