No big rush to doublecrop behind Miss. wheat

Based on what farmers have said this month, much of the additional wheat acreage planted this fall in Mississippi will not be doublecropped with soybeans or anything else. "We've had our hearts broken too many times by doublecrop soybeans," one Delta farm manager said recently.

Several factors are at play:

• In most seasons, late-planted soybeans perform poorly compared to what growers have come to expect with early planted soybeans, particularly in dryland situations. Although the 2006 early beans performed poorly due to prolonged drought and heat, farmers have found better yields over the long haul when they can seed soybeans in April or even in March.
• Even with irrigation, yields likely won't be strong enough to justify the extra trouble and expense. With wheat prices as strong as they've been, growers will either summer fallow after wheat or use the break to level or re-level ground.
• This season, growers in parts of the state have run into more problems with green stems in maturing soybeans, which has delayed harvest and/or driven up harvest costs for desiccants. Growers in some areas also have had trouble getting beans dry enough this fall for elevators to accept them, which means excessive drying costs.