Dry Beans Acreage Increasing in Minnesota as an Alternative Crop
Good day and welcome to the University of Minnesota podcast Minnesota CropCast. I'm one of your host Dave Nicolai with University of Minnesota. I'm an extension educator in field crops on a regional basis. I'm here along with my co host Doctor. Seth Nave.
David Nicoli:Seth is a University of Minnesota Extension soybean specialist and we have a special day today Seth. We are going to feature in terms of talking about not just our typical corn and soybeans but we want to branch out and cover some other very important crops grown in the Upper Midwest, particularly Minnesota and some things that are changing. And we've asked a couple of very important guests to join us as panelists today, Darryl Ike. Darryl is an independent crop consultant located out of Delano, Minnesota and he covers a lot of what I would call Central Minnesota, South Central Minnesota in a number of different field crops and including dry edible beans, sugar beets, corn, soybeans, etc. But today we were having Darryl drop in and talk to us a little bit more about it from an edible bean standpoint.
David Nicoli:And also we have Mitch Coulter. Mitch is the Executive Director of North Harvest Edible Bean Association and Mitch joined us also via Zoom here on an audio track and talk a little bit more about where the edible bean acreage in Minnesota is going, implications and how the industry is changing with that. So I think we'll just start off here. I think Seth if you are ready, I'm going to welcome Darryl come in. I think Darryl is on the go here this week with better weather and things are coming through.
David Nicoli:But edible beans, Darryl, are a little bit different situation. You know, we talk about, you know, with our corn people and so know, you gotta plant early, you gotta plant early. Maybe walk us through in terms of best management practices, what are some things that are good edible bean growers are doing or putting into place to be successful in terms of agronomics and yield?
Speaker 2:Okay. Yeah. I'd sure be happy to do that, guys, and it's a pleasure to be with you all, Dave, Seth, and Mitch, and the public. I think the things that my dry bean grower looks at right now, and really enjoys is the fact of how that crop fits into their polyculture scheme. As Dave mentioned, I work with, you know, kind of a polyculture setting of, sugar beet, corn, soybean, dry bean, and we also cover quite a few acres of of canner crop, code sweet corn, most of it going through the Seneca factory there in Glenwood, Minnesota or Glencoe, Minnesota rather.
Speaker 2:But as far as best management practices, you know, when I look when I look at 2025 already, we're already seeing the impact of what best management practices can mean as far as an outcome. I'm sure you guys realized, and as we look back about a month ago, short months ago, in May, we had some really warm weather, kind of middle May. And my farmers, my growers, my clients, they were finishing up with their their corn, their soybean, and their sugar beet planting, that really was condensed to a lot of late April and even early May. So many were sitting around with, you know, kind of looking around, whistling into the air, and what should I do now? I guess I can get ready for post weed control.
Speaker 2:I do have that acre of red kidney or light red kidney or black beans, black turtles that I could that I could put in, but it's a little early. But then, of course, we got weather that came in, and we got 80 degrees air temps and almost 90 degree air temps. And we're getting weather that was really simulating that kind of weather that we would like to have kind of late May and early June to really start that planting process. So what ended up happening this year, which which is certainly atypical for most years, is that this planting date really got pushed up. We're really looking for soil temperature, in my when we're wanting to plant our dry beans.
Speaker 2:We want an appropriate temperature so we can plant an inch, an inch and a half into moisture and really have those beans come up rapidly. Well, this year, because of the air temperatures being so unseasonably high, growers were making that decision to let's go ahead let's go ahead and plant. The field conditions are great. Moisture maybe is starting to escape or drop a little deeper, so a concern that, you know, we might have to plant too deep on a dry land acre. My irrigated acres, which I have irrigated acres as well, those are mostly light red and dark red kidneys.
Speaker 2:We're not so worried about that. But again, we had soil temperature, and we had air temperatures. The growers were going ahead. But what I'm finding now, in the last few days of May, a short period of time ago, and the few days of June here, is that we're seeing really truncated emergence, and we're seeing stands that are struggling to achieve that optimal emerge stand that we'd like to have no matter what varietal we've got out there. So there are challenges ahead, and the challenges ahead will be trying to even that crop up as much as possible through maintenance, through fertilization, through insect suppression, through weed suppression.
