Soil Health Field Days Happening Wednesday

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NDSU Extension is holding Soil Health Field Days on Wednesday, August 25 at various locations. The entire event will be held live at Mooreton and broadcast at NDSU Research Extension Centers (RECs) in Streeter, Carrington and Langdon. Field tours at the RECs will also be held after. 
 
Registration for all locations and online is available at: https://www.ndsu.edu/soilhealth/

Canadian Dry Beans in Good Position

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Alvin Klassen, president of Dry Bean World, which provides information on dry bean production in Canada and the northern United States, said this year’s drought has cut yields, and already prices are climbing as analysts predict much lower production and supply shortages.
 
“It is already affecting markets significantly,” Klassen said. “We’re seeing record dry bean prices in North Dakota, or new crop contracts for 2021. And we’re also seeing some very aggressive bids. Over 50 cents a pound in Canadian dollars for old crop beans.
 
“When you get into the specialty beans, like kidneys and cranberry beans, they’re talking 65 to 70 cents per pound,” Klassen said.
 
After last season’s record dry bean crop in Western Canada, this year comes as a disappointment as far as yields go. He said the producers who manage to get a good crop off could earn a lot of money for it. Irrigation will play a major role in bean harvest numbers.
 
“If they’re in a drought region, beans are going to be devastated. There’s going to be no bean harvest,” said Garry Hnatowich research director at Irrigation Crop Diversification Corp. about beans that aren’t irrigated, the research director at Irrigation Crop Diversification Corp.
 
Even irrigated beans have had challenges. “Under irrigation, well beans are a warm-loving crop so we’ve certainly had the heat but it may be a little too much of a good thing, because what I’m noticing at our dry beans here in Outlook (Sask.) is that the maturity has been advanced. So it didn’t matter how much water we put on the beans, the intensity of the sunlight and the heat was too much for the beans.”
 
Hnatowich said despite this, crops under irrigation will still produce.“We will have a harvest, there’s no doubt about it, but we could have used five degrees to seven degrees less temperature. That would have been ideal for us. They look good, but I don’t think the yield is going to be as good as what it appears to be.”
 
Klassen echoed Hnatowich’s statement. “But the drought has made for some very weird shaped pods,” Klassen said. “So we’re seeing a lot of pods that only have one or two beans. And normally, there should be five to seven.”
 
Klassen said the market prices this year shocked him.“In the 20 years, I’ve been involved in dry bean production, I have not seen prices that high. It’s quite something.”
 

Crop Progress Report – August 16, 2021

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According to USDA’s Crop Progress Report, dry edible bean condition in North Dakota rated 22% very poor, 33% poor, 33% fair, 11% good, and 1% excellent. Blooming was 95%, near 91% last year and 97% average. Setting pods was 86%, ahead of 77% last year, but near 87% average. Dropping leaves was 17%, ahead of 9% last year, and near 16% average.
 
Topsoil moisture supplies in North Dakota were rated 55% very short, 36% short, 9% adequate, and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 56% very short, 32% short, 12% adequate, and 0% surplus.
 
In Minnesota, dry beans rated 11% very poor, 21% poor, 51% fair, 15% good, and 2% excellent. Dropping leaves was 13%, ahead of 11% last year and 5% average.
 
Topsoil moisture supplies in Minnesota were rated 46% very short, 38% short, 16% adequate and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies were rated 43% very short, 41%
short, 16% adequate and 0% surplus.
 
Get the latest Crop Progress numbers.

Soil Sampling Tips

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Due to the large amount of residual nitrate left after the short crops in the state, there will be more soil sampling than usual. Here are a few tips to increase the practical use of the results from sampling.
  1. The soil may be hard where there has not been recent rain. It will be important for the sampler to make certain that the core is the correct depth and not to give up if the going gets tough. If a core comes out of the sampling tube incomplete, discard it and redo the sample a few feet over.
  2. Don’t work the land before the sampler arrives. The ability to take a 0-6 inch core required for P, K, organic matter, zinc, and surface nitrates (necessary for sugar beet recommendations) is much degraded if the soil is worked, particularly after chisel plowing or (God forbid) deep chiseling or plowing.
  3. When sampling, do not take samples from the headlands, or the turn rows around sloughs, because these areas have legacy overlap inherent with fertilizer/manure application. Make a mental note not to sample within 100 feet roughly of the edge of the field or around obstacles that would have resulted in applicator turning. The exception to this is in zone sampled fields with salty areas next to roads/sloughs. These should be sampled as a zone, because the NPK fertility in these areas will probably be vastly different than the rest of the field and fertilizer savings can be achieved by identifying these areas.
  4. To build zones, use multi-year yield mapping data, aerial imagery of growing crops, satellite imagery from growing crops, soil EC or EM sensor data if available, and topography if it can be identified and properly modeled (raw elevation data should not be used as it usually does not indicate a landscape position). The Web soil survey should not be used as a first zone development tool. It was not designed for this purpose and the boundaries are usually misleading.
  5. Know that nitrate sampling, or sampling for K for that matter, are moving targets and there is a plus-minus value at the end of analysis. Persistent dry weather after sampling will result in a spring value that is similar in nitrate to what is found now. Wetter weather may result in a bloom of nitrate, but this late in the season the increase in nitrate will be small, if seen at all. Nitrate may be immediately tied up in residue breakdown, with the awakened microorganisms that have been dormant all season. K values are at their lowest now through early September and if it stays dry, the K values will be low through fall. However, freeze-thaw and any moisture during winter/early spring will increase values, so next April the highest K values of the year are seen. It is best to analyze for K at about the same time during the year each time K is analyzed (it doesn’t have to be every year) to make sure that the relative values of K can be tracked and not be confusing.
 
