News

Minnesota farmer harvesting green stem soybeans

A farmer in southeast Minnesota began harvesting soybeans this week.

Bruce Peterson of Northfield says the stems are green.

“You look at the straw, and the bean straw is all grass green, but the beans are 11, 12, 13 percent (moisture). So it’s time to get at them, otherwise they can get too dry.”

He tells Brownfield dryness was a theme all summer with only 10 inches of rain since June.

“We’re kind of in a hole there just south and west of the Twin Cities, but so far the soybean yields have been pretty solid. They’re down from last year, but pretty solid to start anyway.”

Peterson says through Wednesday about 20 percent of his soybean crop has been harvested.