Fort Dodge Messenger, IA
07-28-07
Experts estimate what could be a bin busting harvest
By DARCY DOUGHTERY MAULSBY, Messsenger staff writer
Iowa may have to play catch-up for a few years to create enough storage space
for the amount of grain being produced, thanks to today’s seed genetics and
skyrocking demand from the renewable fuels industry.
“The question isn’t whether grain will be stored," said Charles Hurburgh, an
agricultural and biosystems engineering professor at Iowa State University.
“It’s where and with what quality level the grain will be kept."
“Based on the latest estimates of current storage options and projected yields,
Iowa will be 500 million to 750 million bushels short of good-quality grain storage
this fall,” said Hurburgh, who defines “good quality" as storage with a solid
surface, a cover, uniform air flow, and ease of moving grain in and out.”
While storage is being built as fast as the construction companies can go, it may
not be fast enough. “The grain bin companies tell us they are booked for at least
two years," Hurburgh said. “Steel has become the limiting factor, since increased
global demand has made steel more expensive and harder to get."
Although on-farm storage appears to be going up more often than commercial
storage, elevators are adding more bins and improving the efficiency of their
grain-handling equipment. Two Rivers Cooperative, for example, is building two
new Sukup grain bins at its Monroe location. Each bin will hold 325,000 bushels,
and the co-op is also installing a new tower and new leg that can handle 15,000
bushels an hour. The new bins will more than double the grain capacity at this
location.
MaxYield Cooperative in northwest Iowa has continued to invest in its grain
facilities. “In the past five years we’ve added faster equipment at Dickens,
Mallard, Belmond, West Bend and Fostoria," noted Harry Bormann, grain team
leader, who noted that the co-op also offers condo grain storage options. “If the
2007 crop yields well, however, you may see more corn piles around the area
this fall."
Protect your profit potential
With ethanol driving many of Iowa’s grain storage issues, farmers and elevators
are being forced to consider quality more carefully. “Ethanol plants generally
don’t discount for quality issues—they reject the grain," Hurburgh said. “You can’t
just blend quality problems away."
That means grain has to be in just as good of condition in May and June as it
was in October and November. “Grain management isn’t rocket science, but
there are some basic principles you must follow," said Hurburgh, who offered the
following tips:
• Keep the air flowing. Under no circumstances should you store grain without
aeration. If you’re using an old building for extra storage, set steel aeration
ductwork down before you fill the structure with grain.
• Keep it covered. Grain should never be stored without a cover. It should also
never be piled outside on the farm. “It’s very hard to manage grain quality in
small piles, so it’s easy for the grain to go out of condition," Hurburgh said.
• Maintain the proper temperature. Keep the grain temperature within 10 to 15
degrees of the average outside air temperature. This can get tricky in late
September and early October, when days can be warm and nights can be cool.
“Even if the grain is dry coming in from the field, you can still have quality
problems," Hurburgh said. “When there are differences in the grain and outside
air, there will be moisture movement, which can lead to condition problems."
• “Keep moisture levels in check. Corn should not be more than 16 percent
moisture coming out of the field. Never carry wet grain through the winter,” said
Hurburgh, who noted that proper aeration can take corn down to 15 percent
moisture for the winter. If you plan to store the grain into March and April, use
aeration fans to bring the moisture down to 14 percent.
• Continue to monitor grain quality and temperature. As the months go by,
regularly check the temperature of your stored grain. “A temperature change is
the key thing to watch for, because changes in temperature indicate condition
changes," Hurburgh said. If you notice in early February, for example, that the
grain is at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and then goes up to 35 in a few weeks and
hits 38 degrees in another couple weeks, determine if it’s a localized hot spot or
whether the mass is starting to heat. Turn on the fans to cool the grain, and
remove grain that has spoiled.
Plan ahead
As you consider your grain storage needs, look at the big picture. “When farmers
upgrade their grain handling system, one of the biggest problems I’ve noticed is
that they don’t see beyond the combine," Hurburgh said. “While they invest in a
large, new combine, they don’t consider how this will impact their unloading
capacity. From the combine to wagons and semi-trucks to grain bins, the whole
system has to fit together."
Since the amount you can afford to spend on grain storage often involves tradeoffs, Iowa State University is developing a new Excel spreadsheet to help you
crunch the numbers and connect grain storage to your marketing plan. When the
tool is ready, it will be added to the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative Web site at
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/grain/.