For years, grain was brought to Farmers Grain and Stock and, later, Hansen-Mueller’s elevator in Menno, SD.
Those grains will be delivered elsewhere this fall. The elevator closed at the start of 2020 and now sits dormant.
According to a report at Inforum, the loss of the community grain elevator in Menno has also taken place in other South Dakota communities such as Alexandria, Scotland and White Lake.
The state’s small-town grain elevator count is shrinking, with fewer elevators and more pressure on cooperatives to keep pace with larger amounts of grain and a competitive marketing landscape.
Grain handlers are also challenged to handle more corn, soybeans and wheat than ever, as farmers around the region contribute to yet another expected record crop this year. And truckers are responding with semi trucks with 40-foot trailers to carry up to 1,500 bushels of grain out of the field and to market, with tractors carrying smaller-scale pup trailers becoming more rare.
But none of those issues are new to South Dakota agriculture, as the consolidation and closures of the state’s elevators dates back 60 years.
According to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, which has overseen grain handling operators in South Dakota for 130 years, the state has 257 licensed locations that are either certified as state or federal warehouses or as processors. In 1960, South Dakota had twice as many locations, with 533 companies in 368 locations. Twenty-five years ago, the state’s count was still above 400, with 429 locations around the state.
Read the full report at Inforum.
