Soybean crop a whopper

Culinary beans delivered to Queensland's Darling Downs, this week were returning prices in the high $600s.

Toowoomba buyer Ian Morgan, PB Agrifood, said the crushing price was a bit harder to call as there had not been any deliveries this season but high $500s was likely, which would be as much as $150 above global prices.

The Chicago Board of Trade price this week was US$9.71 a bushel, down five per cent on January and 35pc on this time last year, courtesy of swelling stocks globally.

Rabobank senior grains analyst Graydon Chong said it was likely to continue to trend towards the US$9/bu mark.

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) area forecast - released this month - of 34.2m hectares represents a record soybean plant and there is a record South American crop being harvested.

US production alone was forecast to shift from 92m bushels in 2013-14 to 464m in 2015-16, Mr Chong said.

However, Mr Morgan said strong domestic demand and smaller Australian crops in recent years, culminating with the unusual lack of surplus stock from last season, had buffeted NSW.

The bulk of the NSW crop will come from growers between Grafton and the Queensland border, where close to 12,000 hectares was planted, with average yields expected to be 2.7 tonnes a hectare, slightly above the long-term average of 2.5t/ha.

About 5000ha went in across the Riverina, well down on last season, and just 1000ha in drought-affected northern inland areas like the Tablelands, Moree and Narrabri.

Soy Australia field officer Joe Kochman said reduced grower water allocations (to about 47pc) and the high price of water prompted some Riverina growers to sell allocations rather than plant soybeans.

Nationally, the forecast is for 68,300t to be produced this season, up from 50,000t last year when dry conditions resulted in crops being baled and ploughed in.

The North Coast crop was definitely the star, with soybean paddocks looking sensational on the back of dramatic improvements in management, Mr Morgan said.

North Coast Oilseeds Growers Association (NCOGA) president Paul Fleming said the dry start meant most paddocks went in later than what was typical but rain and temperatures had been ideal since Christmas.

"We dodged a major bullet with Cyclone Marcia in February," he said.

"Most soybean crops got 130 millimetres - the first 70 were needed but the last 60 fortunately didn't cause much damage.

"There has been a slight issue with root disease but losses will not be significant."

Mr Fleming's Casino district crop of Bunya, which he hopes will yield 3.6t/ha, came second in the 2105 NCOGA soybean crop competition.

The Dowley family's "Tabulam Park", east of Tenterfield, won the competition, while Geoff and Vicki Pye, "Oakland", Coraki, finished third.

Judges Ray Porter, one of the pioneers of soybean growing on the North Coast, and former Grafton Department of Primary Industries agronomist John Betts said overall crop management had lifted tremendously in recent years.

"Big advancements have been made in weed and insect control and the implementation of controlled traffic systems is assisting harvesting, reducing compaction and reducing input costs," Mr Porter said.

"Growers are also more conscious of quality given the larger percentage of production now going to the human consumption market.

"The region's average yield is a lot a higher than it was a few years ago, however, what is disappointing is that newer varieties don't appear to be making the inroads we were hoping for and the top end of yields have not set any great records."