Rodins deliver barley, work cattle under sunny skies Farm and Ranch Guide: Producer Reports

NIOBE, N.D. - On a beautiful fall morning in northwestern North Dakota west of Kenmare, Lenny Rodin was getting ready for fall work.

While watching many flocks of migratory birds fly overhead, he was hoping snowstorms would hold off long enough to get grain in the bin and calves weaned.

“We've had a beautiful past couple of weeks up here,” Lenny said. “Lots of sun. As long as the weather stays nice, we will get a lot of fall work finished.”

One of the main things he is doing is marketing some grain to clear up room in the bins for a couple of durum piles he has on the ground.

“It has been difficult for producers to market the durum that was bleached due to the rain,” he said. The bleaching usually causes poor falling numbers which affects quality. “We had a tremendous crop around here yield-wise, but not as much quality-wise.”

Elevators apparently are full and are taking a wait and see approach to whether or not there will be enough supply, he said.

In addition, with the markets volatile worldwide, and a lot of harvested grain out there, prices have been up one day, down the next day.

According to SunPrairie Grain of Bowbells, N.D., spring wheat is in the $6 to $7 range; number one durum at $11; malting barley at $5; canola at $15.40; and flax at $11.40.

Lenny heard some Canadian producers also had bleached durum and were trying to market to area elevators. However, the elevators are mostly full from the area producers' grain and do not need the extra grain.

“I think the elevators are trying to take the best durum first,” he said.

Lenny did deliver barley to Northgate Elevator up by the Canadian border. Some of his durum is being sent to a puffing plant in southwestern North Dakota.

Meanwhile, he still has two fields of flax to harvest, and planned to go out last Thursday and check on it. If it is dry enough, he will cut it and market it right away.

Currently, the Rodins are working cattle, culling cows and getting ready to wean the calves later this month.

With the markets “so wild right now,” Lenny says they will probably feed the calves through the winter and sell them later in December or January.

He has also talked with one producer who said the usual feedlots to the south are still harvesting corn due to a late season, and are not able to take calves right now. So more producers than usual may be feeding calves at home this fall.

The Rodins are also putting down anhydrous, a hefty proposition with the $1,240 a ton price that producers are paying right now.

With fertilizer prices high because of the natural gas it is made from and diesel prices remaining high for the foreseeable future, Lenny says he'd like to propose some research into making biodiesel from kochia and cattails!

Plenty of both are available in the region, he said with a laugh.