Soybean Producers Piling On | Video

Cliff Naylor | 10/1/2012

The USDA released a stunning crop report this afternoon, warm, dry weather has allowed the state`s farmers to harvest 80 percent of the soybean crop. Normally on October 1, only 22 percent of beans would be in the bin. Thirty six percent of North Dakota corn has been cut. Normally, just one percent has been harvested by this time.

Despite a very dry growing season, producers are finding yields and quality are above average for both soybeans and corn.

Steve Volla is harvesting soybeans way ahead of schedule. Dry weather is allowing him to cut his crop a month sooner than normal. Despite a dry growing season, the beans in this field are coming in at 50 bushels an acre. Volla credits an abundance of subsoil moisture for the yields he`s seeing.

"We`ve had a lot of moisture previous years and it kind`a carried us through this season."

Many other farmers are also cutting late season row crops early, flooding elevators with beans and corn. Dozen`s of semis are lined up at the Farmers CO-OP in Clifford, North Dakota, waiting to unload the harvest.

Manager Steve Baldock says his elevator is taking in 300,000 bushels of beans and corn a day, and all of it is being piled on the ground.

"It`s a lot bigger crop than we thought. At one point we didn`t think we were going to wind up with anything, rain is really short this year and it`s coming off in good shape, it`s dry and farmers are rolling right along."

Baldock estimates that at least half of this year`s corn crop will be stored on the ground. He already has two piles of corn sitting outside and a separate outdoor storage area for soybeans. It will take most of the fall and winter to truck all this corn 35 miles to an ethanol plant.

Volla`s beans will end up on this pile, and while he`s grateful to be harvesting a good crop, he doesn`t expect to be as fortunate next year unless weather conditions change.

"We won`t be able to do this again if we don`t get rain next year, we`ll need a lot of snow or good, timely rains next year."

North Dakota farmers usually harvest corn and soybeans all the way up until the beginning of November. This year, most of the state`s producers will be finished bringing in the crop by early to mid October.

The North Dakota sunflower harvest is also way ahead of schedule, sixteen-percent of the crop has been cut, compared to the norm of one-percent by October 1.

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