Market Matters Blog

Beans hate wet feet. Soybeans and even corn fields are too soaked to harvest, and, in some cases, there is concern for quality loss. That is causing soybean processors especially to push basis levels to extreme highs for spot old crop soybeans.

In eastern, central and south central Nebraska, rainfall totals have ranged from 3.89 inches to 4.73 inches in September. Areas of south central Nebraska saw up to 4.8 inches of rain over the past 48 hours according to Central Nebraska Today.

In St. Joseph, Missouri, rainfall totals are over 5 inches for September according to the National Weather Service. In Hutchinson, Kansas, there has been approximately 5.61 inches so far in September 2026 according to Weather Underground.

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, New Richland, Minnesota, received approximately 8 to 9 inches of rain during a "torrential" storm over the weekend of September 18--20, 2026.

In September alone, Iowa has had excessive rains with widespread totals reaching 2 to 5 inches or more across large parts of central, southern, and eastern portions of the state. Dubuque has seen 8.78 inches so far in September, Des Moines has seen 12.92 inches and Cedar Rapids has had 9.99 inches, according to Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Here is a list of all rainfall totals so far in September in Iowa: https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/…

When you look at bids in the cities in Iowa near rain soaked fields, there are at least five soybean processors posting a basis of + $1.00 over the November (X) futures. These bids have a short arrival window which has been stretched almost daily in the past few weeks. Other Iowa processors are posting a basis of + $0.50X to + $0.75X to +80X for a short window as well, according to GraInformant.

It doesn't stop there. At least two Nebraska plants are bidding +65X to $1.00X with "arrival by" date stretched out to October 2. In Mankato, Minnesota, spot soybean basis jumped from minus -5X to +50X last week and Fairmont, Minnesota was 20 cents stronger at +70X by Sept. 30. In Kansas City, Missouri, basis jumped 20 cents to +$1.00 for "spot" which is relative right now until harvest starts.

WHAT FARMERS ARE SAYING

Jay Sorg told DTN that "In New Richland, Minnesota, we will probably be well into the 2nd week of October before we can even think about harvesting soybeans."

Cale Carlson, Marquette, Nebraska told DTN they are about two weeks behind on soybean harvest which normally starts around September 10-15.

"Normally, we are about 50% done by now and typically we finish soybeans in September and start corn in October. However, this year when I started soybeans on one good day, they were 15.7 moisture and I only got about 20 acres cut so we switched over to corn and it started raining.

"As of today, Sunday, Sept. 27, it's foggy and I'm drying corn. There are big chances of rain Monday night into Tuesday through the rest of the week with 3 to 5 inches forecast on already saturated fields. I don't imagine myself here in central Nebraska harvesting soybeans for at least a week to 10 days. I will continue to keep trying to mud out a corn crop to keep moving forward with harvest progress."

Carlson added, "I plant early maturity soybeans early in April and even my 3.1 soybeans, which I planted early, the leaves are not falling off and they won't be ready to harvest even if field conditions were good just because of the cool damp finish in September."

A 3.1 soybean is a soybean variety with a relative maturity rating of Group 3.1, meaning it is a mid-season crop designed to mature at a specific time based on day length and temperature, according to the Illinois Soybean Association Field Advisor.

"Normally, a lot of co-ops and processors have secured a large amount of soybeans by this time. However, with the muddy field conditions and the wet soybeans, they've received very little. They are also trying to fill up and load trains, and there are very few soybeans coming in. So, in our area, basis has jumped $1.00 and is good through the end of September. There are some guys that do have old crop soybeans and can't get them to market because of muddy roads. It's been since 2009 since I've seen it this bad," said Carlson.

WEATHER FORECAST DISMAL

The outlook for the upcoming week of Sept. 28 is not good. John Baranick, DTN Ag Meteorologist noted in the DTN forecast on Sunday, Sept. 27, for the central and Southern Plains that "Scattered showers continued over the weekend and will increase with a front and remnant hurricane moving through this week. Areas of heavy rain are forecast across much of the region. That will certainly help with the ongoing drought, but there are risks for flooding that could cause damage and quality concerns for crops out in the field and slow any progress for harvest or winter planting."

For the Midwest, "Scattered showers developed west of the Mississippi River over the weekend, slowing down harvest progress, but areas to the east were warm and dried out, which is promoting progress. A front will move across the region this week with widespread showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. Areas of heavy rain may be a problem, though Iowa and Missouri are the favored targets with lower potential elsewhere in the region. If Iowa and Missouri indeed see heavy rain, it will continue to bring problems to both states in terms of grain quality and harvest delays."

Mary Kennedy can be reached at mary.kennedy@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @MaryCKenn

(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.