Michigan dry bean planting continues to progress rapidly. According to USDA’s Crop Progress Report, 14 percent of the crop has been planted.
Joe Cramer, executive director of the Michigan Dry Bean Commission, says the Minn-Dak region is progressing nicely as well.
“They’ve gone from it being on the wet side and feeling like they were a bit late to really making good progress,” said Cramer. “Southwestern Minnesota have been done—everything looks really nice from what I gather.”
He said going through the Red River Valley, there’s being decent progress.
“The further south you are, the more complete they are,” said Cramer. “When you get north of Grand Forks, I think they’re about two-thirds done. As you go towards Devil’s Lake, they’re further behind—it doesn’t feel like they’ve had the dry conditions that other have had.”
Since there’s a large amount of pinto beans that are planted in that area, Cramer thinks there’s going to be more pinto beans being planted. Before the rain on Thursday, Cramer received some positive news from Michigan growers.
“I got a picture from Minden City of some small reds that went in the ground seven days ago, and they’re up and looking good,” he said.
Seed availability is tight. If growers need seed, they can get some, but not a lot.
“We’re not in a situation where we’re going to be able to replant, so we have to get it right the first time,” said Cramer.
He added that there’s still an opportunity for growers to make some money in dry beans this year, but he is advising growers to not wait too long before the market makes a correction.
