By Michael Hirtzer
CHICAGO, Nov 3 (Reuters) – For Cory Ritter, a farmer in
central Illinois, this year’s corn and soybean harvest was the
driest he has ever seen in 11 years of farming.
“It was nice to get it out (of the fields) as quick as we
could, because we were losing so much moisture,” Ritter said.
Dry harvest reduces total yield and grain weight from lost
moisture. Both can mean lower revenue for farmers, who already
face sharp income declines this year as grain prices hover
around five-year lows.
With Ritter’s harvested corn coming in with moisture content
as low as 13 percent – far down from his ideal 22-24 percent -
he has lost 5-6 bushels per acre (bpa) because drier corn
dropped kernels in the fields instead of the combine. A typical
corn yield is 168 bpa, according to U.S. Department of
Agriculture estimates.
Ritter’s soybeans were harvested mostly at 8-9 percent
moisture. This hypothetically trims about 50 cents from the $9
he might get from selling a bushel of soybeans, according
to Charles Hurburgh, director of Iowa State University’s Grain
Quality Initiative.
While farmers are penalized for delivering grains with
excess moisture, they are usually not compensated for grains
that are drier than the market standard, which is 15.5 percent
for corn and 13 percent for soybeans.
“For soybeans, dryness represents weight loss, and there’s
nothing you can do about it, unfortunately,” Hurburgh said.
Although soybeans can readily gain and lose moisture, spoilage
and swelling issues make humidifying them a risky proposition,
he added.
Because dry soybeans split more easily, careful handling is
required for preventing yield loss, said Seth Naeve, a soybean
agronomist at the University of Minnesota. Also, processors
report problems with using heat and steam to remove hulls from
very dry soybeans.
According to a grain quality survey that Naeve conducted,
the average moisture level for this year’s soybeans across the
United States is close to 12 percent, about 1 percentage point
lower than last year.
Dry grains also hit elevator cooperatives that profit from
commercial drying. For instance, Tom Traen, general manager of
Glacial Plains Cooperative, estimated his drying revenue was cut
in half from a typical $2 million.
However, for corn, dryness can be a benefit when farmers
improve grain quality and save propane gas costs by drying
naturally instead of in high-temperature commercial dryers,
Hurburgh said.
Nevertheless, lost weight and yield remains a revenue
concern for producers like Ritter who harvested both dry corn
and soybeans.
“When margins are tight, we hate to give it away,” he said.
(Editing by Jo Winterbottom and Matthew Lewis)
