About This Episode
Mark Belter farms just outside Fargo, North Dakota, and tells Shay Foulk he has harvested nothing at all. In a normal year he would be finished with soybeans and at least half done with corn by late October, aiming to wrap up by the 31st. Instead a snowstorm dropped about five inches in his immediate area, with 18 to 30 inches falling 20 to 30 miles north and west, onto ground that was already saturated. He is recording amid 35 to 40 mile per hour winds.
Across a 50-mile radius he estimates less than 1 percent of soybeans are off and no corn, with most corn still standing at 30 to 35 percent moisture. Ken Hellding, the storage and drying specialist at North Dakota State University, projects most corn will sit between 25 and 28 percent on December 1 given expected temperatures. Some fields are wet enough that growers will wait for the ground to freeze solid, which the long-range forecast pushes toward Thanksgiving.
That leaves three options: run your own dryers, pay an elevator or ethanol plant to dry, or leave the crop standing until spring, which in his territory would collide directly with planting. The few soybean fields that did come off were the driest ground and likely the best yielders, so Belter is not ready to call the crop. He closes on safety and mental health, noting combines and grain carts already torn up pulling each other out, and urges people to watch their neighbors.
“You can talk to guys that are 85, 90 years old and have never seen anything quite like this before with the weather conditions.”
— Mark Belter
Key Takeaways
Belter had zero acres harvested by October 23, against a normal target of finishing by October 31.
Within a 50-mile radius he estimates under 1 percent of soybeans harvested and no corn, with standing corn at 30 to 35 percent moisture.
NDSU's Ken Hellding projected most corn at 25 to 28 percent moisture by December 1, based on expected temperatures.
Snowfall ran about 5 inches locally but 18 to 30 inches 20 to 30 miles north and west, on already saturated ground.
Drying capacity is the bottleneck: custom drying is hard to find, so most growers face elevator or ethanol plant drying charges or a spring harvest that delays planting.
Equipment is already being damaged pulling stuck machines out, and Belter pushes hard on bin safety and checking on neighbors.
Full Transcript
Narrator: The Ag View Pitch is created by Ag View Solutions to provide value to its clients and farmers like you. We'd like to welcome our new listeners today and encourage you to check out our other podcast on The Ag View Pitch, which can be found on Apple Podcasts, Anchor, and Podbean. You can also find us on Facebook at Ag View Solutions and online at agviewsolutions.com. Enjoy.
Mark
Belter: Joined today by Mark Belter from North Dakota, just outside of Fargo.
Shay
Foulk: How's the weather where you are today, Mark?
Mark
Belter: We are wet, not raining today fortunately, but we're gusting 35 to 40 mile an hour winds and we're very extremely saturated.
Shay
Foulk: Well, yeah, I know weather's been a huge narrative there last 2 weeks or so. Can you talk about what that's looked like for you?
Mark
Belter: Yeah, so we received, you know, North Dakota snowstorm. We were very fortunate that we only had about 5 inches in our immediate area. You go probably 20-30 miles north and 20-30 miles west and they had 18 to pushing 30 depending on where you go in the state. So there was quite a bit of snow and it was extremely heavy wet snow. We had really little to no damage from it, and I guess it remains to be seen what other places are. A lot of places are so wet that guys won't even attempt to get in the field until the ground freezes solid, and if you look at the long-range forecasts, I mean, that may, that might put us out till close to Thanksgiving before a guy could even attempt it.
Shay
Foulk: So how was How was harvest progress kind of before this all happened there?
Mark
Belter: Very little, because we were wet prior to that also. So there's very, very, very few acres of soybeans. I mean, I would say in our immediate area, you know, say a 50-mile radius, I mean, not even close to 1% of soybeans done, and I would say no corn. Most of the corn is probably 30 to 35% now. And our Ken Hellding, who's the storage and drying specialist at North Dakota State University, figured that projecting what the anticipated temperatures are, that most corn on December 1st should be somewhere between 25% and 28% on average. Wow.
Shay
Foulk: So what— I mean, what kind of solutions are producers in your area looking at in order to cope with this?
