The Daily News

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — A bumper crop of North Dakota grain, delayed by cool, wet weather, is filling up bins at prices farmers say are hardly worth the cost of planting.

Jim Bobb, the division manager for the Southwest Grain elevator, says it’s the largest crop he’s seen in 27 years of working for the company.

“The yields are probably 125 percent of what it would normally be,” Bobb said. “I would say the crop is pretty even all over, just in different stages. A lot of our smaller facilities are full.”

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The grain prices, running less than $4 a bushel, are terrible, said South Central Grain manager Jeff Mehl. He said producers are selling because their bins are full.

Export demand is down and the domestic market is flooded with wheat — a bad combination for holding the crop’s value, Mehl said. Producers are taking the price blow because they don’t have a choice, he said.

“They’re focused on getting the job done,” he said.

“The prices are depressing and I would say the prices are below cost of production. But you just have to hang to it,” said Paul Lautenschlager, the general manager of the Beach Co-op Grain Co. “It’s a good thing we have bushels — we can deal with the prices throughout the year.”

Elevator companies have been working hard to get the grain shipped.

“I think it’s a fair statement to say we’re not keeping up. There’s just more production than we’re built to handle,” Bobb said. “We keep going after more and more (rail) cars — the demand is there and the railroad has had the ability to fill that so far.”

At Flasher, elevator manager Nola Schafer said she’s paying $3.25 for low-protein wheat. Even with a solid 50-bushel yield, “They (farmers) can’t pay the bills,” she said.

Jan Altendorf is a co-owner of Altendorf Harvest, a custom combine crew set up in a crowded trailer park on Mott’s west side. She said she’s been coming to Mott for most of three decades and has never seen such a good crop, though the chilly nights and humid days have delayed combining.

“It’s big, a one-in-a-lifetime harvest for Mott. I’ve not ever seen one like this before,” Altendorf said last week.

Her crew has been waiting in Mott for a month. In a normal year, they’re there about 12 days.

Crops north are still as green as they were when she pulled into Mott a month ago, she said.

At Flasher, Mike Fleck was nearly finished cutting a great wheat crop last week.

“It was really fun combining. The wheat really boiled out of the hopper,” he said. He swathed some wheat down to hasten ripening, instead of straight cutting, he said.

The prices for his gorgeous crop were another story.

“It was real fun, until I got to the elevator,” Fleck said.

Lance Miller of Glen Ullin, was stopped for combine diesel on his way to McIntosh, S.D., where he had 3,000 wheat acres waiting to be cut.

“It’s about a month behind,” Miller said.

“It’s been crazy, nonstop,” he said. “I should be hauling hay (not combining).”

Darrell Erhardt, who farms near Carson, was fixing his combine and waiting for the day’s moisture to dry down before cutting the last of his barley in a golden stubby field. He hopes frost will hold off until October so he can harvest his corn and sunflowers.

Starting with snow, floods, a wet spring and a cool summer, “It’s been a weird, tough year,” he said.

 

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