HANCOCK COUNTY, Ohio — All across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, grain elevators are working overtime as area farmers harvest their corn and soybeans. But the continued drought across the state is giving some farmers a headache.
Legacy Farmer's Cooperative in Findlay is one of them. It's among 11 facilities in the area. It handles about 7 million bushels of corn and beans every year. The trucks arrive, the grain gets tested, weighed and then taken to loading bins. Then, it's shipped out via rail.
Chad Rosebrook has been the Vice President of grain at Legacy for 11 years. He said early to mid-October is about peak harvest season.
"We started taking new bean crops in about a month ago, and our bean harvest progress is 75% complete," he said. "But we do have a lot of corn to bring in yet. The corn harvest is maybe 10% complete, so we are finishing beans."
Farmers have enjoyed ideal growing conditions in the last few years. Plenty of rain and sunshine help them flourish. Corn, for example, in the last years has recorded a record yield of nearly 200 bushels an acre. But in 2024, the exceptionally dry July, August and September really hurt farmers.
Rosebrook said he estimates soybean and corn yields will be about 15% less from last year. But he added that the last few years had been exceptional. So crops in 2024 will be good - just not great.
Then there's the price of corn and beans at the market. Corn is down to a little over $4 dollars a bushel, down a dollar from last year. Beans fell from around $13 to $10. Demand has fallen worldwide. Plus, there's still a glut of grain from last year.
The beans brough to Legacy this season will be shipped to the Chesapeake region, then Europe and north Africa. Corn will head to the southeast. But supply chains are impacted due to hurricanes Helene and Milton.