Speaker 2:I can see the weed control being more challenging because we may have some slightly gappy stands this year, and I've been experiencing that in in all of the rotations this year, whether it's sugar beet or corn or even soybean. Of course, the hail we got just a few days ago went through a large stretch of Kandy Ojai, Meeker, even down to Sibley County. So we've got some challenges there that have occurred of late too. So, yeah, mother nature, what do they say, man plans, mother nature laughs, or farmer plans, mother nature laughs. I think there's a version of that about God also.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, it's been it's been an early start, but certainly with a set of challenges. I can certainly go into more specific dynamics
Speaker 3:of the pandemic. Specific question for you. I I'm really intrigued about this this year because this year was very unusual, and I I like to try to think that we can learn something from unusual years. I don't you know, we'll never have another 02/2025, but maybe something from this we can learn about. So what do you think?
Speaker 3:I've I've been wondering about this myself. These uneven stands that we're seeing out there, we had we were farmers are driving down deeper to get moisture, and so I think you could very easily say that we had uneven emergence because we weren't always getting into moisture or we lost the moisture before we could get germination. But we also had this period of cold weather during that same kind of window. I think it was the same window, right? We planted and then we got some cool temperatures.
Speaker 3:And so we have this overlapping with it. And then we also have herbicide going down, some prees going down at that same time. So, Darryl, what do you think about the the temperature profile when we had this kind of early and dry, which are unusual, and then we got the cool temperatures, which weren't unusual, but the early and the dry part were definitely unusual.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And I think you're spot on. All I can say is so Minnesota. It is so Minnesota to be like this. Right?
Speaker 2:It is such a state that is gonna give you a pendulum swing. Guys getting in sixteen, seventeen, eighteen April planting sugar beet, really planting corn simultaneously this year. A lot of April planted soybean, so a lot of crop going in really quickly. And and just as you said, Seth, we then plunged into cool and cold conditions, near near frost, near freeze events, and then on emergence, and a lot of that seed sitting in some amount of moisture. Getting some moisture along about the you know, some moisture came in around the April 20, and then we got another event, the April 28.
Speaker 2:And a lot of that moisture was followed up with very cool weather immediately, which on recent planting allowed for cold water, imbibment of seed, and caused some early formation emergence issues there. The amount of seed and bibission chilled seed that I've seen digging up corn more than normal this year, even what I believe is some chloroacetamide damage where there's gaps in a stand and that plant's just not there and you dig it up, and it's just really kinda grown in a circle. It it's taking up that chemical, you know, in the coleoptile as it's emerging. So and it's doing so in kinda slow fashion. So that, again, goes to planting date.
Speaker 2:But how do you tell your farmer that, you know, has got maybe five, six thousand acres ahead of them, or even the grower that wants to get an early start and has just got three or four or 500 acres ahead of them that it's not okay to start? Farmers, from my experience, they are eternal optimists, and I'm glad they are because there are so many foibles that can come along. But this year was one of definite extremes. And then from that cool weather, that that cool start, some of my sugar that was planted in that twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven time frame, which was really the window after that rain and planting date, the sugar beet was emerging, and those were kinda planted in cool conditions again, sugar beet emerging, and then came the heat. We got, middle eighties, upper eighties, 90 degree air temperature.
Speaker 2:There was a day there early May that I was taking soil temperatures, and I was getting a soil temperature of over a 100 degrees at one inch. And so I knew that, you know, that's gonna be a problem for sugar beet trying to come out of the ground because that dicot is pressing, and it's gonna run into that really hot surface soil. So as a result, a lot of the sugar beet didn't even emerge in that planting date, which gave us a
David Nicoli:lot more
Speaker 2:gappiness. But all of this, I guess, culminating, and I know our topic today is dry bean, is that we just got a lot of work done, and we got it done early, and it maybe wasn't optimal, but it was done. And then we have this open plain and then this warm weather in May, and we go, what should I do with my time? And it really encouraged an awful lot of growers to go ahead and start planting dry beans. And I know talking to people historically like Hans Kondel and Greg Andres from NDSU, they they kind of encouraged a slightly earlier planting date feeling.
Speaker 2:Maybe it would encourage the amount of pods set on the plants and maybe a little bit of the the fruit harvest that you would get. So there's a reasonable early, and and there's a very early and this year, we had dry beans that were going in 1415, '16, seventeen May, when twenty years ago I mean, no body would start before the May 25. And the twenty five May to the May, that was really our window. We wanted to nail inside of that. So this was an extraordinary year.
