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Some soybean producers paid substantially less for higher moisture

A University of Wisconsin soybean expert says growers are not only having a difficult harvest, but many are also experiencing even lower prices if the moisture level isn’t just right.  Professor and researcher Shawn Conley says, “It depends on the elevators because the elevator has been playing games.  Alright, so 13% is what is ‘dry beans’ but I’ve seen some pretty severe dockages taken at 14%, so that’s one thing growers need to pay attention to is to shop around elevators and get their dockage estimates before you should go over there.”

Conley tells Brownfield he’s had calls from growers that are getting docked a lot of money per bushel.  “I mean, it was $.30 for a point, which is ridiculous.”

He says it’s not every elevator, but Conley says the ones that really don’t want soybeans will dock the heck out of producers.

Conley tells Brownfield farmers might want to store beans on the farm, but they need to remember that storing beans is a lot different than storing corn because they need less heat and more air to dry, and they need to be moved more carefully to prevent cracking… which can also lower the price paid for the crop.

Conley estimates that up to 20% of Wisconsin’s soybeans are still in the field.  Much of the state has freezing temperatures and up to an inch of snow cover already.