OLIVIA — Sometimes you just luck out. And when Mother Nature helps produce record yields then your crop choice really shines. Such is the satisfaction of Minnesota farmers growing navy beans in 2009.

Check the arithmetic:

• Yields generally exceeding 3,000 pounds per acre.
• Contract prices at $27 per hundredweight
• Total production costs (land costs at $200) of about $350 per acre.

That shows a $460/acre net profit. For many growers where yields zipped up to 3,700 pounds, even 3,900 pounds per acre, there’s little doubt that navy beans did indeed put some bang into their bank account.

Growers, such as Paul Erickson and Steve Peterson, Olivia-area farmers who cooperate both in their crop production and their hog production businesses.

“We hadn’t grown navies for 15 to 20 years,” said Erickson, who was combining a 90-acre field when visited by The Land. “The navy bean just penciled out better than soybeans last winter so we decided to give the crop a try.” Erickson grew 100 acres of navies, Peterson did 150 acres.

Running a John Deere 9660 STS machine with 35-foot flex header dropped right down on the deck, Peterson’s field averaged 3,916 pounds per acre, one of the highest yielding fields ever delivered to ADM’s Olivia navy bean facility. Planted in 22-inch rows and fertilized with 5,000 gallons per acre of hog manure from nearby finishing units, the crop had been sprayed twice with fungicides. It also had a June herbicide application. Edible beans aren’t yet cleared for glyphosate products unless a late-season rescue is needed. Generally a product is tilled in just ahead of planting.

Erickson describes the crop as high risk, high reward. “It’s definitely more of a challenge than soybeans. You’ve got to have even drydown at harvest. So that often means a desiccant just a few days ahead of harvest to kill all growth. ... no more than 18 percent moisture at harvest or the load is rejected.”

Rich Elbert, Bird Island-area producer, grew 338 acres of navy beans and averaged over 3,200 pounds salable beans per acre. “Yields were great. I’m concerned because of this year’s crop everyone will want to try some edibles next year.

‘Probably best ever’

Steve Wertish, manager of ADM’s Olivia facility, said, “yes, 2009 has been an exceptional navy bean crop year. It’s probably our best ever, even exceeding 2002. We had a dry summer which navies seem to handle OK and a few key rains late-summer, which really seemed to spark the crop.

“Quality has been excellent too. I think the widespread usage of rotary combines is significantly reducing cracks and splits. We’ve had loads come in with foreign material less than half of 1 percent, and that’s amazing. So even though the crop was slower this year because of less growing degree days, we really are having a great crop year.”

Bob Kieffer, manager of ADM’s Appleton plant, said the 2009 crop in his area is also above average with yields running 2,200 to 3,000 pounds routinely. “I think this will average out our second best crop ever in terms of average yield. Quality is excellent. In July I wouldn’t have given a plug nickel for this crop,” Kieffer said, pointing out the complete absence of rain during July, even into early August. “Then we ended with seven to eight inches of rain and we simply got caught off guard on yields. I know that edible beans don’t need a lot of rain, if that rain comes at the right time. And that in essence was the scenario for our 2009 season.”

Navy bean acreage for 2009 is about identical with 2008 in the area served by ADM’s Olivia location. However, overall navy bean acreage was down slightly in ADM’s marketing territory, which includes 10 edible bean plants (seven in North Dakota, three in Minnesota). Acreage was also off significantly in Ontario. The net result of fewer acres was significantly stronger contract prices being offered to growers reaching as high as $30 but dropping to $25/cwt. at the late-September visit by The Land.

Most growers contract some of their acreage but they can also grow beans for the open market. “Usually the contracts are attractive enough so that growers use a contract, at least on some of their acres,” Wertish said. “That at least gives you a base for doing your financials on the crop. But many growers opt to sell on the open market as well.”

He’s open about today’s growers doing better with navy beans than they did 10 to 12 years ago. He doesn’t consider navies as being a high-risk crop.

There’s also less variability in the markets these days, partly because this highly nutritious crop finds its way into more school and public food aid programs. The bean continues to be an important daily food item for Great Britain’s population. However, for most of the ADM edible bean plants in Minnesota and North Dakota, over 90 percent of the products go to Bush’s Bean at Augusta, Wis., for processing and canning for domestic distribution.

Crop insurance available

Federal crop insurance is available for navy beans with costs from $12 to $23 per acre for 65 percent to 75 percent of 10-year proven history yields. However the navy bean is not covered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture price support and/or target price loan programs.

With the satisfactory 2009 crop year, will there likely be a significant expansion for 2010? Seems logical, but Wertish said not likely because ADM prefers to contract only enough acres to fill its anticipated customer needs. “So I think we’ll pretty much be status quo for next year. We project to fill our plants and provide what’s needed to the marketplace. There’s always about 20-percent open market production simply because that’s just the nature of the crop and its growers.”

Kieffer said, “with our three-year contract program, acreage stays stable. I only have so much capacity so we keep acres pretty much the same, regardless of performance each year.”

ADM has an active genetic program for new and better varieties. A variety currently labeled N5027557 is being introduced for 2010. “But the reality is that I have not sold a different variety since we introduced Vista in 1998,” Wertish said.

Better cultural practices, even rolling fields for cleaner, easier harvest are part of the edible bean success story. So too is the new practice of spraying for leaf hoppers. “It appears there were some insect problems out there that we weren’t fully recognizing. Also more tiling appears to be a reason why edible beans are doing better. Cold, wet soils are always a challenge to edible beans. Extensive field tiling throughout this part of west central Minnesota has really minimized that threat,” Wertish said.

Minnesota in top four

USDA data showed 150,000 acres of edible beans planted (145,000 acres harvested) in Minnesota in 2008 with an average yield of 1,950 pounds per acre and total production of 2.82 million hundredweight. Navy beans typically get about 40 percent of the total edible bean crop, which also includes pinto, light red kidney, dark red kidney and what is labeled by the USDA as “other dry edible beans.”

USDA totals indicate 1.48 million acres edible beans planted in 2009. The top four states are North Dakota, Michigan, Nebraska and Minnesota with a projected August average yield of 1,750 pounds per acre and total production of 24.36 million hundredweight.