Minnesota dry bean farmer gets a firsthand look at dry beans in Argentina

STAPLES, MINN. — Norm Krause, Area 2 director for the Minnesota Dry Bean Research and Promotion Council and a dry bean farmer near Staples, Minnesota, had the opportunity to travel to Argentina in early June to learn about Argentina's 2024 crop.

The trip was sponsored by the U.S. Dry Bean Council and included Krause, Julia Ann Umland-Krause from the Northarvest Bean Growers Association, Dan Smith from Kelley Bean in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and Alejandro Leloir, a senior market analyst from the United States Dry Bean Council.

Krause said one of the main goals of the trip was to meet with farmers, processors and researchers in various regions throughout the country to get a better understanding of the dry bean industry in Argentina.

"We got to visit a number of different growers' fields. These are much different than in the United States. Most of these farms are large, anywhere from 30,000 to 125,000 acres down there," Krause said. "They're large farms, and so as a result, many times have their own processing plants. We were able to meet with the farmers or the farm managers and better understand what their crop conditions are like."

The tours included three different areas of Argentina: the southern subregion which included Tucumán, the central subregion which included Southern Salta and the northern subregion which included Pichanal, Oran and Salta. Dry beans grown in those areas included black beans, kidney beans and Alubia beans, which are a large, white bean and one of the main beans that are grown in Argentina.

"They have had very dry weather this year," Krause said. "Planting season was delayed two to three weeks, and then, as a result of that, the crop was impacted by a couple of early frosts. So some are saying that this is the worst crop that Argentina's had since 2013."

The group was also able to meet with market specialists which provided them some insight into market trends for the country's dry beans. Because of poor crop conditions in Argentina, Krause sees opportunities for U.S. growers.

"The U.S. has an opportunity to export beans, primarily black beans and kidney beans, to some of the countries that Argentina would normally export to such as Central America and Brazil," Krause said.

Krause believes that trips like this are important in order for U.S. farmers to better understand what's going on in agriculture around the world and plan accordingly.

"For example, in Brazil, if there's a shortage of beans, they have the opportunity to produce three crops a year. In the United States and Argentina, one crop per year. So if there's a very high price and the shortage of beans, they (Brazil) can more quickly fill that demand," he said. "It's to better understand world production, where the opportunities are and where some of the surpluses may result if there's overproduction anywhere in the world."