(Source: Dave Franzen, NDSU Extension)

NDSU Crop and Pest Report

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The 16th issue of the NDSU Extension Crop & Pest Report for 2021 has been released. Topics featured in this week’s edition are:
  • Entomology
  • Plant Science
  • Plant Pathology
  • Weeds
  • Diagnostic Lab
  • Around the State
  • Weather Summary/Outlook

Crop Progress Report – August 9, 2021

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According to USDA’s Crop Progress Report, dry edible bean condition in North Dakota rated 22% very poor, 33% poor, 34% fair, 9% good, and 2% excellent. Setting pods was 76%, ahead of 63% last year, and near 74% average. Dropping leaves was 7%.
 
Topsoil moisture supplies in North Dakota were rated 53% very short, 39% short, 8% adequate, and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 55% very short, 34% short, 11% adequate, and 0% surplus.
 
In Minnesota, dry beans rated 10% very poor, 18% poor, 54% fair, 16% good, and 2% excellent. Setting pods was 95%, ahead of 92% last year and 83% average.
 
Topsoil moisture supplies in Minnesota were rated 39% very short, 41% short, 19% adequate and 1% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies were rated 38% very short, 44%
short, 18% adequate and 0% surplus.
 
Get the latest Crop Progress numbers.

Minnesota Drought Conditions Continue to Worsen

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In the last week, northwest Minnesota went fromextreme to exceptional drought, stretching across nine counties. The exceptional drought starts in Polk and Norman counties and goes through Lake of Woods county. Severe and extreme drought covers the rest of northwest Minnesota.
 
This is the driest northwest Minnesota’s been since the 1980s. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay says 1988 was dry, but 1980 was worse.
 
“In 1980, conditions in northwest Minnesota were drier by another 1.5 inches compared to 1988,” explains Boulay. “This year, rainfall is seven inches short of normal as a whole. The big difference between 1988 and now is 1988 was a more universal drought. This drought is more hit-or-miss.”

U.S. Dry Bean Production Estimated to Decline 29%

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the August Crop Production Report on Thursday.
 
Production of dry edible beans is forecast at 23.3 million hundredweight (cwt), down 29 percent from 2020. Area planted is estimated at 1.46 million acres, down 3 percent from the previous acreage report and down 16 percent from 2020. Area harvested is forecast at 1.39 million acres, down 3 percent from the Acreage report and down 17 percent from 2020.
 
The average United States yield is forecast at 1,675 pounds per acre, a decrease of 291 pounds from last season. North Dakota is currently experiencing a drought, which is affecting dry beans in most of the State. Low yields are being reported due to the dryness.
 
For North Dakota, dry bean production is forecast at 6.91 million cwt, down 46 percent from last year. Harvested acreage is estimated at 640,000, down 18 percent from a year ago. The average yield is forecast at 1,080 pounds per acre, down 550 pounds per acre from last year.
 
Acres planted by class in North Dakota are as follows:
 
                              2020            2021
Pinto –                 532,000      463,000
Black –                 126,000      85,000
Navy –                   96,000       78,000
Small Red –          13,800        14,000
Pink –                    4,700         6,300
Great Northern – 4,000        9,800
 
For Minnesota, dry bean production is forecast at 3.77 million cwt, down 32 percent from last year. Harvested acreage is estimated at 229,000, down 13 percent from a year ago. The average yield is forecast at 1,650 pounds per acre, down 450 pounds per acre from last year.
 
Acres Planted by class in Minnesota are as follows:
 

Dry Bean Scene

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Crops in the Brownton, Minnesota area weren’t looking too bad until this last week. That’s according to farmer Jeff Kosek, who serves on the Northarvest Bean Growers Association board of directors. The area hasn’t received any measurable rain since around July 7. Hear more in the Dry Bean Scene made possible, in part, by Northarvest.

Crop Progress Report – August 2, 2021

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According to USDA’s Crop Progress Report, dry edible bean condition in North Dakota rated 20% very poor, 34% poor, 35% fair, 9% good, and 2% excellent. Blooming was 88%, ahead of 76% last year, and equal to average. Setting pods was 60%, ahead of 44% last year, and near 58% average.

Topsoil moisture supplies in North Dakota were rated 45% very short, 46% short, 9% adequate, and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 50% very short, 36% short, 14% adequate, and 0% surplus.

In Minnesota, dry beans rated 9% very poor, 19% poor, 52% fair, 20% good, and 0% excellent. Blooming was 96%, ahead of 95% last year, and 88% average. Setting pods was 83%, ahead of 76% last year, and 61% average.

Topsoil moisture supplies in Minnesota were rated 42% very short, 39% short, 19% adequate and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies were rated 39% very short, 42% short, 19% adequate and 0% surplus.

Get the latest Crop Progress numbers.