By United Soybean Board
Harvest Patrol: Georgia farmer juggles multiple growth stages and strategic delivery timeframes
Harvest is a challenging time of year for farmers. It demands attention to detail, calculated execution and long hours. And that’s just with your typical crop.
Walter Godwin, a farmer from Pelham, Georgia, has additional variables to manage this fall.
“This year, I participated in soybean research with the University of Georgia to study the effects of various planting dates on yield,” says Godwin, who grows soybeans and several other crops as well as raises chickens. “I have three age groups of soybeans growing for the project—early beans, mid beans and late beans.”
The early plot, which he planted around April 20, challenged Godwin’s plans to keep a schedule this year.
“The earliest plot had soybean plants with green stems and green pods, as well as plants that were mature, dried-down and ready to be harvested,” Godwin says. “I needed to delay harvest by about a week to avoid having a high moisture level in the beans, which slowed down the start of our soybean harvest this year. It has been a challenge.”
While Godwin has since been able to start harvest, it’s going to be a long ride
His mid beans were planted around May 15, along with the majority of his soybean crop, and his late plot for the research project was planted in three sub-groups across several weeks in August to test the incremental effects on the plants. He expects his harvest to last from late-September through November this year.
“I’ve got some beans coming up out of the ground and some beans that are ready to harvest,” explains Godwin.
Getting the crop to its destination is the next challenge once the soybeans are out of the field.
“The good news is that there is nothing that inhibits us from getting to the elevator and back, transportation-wise,” Godwin says. “Our problem is that once the truck arrives, there is a long wait to unload.”
To avoid the long wait times at the elevator, Godwin stores as much of his crop as possible on the farm.
“We fill up all of our bins to avoid the long lines,” Godwin explains.
Whatever he can’t store, he’ll sell to ADM in Valdosta, Georgia. The stored beans stay on his farm until December and January so that he can avoid the wait at the elevator, and receive a better basis.
After Godwin’s beans make it to ADM, they don’t go too far
“After the beans are crushed, they go to our local poultry-feed mill,” Godwin says. “The feed mill is just north of me, and it produces feed for our chicken houses. So some of my soybean crop will come back to the farm.”
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