Speaker 3:So to be determined then, we'll we'll find out how how successful we were in a in a few months.
David Nicoli:Let's talk a little bit more about dry bean specifically here. I know that some of the data coming out of Michigan that they've done a number of years of data planning studies, Darrell. And they have a little rule of thumb over there, it's a little bit different but it's not too different latitude of looking at having a minimum at 65 degree soil temperature that they like to plant into. But also you know it's different than soybeans. Mean it's short season situation with that.
David Nicoli:They oftentimes you know for that area you know it's May. But you know relatively up there they have some concerns about diseases on the other end, white mold and so that can be problematic. They're trying to fit into that sweet spot. Are most of your growers in let's say we have a hope more of a typical year. Would you say the last two weeks in May has been the average for planting for a lot of the successful growers on average?
Speaker 2:It really has, David. And and in large part, it it kinda plays into a good portion of it plays into crop harvest and how that will lay out. And growers know that, you know, these varietals have a certain amount of maturity days that they need to get to full maturity, whether it's ninety, ninety four, ninety six, ninety seven days. So they're trying to accommodate that by planting date or urge that on. Most of my growers are, as I said, are in a polyculture, so they've got other crops of interest.
Speaker 2:A lot of them are sugar beet sugar beet shareholders from Southern Minnesota Sugar Beet Sugar Co op. So they're looking at prepile harvest and how that would stage in. A big appeal of the dry bean rotation has been that earlier harvest, that earlier finish to the growing season, that really short season crop. But that has also encouraged growers to really consider pushing that planting date. And I can't tell you how many calls I got this spring on, okay.
Speaker 2:It's fifteen May. Should we just plant our should we plant our dry beans? And my response is usually no. Well, okay. It's ninety tomorrow, ninety two the next day, and then we're gonna get a little rain.
Speaker 2:It would be really should we plant those dry beans now? No. So what are you telling me here? I can't really read the tea leaves. Are you telling me I'm just saying no.
Speaker 2:It's too early. It's a little too early, and Minnesota's weather pendulum swings both ways. And I'm not saying that I'm right or wrong giving that advice that it was too early, but I know if I would ask professor emeritus Hans Gandel, you know, is it too early? I my feeling is is he would say probably yes, and I I don't mean to put him on the spot and say that I know how he would answer that. But I think the '15 1415, sixteen, seventeen May dates would increase your chance of not seeing emergence.
Speaker 2:The question after that, when I when I did answer and say, I think it's a little early, I would say, what does your seed situation look like? Can you get replant seed? Because that might be important. I have recently checked and scouted some fields that were put in in that middle May, and we are going to struggle with a planting rate of a 120,000. We're gonna struggle to get to 65,000 plants, 65,000 emerged plants per acre.
Speaker 2:So they're light. The weed control early was very good, so that's in their favor. But it is the crop is showing the result of that inordinately or awkwardly early planting date. So I think it is to answer your question too, David, that you brought up, it's something that we can use and maybe bring forward and go, we've tried this before, or there might be a reason that there is a date too early Yep. And 2025 might have kinda pointed that out.
David Nicoli:What what other agronomic going beyond planting date, think of the rest of the cropping season, Darrell, are are farmers sometimes struggling with in in raising and growing edible beans? Is there is there a weed control issue? Is there a disease? But from from a management standpoint and and input, what other things come to mind that they need to really make sure that they're ready to deal with?
Speaker 2:Well, certainly, I I think the one of the things that comes to mind immediately, Dave and guys, would be the the chemical program and that it is a fit.
David Nicoli:We we we control, I think, chemical, you're talking about here primarily? Or
Speaker 2:Right. The weed control, the herbicide program with some of them having residual potentials and and even off label potential for your crop rotation. So really considering those, making sure red or dark red kidneys that, the previous year, if if corn is your rotational, crop preceding the the dry bean crop that, that you're not using, a tembotryone, Lattice, anything else that might be a rotational hazard to dry bean, you really wanna map that out really well, and growers do a really good job of doing that. I assist as much as need be, but growers are pretty cognizant of of what they can proceed their crop with, especially with dry bean and with sugar beet in the rotation that have so many limitations and, label limitations on what you can use as far as herbicide prior. Insecticides and fungicides are, generally speaking, a little more lenient and maybe not as much care needs to be taken with those, but the herbicide program really has to be given a high degree of thought to make sure that your, you know, rotation is set up well for success with those dry bean cultivars that we have.
