The Michigan Dry Bean Commission is getting ready to kick off four days of their Regional Dry Bean Outlook and Production meetings.
The meetings will start Monday Dec. 9 in Frankenmuth at the Saginaw Valley Research Center and wrap up Thursday at the Franklin Inn in Bad Axe.
Dry Bean Systems Specialist Scott Bales says there’s going to be a lot of information covered at these meetings.
“We cover almost all aspects of dry bean production,” said Bales. “We [will talk about] what’s working, what’s not working in our marketplace. Typically we have local sales agronomists who come in and talk about what’s happening locally, then we move to talking about things from our Michigan State faculty.”
As for yields this fall, dry bean harvest is virtually complete in Michigan. Despite the late spring and late start to harvest, Bales says yields were surprising.
“It’s tough to compare it to last year—last year was a record-breaking year for us,” he said. “Given the adverse conditions, dry beans have performed pretty well this year and shown resiliency.”
At the meetings, speakers from MSU and Bales himself will cover drought resistance, fertility and nutrient management, genetics and diseases, and variety and fungicide trials. Bales encourages all dry bean growers to attend one of the meetings.
“Overall we look forward to having some folks out at our regional meetings—we’d be happy to see everybody there.”
The events start at 9 in the morning and wrap up with a free lunch. More information is online at michiganbean.org.
