03/14/06 Falling prices for Idaho dry beans

Dry edible bean prices have fallen significantly and many Idaho farmers have a lot of beans that they can't afford to sell. Brent Zeyer of Melmont Bean and Seed near Melba says industry giant North Dakota can sell dry beans for five dollars per hundredweight less than Idaho growers. ZEYER "Right on the wall it said 13 dollars to the grower and I had a chance to look at the beans and the beans looked great. Nice beans, they were loading rail cars, shipping beans out left and right but of course farmers can get 13 dollars for our beans here. We just can't do that." Idaho doesn't have a lot of buyers at 18 dollars. So what's ahead for Idaho and other growers this year? How many acres will they plant? LUCIER "No change to maybe even a small decline to as much as a five percent increase in area." USDA economist Gary Lucier says the demand for dry beans in the US took a big dip six years ago with the advent of the low carb diets. LUCIER "Dry bean consumption began to fall, reached the bottom in 2004 at about 5.9 pounds per person." Many Idaho growers are sitting on the beans, waiting for a better price. Some believe seed may be the way to go. More about bean seed in our next report. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott