Georgia soybean growers have never — well, hardly ever — had
it so good.

“This is the best soybean situation we’ve seen in better than 10
years,” said Dr. John
Woodruff, an agronomist with the University of Georgia Extension
Service. “It’s
almost too good to believe.”

This year, world stocks of soybeans are at 140 million bushels –
only a 30-day supply
and the lowest since 1973. In a more normal year, stocks would
be at more than 250
million bushels. Those low stocks have suppliers vying for beans
and driving up prices.

U.S. farmers have had near-record crops during each of the past
three years. But an
ever-increasing demand nearly uses up each crop before the next
one comes in.

“We’ve essentially bought and used up last year’s soybean crop,”
Woodruff said.

Harvest is under way in South America. But Woodruff expects it
to be used before the
1997 U.S. crop matures. U.S. farmers raise the world’s largest
soybean crop at 2.4
billion bushels. Georgia grows 2.5 percent to 3 percent of the
nation’s crop.

Current prices for new-crop soybeans range from $7.30 to $7.40
per bushel, well over
the 10-year average of $6.25.

Woodruff expects Georgia farmers to plant 500,000 acres of
soybeans this year. At last
year’s average yield of 27 bushels per acre, they could see
their crop valued at almost
$100 million. That’s a 50 percent increase over the 1996 crop
value of $66 million.

To realize that value, farmers must manage their crop carefully.
That includes planting
a suitable, high-yielding variety, fertilizing right,
controlling weeds and insects,
harvesting at the best time and marketing carefully.

New herbicide-tolerant varieties can help farmers control weeds.
Recent research in the
UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences also
shows that applying
boron and Dimilin, a pesticide, at the right time can control
velvet bean caterpillars
while boosting yields.

Farmers will do well, too, to use forward pricing to lock in
current high prices.

“The crop value is at its lowest during harvest,” Woodruff said.
He tells farmers to
contract up to one-fourth of their crop during the early season,
and another one-fourth
in midsummer if they feel their crop is off to a good start.

Worldwide, soybean demand is rising nearly constantly. Livestock
farmers and
dieticians prize soybeans for their high-quality protein. That
protein has a near
complete balance of the six essential amino acids humans and
animals need in a healthy
diet.

People in poorer countries can use whole soybeans as their main
protein source. The
beans are crushed for oil, too. More industrialized countries
use the meal remaining
after crushing for livestock feed.

The average person encounters soybeans 10 to 15 times every day,
Woodruff said. It’s
in many baked and fried snack foods. It’s even in cosmetics and
inks.

Humans directly use only 15 percent to 20 percent of the world
soybean crop. “Really,
80 to 85 percent of consumption is in livestock feed — for beef
cattle, poultry and
swine,” Woodruff said.

The 1996 Freedom to Farm bill has crops competing for acres
based on their market
prices. “So as the demand for soybeans carries up their price,
it’s carrying the price of
corn, cotton and other crops up with it,” Woodruff said. “It’s a
win-win situation for
everyone.”