David Nicoli:Okay. Great. Great. We're gonna segue back back to you, Darrell, but we're gonna bring in Mitch. Mitch, maybe you want to introduce yourself a little bit more in terms of that because you're in an area where you so to speak have a foot on on each side of the Red River.
David Nicoli:So maybe you want to explain how that works.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So North North Harvest Bean Growers Association does represent the farmers in both North Dakota and Minnesota. There's 2,400 farm families that grow drivable beans across both states. We do have 60 a four processors that are purchasers and work work with our farmers. It is a contract crop, and we do see 10 different types of beans growing across both states.
Speaker 4:There is four that are very prominent.
David Nicoli:You wanna make pinto beans? Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yep. Pinto beans and black beans are definitely leading the charge in North Dakota. On the Minnesota side, you see a lot more on the kidneys and navies, but the black bean numbers are coming up considerably just like Darryl is referencing as well.
David Nicoli:So in in terms of where are these beans ending up from a marketplace, some are they consumed nationally, canned, shipped to other places or how where are the where's the end uses typically nowadays going?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Great question. So 80% of the beans produced in The United States are domestic consumed. 20% are internationally, moved. I would say a high percentage are canned, and you see it with dried beans a lot in the food aid markets.
Speaker 4:So the government does buy a large portion of drivable beans, and it's for things like school lunch program, military adult feeding programs. And so, you know, you you see a lot being purchased by the government.
David Nicoli:So I'm gonna put you on the spot a little bit and I don't know how much you remember your statistics and your math here, but from a Minnesota perspective, do you have an idea on a little bit on guesses on acreages in the state of Minnesota for some of these, edible bean crops and and where we're at and where we might be going in the future.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I can give you an idea. You know what? The mark that we like to hit is right around a million acres between the two states, but, Minnesota is at a high mark rate this year in 2025 at 320,000 acres. The reason for that is there is a shortage of kidney beans in the marketplace.
Speaker 4:And so, Minnesota is the largest kidney producer in The United States and largest exporter of kidney beans. And so that that's why you're seeing a little bit of jump in acres. We were at, two eighty last year, so we're up about 40,000 acres between last year and this year. I would say last year, our jump was more in black beans. We saw a large increase in black beans.
Speaker 4:A lot of that was driven by the Mexican market. They had a drought in Mexico last year that required them to import almost a 100% of their dry edible beans, and they really like black beans. So that market was driven a lot by Mexico a year ago.
Speaker 3:So it sounds like the domestic demand for various types is gonna be fairly stable and then the flex is always around where the international demand is. Is that kinda what I'm reading?
Speaker 4:Yeah. And then, you know, when we look at the international marketplace, we really believe there could be potential upwards of 40% exports. We could get to that. A lot of this is policy driven, and you gotta do some work in those countries to open up that policy. Tariffs are affecting us big time right now.
Speaker 4:That really is putting a lot of uncertainty into the marketplace when we're talking international markets. We do have this ninety day reprieve, but we didn't see a lot of change in the the buying habit just for the fact that if they were to buy during that ninety day period, by the time they ship, they could get that tariff applied to them again. So, you know, our dealers are really in an overstock position with beans right now, and it's based on the tariff situation.
Speaker 3:So there you have 64 companies are purchasing direct from farmers, said. Right? That's correct. And are those are those 64 doing both exports and domestic? Or are there some of those that specialize in exports?
Speaker 3:Or some, you know, primarily just do domestic or how and then by I I suppose that's by type and regionally to those those individual companies. Right?
Speaker 4:Yeah. That's a great question, Seth. Yeah. A lot of it is driven by who is their market. I just talked about, like, Bonanza Bean in Morris, Minnesota.
Speaker 4:They're big kidney buyer, big black bean buyer, but they also export a lot of beans. They also have a facility down in Arizona, and they really do kinda try to target the Hispanic population down there. And so they're shipping a lot of the Minnesota beans to Arizona, and they're packaging them in their facility there, and they're marketing domestically down there. So you really see a lot of variables. You know, Green Valley being up in Park Rapids, Minnesota, almost a 100% of what they deal with is exported.
