Harvesting of corn and soybeans is now well underway in Chester County and harvesters can be seen cutting their way through the corn and soybean fields when weather conditions allow.

Wheat is harvested in early summer and the fields are usually then double cropped with soybeans. 368 Chester County farms grow corn, 174 soybeans and 96 produce wheat.

Some of the corn may be grown by famers to feed their own livestock but most is sold to a grain elevator such as Hostetter Grain of Oxford. The farmer delivers the harvested crop to either their Oxford (2 million bushel capacity) or Cochranville (1.05 million bushels) elevators.

On delivery the grain is measured for moisture as grain can only be stored satisfactorily at a moisture level of 15.5%. Since most corn is at a higher level, each delivery is dried until it reaches the desired 15.5% and then it is stored in one of the silos.

Hostetter offers contracts for corn so that farmers know the price at which their corn will be sold. Many farmers take advantage of this so that they can manage their input costs which have been increasing significantly. Final price is adjusted for moisture content.

The large poultry broiler industry on the Eastern Shore and Maryland provides the year round market for corn. The poultry (mostly eggs), hogs and dairy industries in Lancaster County are also important markets. None of our corn is used to produce ethanol although around 40% of U.S. corn is now needed for this purpose.

Soybeans are processed so few if any are utilized directly on the farm. They must be processed to produce protein meal for livestock feed and oil for cooking and salad dressings. Chester County soybeans may end up in the same East Shore poultry broiler houses as our corn but exports, particularly to China, are also an important element of the US soybean industry. Soybeans have to be dried to 13% to store satisfactorily.

Winter wheat is planted in the late summer and early fall and harvested in late June early July. Our bread wheat is sold to local flour millers and used to produce many products we are familiar with – Herr’s wheat products such as pretzels, Kit Kat, Nutrigrain and Twizzlers.

Commodities such as corn, soybeans and wheat vary in price every day on the market depending on supply, level of exports, weather conditions and many other factors.

Many farmers rely heavily on the local elevator to use their knowledge of the markets to get the best possible price.

Hostetter Grain was founded by Wilmer and Joyce Hostetter and has been operating in Chester County and Maryland for 40 years. Bill Hostetter concludes, “It is a privilege to work with our local farmers in Chester County and provide this essential service of marketing and gaining the best price for their crops.”