October 1, 2008

Commercial elevators in Michigan held 709,000 hundredweight (cwt) of dry beans in storage as of August 31, 2008, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). The quantity on hand included 295,000 cwt of navy beans, 324,000 cwt of black beans, and 90,000 cwt of all other classes. Stocks account for all beans in commercial off-farm storage and include a small portion of non-Michigan grown products. An estimate of the quantity of dry beans held on farms is not included in this report.

This is the fourth issue in a new series of Dry Bean Stocks reports. The Michigan Bean Commission and the Michigan Bean Shippers Association requested re-initiation of this report. MDA concluded that the report should be re-initiated in August of 2006 and data for intervening years are not available. This is the second issue in which MDA's Producer Security Services Section has compiled and issued the Dry Bean Stocks report. August 31 will be the reference date for tabulation and publishing henceforth.

Dry bean stocks are not included in the USDA Agricultural Statistics Board system of grain stocks reports. Dry bean stocks data included in this report were tabulated from administrative reports supplied monthly by elevator operators to MDA.

For a breakdown of Michigan dry edible bean stocks in commercial elevators, please see the attachment.