Speaker 4:So everyone's very variable. It just kinda depends on who they are targeting, but lots of choices.
Speaker 3:So you're so the on the policy side, I don't I we can't go down this rabbit hole too far because I think we could spend, you know, days, and then we could also get some bad calls from folks. But you're really caught in both sides of this because you've got this question about tariffs on exports, but there's also these food programs domestically. And there's a lot of questions about domestic ag products going in for SNAP or other types beyond SNAP, but other types of of emergency food type situation. So is is that an is that really an issue for you? Is that part of your question, your policy when you're looking at where things are gonna go as well?
Speaker 4:Yeah. It's really big for us. In fact, a lot of my morning was spent working with a group trying to address the food for progress funding. Really, right now, it's under the, state department, has oversight over it. It was housed with USAID before.
Speaker 4:And we're trying to get that into US USDA to have a little bit more control over that because they're used to working with programs like that and McGovern Dole and funding programs like that. So it is nice to get some stability on that and and the fact that they're buying our products versus maybe using that money to buy international products.
David Nicoli:So talk a little both of you, Darryl and and Mitch, on economics and I'm just gonna pick on on navy beans. You know, per 100 weight, what's what type of a dollar factor, I mean gross dollars, I don't know that need to know their farmers net but where are what are the prices nowadays and in terms of that? I mean you can't necessarily take a situation where you're you're going to be taking a contract, you know, way far out, but what what kinds of returns are are people expecting or are getting so to speak?
Speaker 4:Yeah. You you get some variability on this, you know, depends on the bean class again. Talking about the kidney beans that Daryl was referencing, they're very much more of a higher maintenance bean. They're they don't have the, you know, upright structure for combining them straight like a soybean, but Pintos and Blacks do. You can use that and straight combine them.
Speaker 4:So kidney beans are a little maintenance. They also are irrigated, a lot of them. About 70% of those acres are irrigated. And so you gotta control that environment. They're a little more touchy.
Speaker 4:You're trying to Mhmm. Make sure you're managing those, and we need folks like Darrell to help our farmers with that process. And, but there's a big price difference between them too. If you look at kidneys, you're you can get anywhere from 50 to upwards of $75 per hundredweight. And, depends on whether they're organic or conventional.
Speaker 4:There's all sorts of factors that play into that. But, if you're talking a pinto or black bean right now, they're more in that 20 to $25 range. So you can see big difference in the price.
David Nicoli:So, Darrell, is that is that playing into some of these farmers choices or are they looking at where they can directly haul them or market them or is price part of this factor too for their decisions?
Speaker 2:Oh, certainly. A lot of these farmers are, you know, they're very good at math. They're mathematicians as a vocation, and they're they're looking at price. They're looking at fit in their rotation. I did just visit with a grower yesterday that raises dark reds on both dry land and irrigated, and he shared some of his yield information and some of his pricing information where, you know, he's looking at £1,400.
Speaker 2:Basically. If he can stay below a certain skin check or quality assurance level, I mean, he can he can come up with that kind of number that Mitch is talking about. And, you know, he's got, revenue potential there, you know, that that's gonna push, you know, well over a thousand dollars an acre. But, certainly, there are input costs that are important, to consider with that as well. On on that type of a a dry bean, as Mitch said, it seems to be a better fit for most under sprinkle, under irrigation management.
Speaker 2:It's just has worked out best, forty years that I've kind of been working a bit with dark reds. When I when I try and grow them on dry land, they're they're more challenging, and we can't control the environment quite as much, so that plays in. The black beans, as Mitch said, are are really taking off, and that's becoming a type of dry bean that growers are appreciating growing and are having good success growing. I would say right now, the economics of the black beans have supplanted navies. I'm not working as many navies, navy bean acres right now, and I think that's just because of the dynamics of the black bean acre, just as Mitch just laid it out, and that the Mexican market is pulling some of that inventory and allowing for some pricing opportunities.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, as long as, the math works out, it's doing this, you know, pre planting math pretty well, and if there's a contract available and it's suitable for a good portion of that crop, Again, not every acre is is under that certain amount of harvest contract, so there's basically two prices for the crop harvest there. One for the contracted growers use a vernacular bags, which would be a 100 pounds of seed, and then the rest of the crop. So it all has to kinda work out. And, again, you know, farmer clients are they're gamblers, but they're assuming that they can just do this. And I I appreciate that attitude when they're starting out.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I just wanna drill down just a little bit more, Darryl, on the question about farmer demographics. So these individual farmers that you have have experience obviously, they have for the most part, they have experience growing dry beans at some point. And what how consistent are they on their acres? And I assume that they're talking to their purchasing company, and I assume it's probably one company that they've been dealing with primarily.
