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With the late season and immature crops in the northwestern Corn Belt, grain moisture levels at harvest are higher than farmers have seen in several years. So, they've been forced to dry corn and even soybeans.
Jeff Thompson of Colton, S.D., says his corn is running from 20% moisture on the early corn to 25% moisture on the later maturing hybrids, so his grain dryer on the farm has been going 24-7. That slows down the harvest and is an added cost.
“My gas man comes every day and it’s like 850 gallons a day when the dryer is running, you know, non-stop. So, it counts up in a hurry. It's the last expense you need is more drying expense and dockage,” he says.
That’s especially true since propane prices have risen 20% in October. Thompson says his soybeans were 16% moisture, but he sold the crop at the elevator and let them commercially dry it and just took the dockage on the price.
This year's increased demand for propane has also created propane delivery issues. Governors from Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota have signed emergency executive orders to help resolve delivery challenges by exempting drivers of commercial motor vehicles delivering propane from the hours of service requirements during November.
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The lagging development of this year's row crops also resulted in some damage when the first freeze hit in October. However, the market has been trying to determine the degree of yield and quality loss. Agronomist Larry Osborne says corn and soybeans that weren't mature when the growing season ended had the top end yield shaved off. That amounts to 5% to 10 % for soybeans, but for corn yield losses may be higher.
“I use the figure 10 to 15%, maybe 20% in some cases. I don't think quite that much, I think the entire season maybe took off that much over the highs that we've seen in recent years,” Osborne says.
He says test weights are also running slightly lower on corn that didn't hit black layer or completely fill. That's also leading to more fines and difficulty in handling and drying the crop.
