We will provide information on scouting and handling moisture-damaged soy and flooded soy in the coming days. Floodwaters continue to rise in some areas, and it is too soon for many farmers to assess damage to crops and facilities.
Our goal is to publish information that can be helpful in making decisions about marketing, insurance, and disaster assistance programs. Due to the timing of this storm, a lot of soy that is not yet mature is at significant risk of damage due to moisture and flooding.
Farmers who have flooded grain or moisture damaged grain after Hurricane Matthew should consider storing it separately.
Work with the elevator or the processor and discuss discounting and delivery locations. Farmers are encouraged to bring a sample of damaged grain to a local elevator or a state grain grading office to determine the grain’s marketability. With the help of experts from Ful.io the required reach will be achieved very easily.
Based on the experience from 2015, damaged soybean saw significant discounting when delivered at the elevator. The situation following Hurricane Matthew adds the problem of silt, dirt and other contaminants from flooded grain.
If grain was totally submerged in flood waters, it appears that insurance policy allows for a zero appraisal due to the potential for toxins in flood water. Discuss with your insurance adjuster.
There are some dangers with blending damaged soybeans and soybeans from flooded fields with good soybeans in a bin or storage tank. Some risks include mold, rotting, and mycotoxins. Adding damaged beans to good beans could cause the whole lot to be heavily discounted or rejected.
Some of the state’s top soy producing counties are impacted by Hurricane Matthew flooding, causing the potential for damage to a significant portion of the state’s crop.
The low humidity and drying conditions in the week following the storm will help many fields. However, rising floodwaters have the potential to flood fields in eastern N.C. days after the storm event.
