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South Dakota farmers anticipate beginning soybean harvest this week

Only a third of South Dakota’s topsoil moisture is adequate to surplus. Corn is 24 percent good to excellent. Half the crop is mature, which is ahead of average. South Dakota soybeans are 21 percent good to excellent, according to USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service. Seventy-nine percent of the soybean crop is dropping leaves and three percent is harvested.

Southeastern South Dakota farmer Tim Ostrem says, considering the unevenness of rain this year, the soybean harvest will be highly variable.

“The lighter the soil, and if you’re in the lighter precipitation area, I’ve  heard reports of only 20 bushel [per acre] beans,” Ostrem told Brownfield Ag News, “but there are areas in South Dakota that were blessed with plenty of rain, and we’re going to have 60-bushel beans, and maybe even, in a few spots, better than that.”

It’s a similar case in east-central South Dakota, where David Iverson will begin harvest shortly.

“I know people that did some silage or high moisture corn that the yield monitor was all over the board,” said Iverson. “I’ve heard examples of 130 bushel in one field variance from the high to the low.”

Both Ostrem and Iverson anticipate beginning soybean harvest this week.

South Dakota pastures are in rough shape from a lack of rain. Most of them are poor to very poor, only five percent are good; none is excellent.

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