Grain elevators have been challenged to keep up with the uninterrupted pace of harvest 2015.
If there would have been a break between corn and soybeans, grain elevators may have had a chance to catch up, but with none they have resorted to creative options to find homes for the bumper crop.
Some elevators were forced — because of the size of the soybean crop — to put soybeans in outside bunker storage that is normally reserved for corn. Others put soybeans in bins that were reserved for corn.
“We’re probably using about every bit of storage space we have available,” said Bob Zelenka, executive director of the Minnesota Grain and Feed Association.
Bins and bunkers are full and limited grain is moving as the markets have been fairly flat, he said. There are long lines at ethanol and soybean processing plants.
With more than 75 percent of Minnesota’s grain storage located on farm, farm bins were likely filled first, he said. Others may have moved more soybeans to town to save room for corn.
With corn coming out of the field with moisture in the teens, there’s little need for commercial drying so grain elevators aren’t making much money drying corn this fall, he said.
“The access to transportation hasn’t been a problem,” Zelenka said, but little grain is moving. Railroads have added capacity since the debacle of 2013, he said.
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