Speaker 3:And they're telling them what kind of contracts they have for the coming year, and then that's part of the question about how many acres they might you know, they're looking at pricing and then the amount of contracts available. So I guess I'm kinda getting at this question about how much variability within farmers. Are they flexing a big portion of their acres? One year they'll have a, you know, 30% of their acres. Another year, they'll just have a field.
Speaker 3:Or or and are they moving across are they and I'm sure this is dependent on scale, but are they looking at different types as well And then working even across companies. So I'm kinda trying to get a feel for what the farmer sees out on the landscape when they're making these decisions and what those farmers kinda look like.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's a great question, Seth, to get to the crux of all of it. And it it's really it really goes to what are the processors offering and what is available. I would say right now, you know, it it's more of a high cotton crop, and I don't really have a grower that isn't moving north on acres. They're just all going in more.
Speaker 2:The acres maybe that they that they've tried and not had some success with or not the economic success of late, which to me would be the navy bean. And for our area, the pinto bean, understanding there are areas that that that cultivar is really doing well. The pinto beans are doing well. But for us, for me, it's really the the dark red, the light red, and the, the black beans that are really doing well. But it also it does go back to the economics, and Mitch can certainly speak to that much, much better.
Speaker 2:But if there's optimism in the marketplace, you hate to hear that it's because of a, you know, kinda kind of a a grower issue or a problem like drought in Mexico that's causing us to have a market advantage, but it's nice that we can we can fill that void and have the crop and have some advantage to our farmers that are in a poll polyculture that like to grow them. But right now, it's just been a really kind of a fun time because those acres are kinda moving up and because of the processors, because of the contracts, because of what's offered in the industry, and inevitably, because of consumption. People are just accepting dry beans, and I'm glad they are. I enjoy them too. I mean, frijole nigros is it's they're delicious.
Speaker 2:Well, on that note I can do a commercial.
David Nicoli:Yeah. Mitch, I'm gonna get hand you the crystal ball here Mitch because I think in one of your earlier email communications Seth and I you were prognosticating so to speak on the next couple years. I know one thing personally and my coworkers do, we receive quite a few letters every year from insurance local insurance people for crop insurance for the expansion of different types of dry beans in different counties around the state of Minnesota because there isn't a track record and they you know basically we're in a writing a letter justifying you know agronomically will such and such bean grow in this county or this you know this township based upon our knowledge and records and so So it it appears to us on that side writing the letters that there is an interest in an expansion. Do you wanna comment about that and a little bit about where things are trending here in in Minnesota from north from north to south anyhow?
Speaker 4:Yeah. No. It's a great question. And I will say, like, North Harvest Bean Growers Association does work really closely with the risk management agency under USDA, and we have a great working relationship with them. They've been supportive of trying to grow it.
Speaker 4:Again, we're getting into counties they've never seen them before. Right. And speaking to what Daryl's referencing, but we are seeing a lot more of that. And some farmers are frustrated because they'd like to grow them, and they can't get the specialty crop insurance in their county. We we try to help them with getting as many farmers lined up and submitted to RMA to show them that there is interest.
Speaker 4:That's how they add it. But, usually, they won't do it that year. Usually, it's a following year. So the other option we're looking at is also program crop. I'm trying to get that form where it opens it up a bit more so counties can just add it.
Speaker 4:Of course, a lot of that has to do with the dealer network and whether they can handle additional beans or not too. So the contracts kinda control that. But we are looking at how can we expand it a little bit quicker because we do have dealers that would like to add more southern counties in Minnesota, and we're we're kind of limited to what RMA will approve right now.
David Nicoli:But in terms of are we looking for in your guess, you know, roughly percentage in the next three years or so, I think indicated probably at least a 10% acreage increase or in that ballpark or a little bit more here in the next couple of years?
