Dry bean yields suffer; long-term prospects strong

Dry bean yields in North Dakota and western Minnesota were hurt by unfavorable weather and crop disease, an industry official says.

“They (yields) weren’t so good this year,” especially when compared to good yields in 2012 and 2013, says Tim Courneya, executive vice president of the Northarvest Bean Growers Association in Frazee, Minn.

North Dakota is the nation’s leading producer of edible beans. Minnesota ranks fourth; the crop is most popular in the northwest part of the state.

Typically, most edible beans in the region are harvested from early September to early October. This year’s wet spring delayed planting, pushing back harvest. But unusually warm, dry conditions in late September and early October allowed dry bean harvest to pick up. By the middle of October, only about 5 percent of the area’s dry beans remained to be harvested, Courneya says.

Yields varied greatly across the region, as is usually the case. Some producers enjoyed good yields, others did not, says Tom Kennelly, a Grafton, N.D., farmer whose family has raised the crop since 1965.

Heavy June rains hurt the crop in northeast North Dakota this year, he says.

In the region as a whole, dry beans suffered from too much moisture and not enough heat, Courneya says.

Root rot and white mold, which generally do well in cool, wet conditions, were widespread problems for area dry bean growers this summer.

Prices, outlook

Dry bean prices have continued to drop.

Two years ago, farmers in North Dakota and Minnesota received $38 per hundredweight for pinto beans, the most common variety in the region. The price had slipped to about $30 per hundredweight this spring and stands at $23 per hundredweight now, a decline of about 40 percent from $38 per hundredweight.

The decline is tied to the drop in the price of other crops such as corn. Earlier, when corn prices soared, dry bean prices rose, too. Now, with the price of other crops declining, dry bean prices are falling, as well, even though demand for dry beans is holding up well, Courneya says.

“It’s disappointing,” Kennelly says.

Still, the price of dry beans hasn’t dropped as much as the price of other crops, Courneya says.

For instance, the average per-bushel price of corn at area elevators surveyed weekly by Agweek has fallen from $6.70 two years ago to $2.60, a 60 percent decline.

Dry beans aren’t nearly as common or well-known in the U.S. as they are in some other countries. Black beans, for instance, are extremely popular in both India and Brazil.

“There are more options (for consumers) here,” Courneya says.

But U.S. consumers, including food manufacturers, are increasingly aware that dry beans are both nutritious and affordable, he says.

“So our niche is growing.”