North Dakota Expecting Near-Record Bean Crop

Friday, August 24th 2007, 7:04 am

By: News On 6

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ With farmers nationwide shifting acres to corn on a large scale this year, dry edible beans have suffered in many states. Not so in North Dakota, which is expecting a near-record crop and providing a bright spot for the industry.

``It's a good thing North Dakota has beans,'' said Cindy Brown, a Wisconsin producer who serves as president of the U.S. Dry Bean Council. North Dakota farmers ``are our basis for bean production right now,'' she said.

North Dakota typically produces about one-third of the nation's dry edible beans, a category that includes everything from pinto and navy beans to garbanzos. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting this year's North Dakota crop at 9.6 million 100-pound bags, up 25 percent from last year and close to the 2002 production record of 10.6 million bags.

In contrast, the U.S. crop is pegged at 23.7 million bags, down 2 percent from last year and 11 percent below two years ago. Planted acres were down about 8 percent and acres for harvest were expected to be down about 6 percent.

``Bioenergy is a major factor,'' Brown said, referring to the shift of acres to corn to meet the booming demand for ethanol fuel. ``North Dakota (dry bean farmers) have done well in holding their acres.''

Much of North Dakota's dry bean crop is in the northeastern part of the state, an area less suited to corn because of its cooler climate. While some dry bean farmers in the state did switch, ``corn didn't erase our dry bean acre base,'' said Tim Courneya, executive vice president of the Northarvest Bean Growers Association, an industry group in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Planted acres and expected acres for harvest in North Dakota are unchanged from 2006, according to the USDA, but the average yield is expected to be up 25 percent over the year because of better weather during the growing season.

``More moisture,'' said Gary Paur, who farms in the Grand Forks region. ``Last year was probably average or below average for yield; this year a little above average.''

Some crops in central North Dakota were hurt by extreme heat in midsummer, but the region produces only a small percentage of North Dakota's total crop. For the most part, ``it's all good news right now,'' Courneya said.

That is not the case in some other bean states. In Colorado, for example, USDA is projecting this year's crop to be down 30 percent from 2006.

Steve Brown, general manager of the farmer-owned Jack's Bean Co. in Holyoke, Colo., said corn is not only in demand by the ethanol industry, it also can be easier and less risky to grow.

``A combination of better returns and lower risk (for corn) _ that's taken away a lot of our acres,'' he said.

Steve Brown said he expects the pressure to plant corn to mount for North Dakota farmers as improved genetics make the grain suitable to more northern climes.

Don Streifel, who farms in central North Dakota, said some farmers also are thinking about getting out of bean production because they are weary of battling dry weather.

``It ain't in this field,'' he said, strolling through one of his heat-damaged fields while considering the USDA's forecast of a big increase in North Dakota production. ``There's a lot of bean fields (in the region) that don't have any beans in them, from when it was so hot a month or so ago.

``A number of guys around here, they're saying that this might be it,'' Streifel said. ``With five-dollar wheat and four-dollar corn, they're thinking they don't need to fight'' to keep growing dry beans.

Bean prices are good, but both Steve Brown and Courneya said they need to keep pace with other commodities.

``It's a competitive environment,'' Courneya said. ``If dry bean prices fall backward, you aren't going to get anybody to grow dry beans in '08.''