The 2022 Michigan dry bean harvest is just about in the books, and it’s a surprisingly good crop. Scott Bales, Michigan State University dry bean system specialist, says the season has gone on a little long, but the season started about two weeks ahead of normal.
“We’re able to have a large proportion of our crop in before October 1 with some excellent yield and quality reports,” he says. “Now that we’re into the later half of October, we are seeing some of these prolonged old, wet periods which typically has a detrimental effect on quality. We’re thankful it’s only a very small percentage of the crop that we have out in the field.”
According to USDA, 6 percent of dry beans need to be harvested. The quality of the crop was brought into question early in the season after heavy rainfall in July.
“Fortunately, since that time, our crop only improved in condition all the way to harvest,” says Bales. “Then as we get into harvest, that definition of quality changes a little bit for us. We’re actually looking at what the quality of that bean is as it comes into the bin—things like color, shape and seed size.”
In talking with dealers, Bales says the quality of this year’s crop is the best they’ve seen in years.
“That last 10 percent that came in at the end might have a little bit of a lower level of quality, but we always feel that we have a large proportion of our crop with that premium quality,” he says. “All our beans are going to have a home, and we’re going to have excellent qualities. We shouldn’t have a concern for quality in the marketplace.”
Yields are also holding strong for Michigan’s dry bean growers.
“When we look at USDA numbers, they’re predicting that we’re going to have a 26-bag state average, which would break our state record by nearly two bags,” says Bales. “Overall, we feel like we’re in an excellent position for the whole of the crop from yield and quality.”
Bales says this strong crop is making growers even more excited to plant for next year.
