Harvest of dry beans in the Nebraska Panhandle and eastern Wyoming has been going since the first week in September. Growers in both states in the North Platte Valley are experiencing lower yields this season. Several late hailstorms and the collapse of the Goshen / Gering-Ft Laramie irrigation canal tunnel can explain some of the yield reduction, but in areas that had sufficient moisture and no hail, yields are also down.
Previous average yields were about 2,400 to 2,800 pounds per acre. This season’s yields are 1,600 to 2,000 pounds per acre. Weather has been good for harvest with warm days to dry the bean windrows and little wind and precipitation. Most growers should complete harvest by the first week in October.
John Thomas, Nebraska Extension crops educator, continues to work with growers with direct harvest of dry beans with on-farm research plots across the Panhandle. John will hold grower meetings later this winter to present his on-farm research findings.
