Consider harvesting soybeans earlier to manage risk and improve net income
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EmailHarvesting soybeans at 15% to 16% moisture reduces potential for harvest losses and soil compaction and increases income compared to harvesting overly dry soybeans.
Soybean producers often wait to begin harvesting until the moisture level of the beans in the field has dropped to or below 13%. While these first fields may be harvested at the optimum conditions and moisture level to maximize value per bushel, the plants in the remaining fields will probably become too dry, increasing harvest losses and lost pay bushels or weight, resulting in lost income.
The main reason producers delay soybean harvest is to avoid discounts and drying charges at delivery. Table 1 shows the net value per acre and per bushel for soybeans delivered at various moisture levels. Even when typical moisture shrink factors and a 30% increase over 2021 drying charges are applied, it is more profitable to harvest soybeans at 15% and 16% moisture than to harvest them at 11% moisture, and harvesting at 14% is more profitable than harvesting at 12%.
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Table 1. Net value of a bushel of soybeans harvested and delivered at various moisture levels |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Moisture (%) |
Wet weight |
Moisture shrink (%) |
Weight after applying shrink |
*Drying charge ($/bu) |
**Net value ($/bu) |
|
17 |
62.89 |
5.6 |
59.37 |
0.26 |
$13.98 |
|
16 |
62.14 |
4.2 |
59.53 |
0.195 |
$14.09 |
|
15 |
61.41 |
2.8 |
59.69 |
0.13 |
$14.19 |
|
14 |
60.70 |
1.4 |
59.85 |
0.065 |
$14.30 |
|
13 |
60.00 |
0 |
60.00 |
0 |
$14.40 |
|
12 |
59.32 |
0 |
59.32 |
0 |
$14.24 |
|
11 |
58.65 |
0 |
58.65 |
0 |
$14.08 |
|
10 |
58.00 |
0 |
58.00 |
0 |
$13.92 |
|
9 |
57.36 |
0 |
57.36 |
0 |
$13.77 |
*Estimated 2022 drying charges are based on a 30% increase over typical charges assessed in 2021.
** The USDA 2022/23 estimated market price of $14.40 per bushel was used when calculating net value.
The values reported in the table don’t consider any of the other risks associated with delaying soybean harvest, such as increasing the potential for harvest losses, soil compaction, combine ruts (see photo) or delayed wheat planting. Shatter losses due to brittle pods increase as moisture levels drop below 11%. They also increase whenever soybeans dry to 13% and then undergo repeated wetting and drying cycles.
Due to extremely wet fall weather, good harvest conditions have been rare and short-lived in recent years. This is another strong argument for harvesting some your soybean fields at 15-16% moisture when weather and soil conditions are conducive. Every acre harvested under good weather and soil conditions is one less acre that may have to be harvested under poor conditions.
Wheat producers should be especially motivated to harvest soybeans early as wheat yields have been shown to decrease by 0.6 bushels per acre for each day planting is delayed between Oct. 1 and Oct. 20. The higher wheat yields realized from early planting will more than compensate for the small level of lost income realized by harvesting soybeans at 15-16% moisture.
Consider harvesting some of your soybean fields at 15-16% moisture to manage harvest risk and improve farm income.
This article was produced by a partnership between Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Soybean Committee.
