Soybean Question

[NYOlivers]

My question is: How long will a un-harvested crop last in the ground before they are no good anymore? I am asking this because in the past few days I started wondering about what will happen with the beans. There seems to be a lot of soybeans still out there yet that have not been cut yet. I understand it was a tough year for them in and around the WNY area. A lot of the guys I talked with the past few weeks say the moisture content never got low enough to combine them. Also I was told that China has not been buying the soybeans from the US so that's why everyone is sitting on them. So then in the past two weeks we got quite a bit of heavy wet snow and I am noticing in some of the fields that I pass by everyday, that the plants have been knocked over or laying down because of the snow. Another thing is that before we got the snow we had a lot of rain thru out the fall. The ground never had a chance to freeze so it is a muddy mess under the snow. So that's why I have been wondering about this, when is it to late to try and combine them and salvage some of the crop? I guess when would you cut your losses and wait till spring and plow them under? Thanks in advance for the input...

 

[Elton Fancher]

Simple answer. If they are bad enough around here, elevator, or the buyer, won't take them. If they are damaged only to a small extent, or high in moisture, they cut the money. Some folks here have gotten less than 6 bucks a bushel for what they sold. Apparently good beans under contract are still gonna bring above $10. Lots of them still in the field here, losing value every day. Rain can't be helped. But if the Chinese don't buy them, that means about 1/3 rd of good beans may have to look for another home. My family, friends and neighbors, are mostly diversified with beans and corn. But dairy is sinking here, tobacco gone, beef down. Thing don't look so good.

 

[NY 986]

To hear some people talk the farmers that have beans out yet are napping. Maybe the farmers will sleep in on doing business with some of these people for next year. To answer your question these conditions unfortunately can be ideal for mold so the beans can't stay out very long. Beans need lot of air in a drying system with low heat which not every farmer can do. Can't pile a 20 foot tall plus bin with 20-25 percent moisture beans and have them dry. They would compress down into a mess and not allow air flow. It would take quite a long time even with a continuous flow system of which not everybody has and most guys have just one and it has corn in it most likely. A bad situation and I am caught up myself. I called the crop insurance agent today and wished that I had opted for the maximum coverage. I can make it through if I don't harvest another bean but it will be tough until the next crop comes in.

 

[centash]

Here, with 6 inches of heavy wet snow on them, they are going down. This coupled with rain in the forecast the next few days followed by more snow, may well spell doom for any left out.
Ben

 

[jon f mn]

I've never had to combine my own beans in the spring, but I have custom cut some in the past. A large share of the crop will be lost by spring, and maybe all of it, depending on the winter. Quality can be all over the place, sometimes not much loss from that to a lot of loss. Beans are deffinately best harvested in fall even if you get docked some for moisture. This years it's been so rainy that even getting the stalks and pods dry enough to thrash has been hard. There are still a few left around here to get out too.

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

I cut beans for one afternoon about Sept 12. They were planted early and were a shorter season bean. It went over one full month before we could cut again due to rain. Those beans had lots of mold in them and on one truckload we were docked 10% due to mold and low test weight. I can not imagine how bad hi moisture beans would be if left untill spring. Years ago dad had a field that we could not harvest until spring and over half of them were lost. Not a good thing to deal with especially with the current farm situation. Crop insurance will not help either as they will measure what is in the field now and base claim or no claim on that not what you harvest. They say once it is planted it is up to you to harvest it. Tom

 

[RandyB(MI)]

Depends on your location and climate. here in cent. MI, we had soys that had to stand through 8 - 10 " of snow until we had a 60 degree Jan. thaw one year It thawed right down to mud and then the cold came back and froze the ground up tight. We harvested all and lost virtually none. In the mean time the price went up $ 2.00 per bu. No pick,no spoilage and no moisture doc. maybe we were just lucky that year. We get cold and dry here so no mold issue. Answer depends on where you live.

 

[hd6gtom]

I ran all night 1 year and cut a field of beans for a friend on the weekend before Christmas. Latest I ever cut any.

 

[jeffcat]

Here in SJ There are still a lot of beans out in the fields. With sand soil there is not too much of a mud problem but it just doesn't stop with the rain stuff. Two clear days in a row is crazy!! They are still standing nicely but have no idea how long that will last. Only have gotten one 5 inch snow that was gone within 24 hours.

 

[Kansasredneck]

Beans are a finite commodity. If China isn't buying ours, they are buying from South America. That means that Europe has to come to us for beans or go without.

 

[paul]

Beans are still worth some money, so no one just isn?t bothering to combine them.

They should be 13% moisture or less. Unlike corn, it?s not so common to dry them. So we wait to harvest. This year, that proved to be a mistake in many parts of the country. Instead of drying, they actually got wetter. The discounts get real bad at 15% moisture and above; some places won?t take beans over 17 or 18% moisture.

And now the ground is wet, or snow covered, and it is a real bad deal.

Some small areas also got bean damage. The bean shriveled up and rotted in the pod. If more than 7% damage in som3 markets, no one will buy them. That is a bad deal..... insurance might pay to have those plowed under.

Anyhow, you try as long as you can. I?ve taken the combine out in April and got some wet spots from the previous year. Doesn?t yield well, but you try.

In hind sight, folks shoulda went out and combined the beans when they were at 17% moisture. Don?t expect it to remain this wet this bad all fall.

Paul

 

[NY 986]

When guys "shoulda" been cutting is when the ground was already so wet a butterfly would have gotten stuck at least around here and was/is the same problem in many areas. There is no point of putting the combine in gear and wallow in the mud up to the frame to blow an engine, transmission, hydro, or final drive one after the other. Maybe when beans were 15-16 dollars but not today.

 

[Commercial Farmer]

I?m in NY, as soon as a window of weather allows the flex heads will be going back on , including mine.

 

[caterpillar guy]

We started cutting with dry or close to it 14-15 moisture, then rain and no more cutting. Then it dried some and then froze so we cut at 18-20 moisture put them in the bin with air on them since they have dried some down to 15.8 on the first load coming out then next was 16. Have not got the moisture on the third load yet.
We had a few pods that had split open in the field prior to cutting. We got done Friday of Thanksgiving. Last year we cut beans till Pearl Harbor day. Then still had corn to do.
This year corn was down to 22 in early Oct. So shelled it with some sprouting on the stalk in the ear.
Back to beans I turned the fans on a month ago and they have not been turned off yet rain snow or sun. I will probably shut the one off this week. The other on the beans at about 18 will keep going some more. With about 9-10,000 bushel of those wet beans at that moisture we shipped those 3 loads this week and dropped to previous mentioned moisture so must be gaining some yet. With half of then gone now the rest should dry faster now.
That bin will have a full air floor in it when it gets empty also.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

It is hard to dry beans down with just a fan when the ambient air moisture level is 80 plus percent and raining or snowing.
My cousin up on the farm has 3 of those 6" air tube fans that he sets into gravity wagons. Then he backs them into the heated shop and turns them on. That worked for small batches, but the mills around here with roasters are backed up badly and no one wants marginal beans.
Loren

 

[Commercial Farmer]

Dried every bushel here so far, that?s a first.

 

[sourgum]

US Beans exported to China have dropped 97% in the last year. Our carryout on soybeans is going to 1 Billion bushels this year from 450 Million last year/ There is not enough demand or market anywhere in the world to sell 1 billion bushels of beans this year,with no exports to China. They already have enough beans to hold out to January, then Brazil finishes there soybean harvest and will sell China all the beans they need for 2019.