Speaker 4:Yeah, think as long as we continue to see the progress that we're doing right now, the growth pattern has been steady, and it's about that. So I I don't anticipate that changing. A lot of this growth too is kind of what Daryl referenced. The corn, soybeans, and wheat, how are they doing price wise? And, you know, when there's a struggle there, they tend to look at the specialty crops and how to add those quicker.
Speaker 4:And we went through a little dip of that right now. So that that's some of the things that are affecting why people are looking at drivable beans a bit more.
David Nicoli:Well we want to give each of you a minute to hear on your soapbox, but if, Daryl anything, here as we wrap up this podcast, anything that we didn't mention that you think could be appropriate for our listening audience here of of folks or their ag professionals or farmers? So we're gonna kind of give you the last word then I'm gonna give Mitch the last word here too.
Speaker 2:Sure. Well, I thank you, gentlemen, and it's been a pleasure to be here and be part of the conversation. And I've learned a lot just sitting here as well, so I really appreciate everything I've heard and, Mitch, all of your background on some of the things that I'm not so exposed to. But I I would say with the dry bean as an option in your rotation, keep an open mind to it and continue to do the research on it and continue to see how it might fit in your rotation. From my experience with growers that are in and I'm again, I'm more in a polyculture.
Speaker 2:I'm not corn, soybean, corn, soybean, or even corn, soybean, wheat. I've got four or five you know, I've even had a grower that, at one point, was, like, nine rotations going on at the same time, which really was an an interesting, feat of agricultural, juggling, really. It's amazing to watch him, but certainly, he downsized a little bit after trying that for a few years to more specialty. But I would stay engaged with it. The nice thing about the the navy bean, the the black bean, is that you can use a lot of your conventional equipment to grow them.
Speaker 2:So if there's a way that you can fit that in and if the market continues to expand, as as Mitch said, I could really see it becoming a player. Anytime to me when we can expand the polyculture, it can benefit the other crops in the rotation. Right? And it can benefit the food supply, the energy supply, the seed supply. It can benefit the whole picture.
Speaker 2:And I really like that idea, and it's one of the real, I think, bright spots that dry beans and dry drivable beans provide. And and I would like to see it become less of a geographic crop. I know I'd said that red kidneys, you know, can have some challenges on dry land, but I do have growers grow them. And if you can get a little benevolence from mother nature and do a lot of things right, it can be a crop that can do very, very well also. But it also depends on that setup.
Speaker 2:It depends on you doing the research. It depends on you doing the homework and get it getting everything set up correctly so you give the advantage to the crop no matter what happens with the weather. But, yeah, I look forward to working with, you know, growers that are working with dried beans, and I've really enjoyed it. I've enjoyed it for all of my forty plus years, and I hope to get an opportunity to keep doing it.
David Nicoli:Okay, Mitch, your last words here. Anything else? And are you in this position though if people are interested or growers, can they contact you? Is that legal up there?
Speaker 4:Yes, please. We wanna help the farmers. That's what we're here for, and that's our charge. And I do wanna thank Dave and Seth for hosting, Daryl and I on this podcast. One thing I would reference is we do if you go to northharvestbean.org, there is a a tag there for research.
Speaker 4:If you go to research, they'll have a bunch of information. Now this is all of our published reports. I would also reference if you go to North Harvest Bean Dot Org and then go to the Bean Grower magazine, every year we do a research special, and it's all the publications of the work that we did over the past year. And, that is all available to our farmers, we want you to use that. And then the last thing I would really say is, you know, I encourage our farmers always to reach out to your trusted advisers like Daryl.
Speaker 4:That's extremely important for them for guidance. Darryl's working with a lot of farmers that are doing drivable beans and those are a great resource for them to lean on.
David Nicoli:Okay, well great. Well, thank both of you very much for taking the time to visit with us today on Minnesota Crop Cast and so we're going to go from this program and talk about other crops in the coming future but again thank you both for attending here. So on the behalf of the University of Minnesota Extension, my name is Dave Nicolai, I've been your host here today along with Doctor. Seth Nave, University of Minnesota Extension soybean specialist and our guest Darryl Ike out of Delano, independent crop consultant and Mitch Coulter, executive director North Harvest Beans. We do appreciate both of you guys stopping by and spreading the good word about growing edible beans, dried edible beans in the state of Minnesota.
David Nicoli:So thanks for attending and we'll talk to you in the future.