Mark
Belter: It's going to be just having to run dryers. You know, I don't know for the guys that don't have dryers and don't want to haul up to the elevator. You know, it's hard to find somebody to custom dry. There might be a little bit of that going on, but I would say for the most part, either they're going to just have to pay the elevator or ethanol plant to dry, or they'll just have to leave it till spring and hope it dries out then. I mean, which it will at some point, but then you're you're fighting. In our territory, it's as soon as it's dry enough to physically get in the field, you're typically planting. So if they're harvesting when it's dry enough to get in the field, it's going to for certain delay their planting as well.
Shay
Foulk: Right. I don't think too many people have hooked a planter up right behind the combine, but it might be something to think about this year.
Mark
Belter: Right. Right. It has happened in the past, and definitely this is new territory. I mean, you can talk to guys that are 85, 90 years old and have never seen anything quite like this before with the weather conditions. This is very historic for us even.
Shay
Foulk: Well, and that was my follow-up question there and just, you know, how out of the ordinary this is. Pretty incredible. So you personally have not done any corn or soybeans then?
Mark
Belter: No, we haven't touched and that's all we have. So we are at 0% harvested currently. This time of year, I would hope to be well done with my soybeans and at least half done with my corn. You know, we strive to finish by the 31st of October, but that obviously doesn't always happen, especially for weather. But, but it is achievable in some years, and this year it's— we could be fortunate to start by the 31st of October.
Shay
Foulk: So for the stuff that is out there, how do you feel about standability on the stuff that's actually in the corn? And then as far as the beans, what are you thinking for projected yield? How do you feel about how the year's progressed here?
Mark
Belter: So far, you know, have not heard much for yield. I feel our corn crop yield, that we have a chance at making APH, even though we're in quite late. Soybeans, the very few fields that have come off, it sounded like they were pretty decent. A lot of them don't look that good, but apparently they, they might be all right. But then again, they're only taking off the driest fields, which were also the driest during the summer, which would probably put them at the better yielders too. The ones that are hard to get into now are, or when a few people were combining, the little bit that was combined, those were the driest fields of their farm. And so probably, probably also some of the best. So it's, so it's really haven't gotten in it far enough where I've had any numbers from the elevator or anything to tell us where they really think the crop is at yet.
Shay
Foulk: Well, and that's a narrative that we've heard from pretty much everyone across the country of the stuff that's coming in right now. This isn't the stuff that was planted later into May, June, or beyond that. How does this progress throughout the season? Just something to keep in mind with stuff going back there. Anything else that we should be thinking about for over in your area or that producers should keep in mind on things there?
Mark
Belter: I guess, and it goes for all, the whole country is fairly wet in general. People keep their wits about them and keep safety in mind, getting in grain bins and watching for people when you're backing up and know where people are at when you're making adjustments on the combine and you're going to start it again. And there's people getting stuck here and there's already a couple combines I've heard of that have been torn apart and grain carts and getting quad tracks stuck pulling things out and it's You know, so it's not going to be a very fun time for anybody, but physically and mentally we just got to all kind of stick together and, you know, watch out for your neighbors, especially mentally in this time.
There's been some things going on that haven't been very good that will probably come out in the news shortly, that some challenges that people have had, and I think that's not just our area, but quite a large span of the country that's gonna have issues.
Shay
Foulk: Well, I appreciate you bringing up the side of safety there and mental health. It's so crucial going on in this time that, you know, everyone has their own battles, and I think for those listening in on how North Dakota is right now, you're fighting your own battles, but it could always be worse. We're definitely thinking of everyone out there and kind of wish you a safe time as you get started here, Mark. Appreciate you joining us today.
Mark
Belter: All right. Thank you.
Narrator: Thanks again for listening, everyone. If you would like to hear more content from Ag View Solutions, listen to our other podcasts such as Dad's Wisdom or our Current Harvest series. Ag View Solutions works as an integral part of operations like yours, side by side for farm profit management, business collaboration and structuring, facilitating industry-leading peer groups and coaching and consulting tailored to your farm's unique needs. We know that no two farms are the same, and we are here to help make your farm be the best it can be. You can learn more at agviewsolutions.com, email us at agviewpitch@gmail.com, or call Chris Barron at 319-533-5703. We really look forward to talking with you.