On-farm grain storage in Illinois and Indiana has increased the past 10 years, reports AgriNews.
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, on-farm storage has increased by 90 million bushels in Indiana to 860 million bushels and Illinois has seen a 50 million bushel jump to 1.48 billion bushels from Dec. 1, 2009, to Dec. 1, 2019.
Poor field conditions extended the 2019 harvest, and there were just small windows of opportunities to get into the fields. When it was fit, the crop had higher than desired moisture content, forcing the need for drying and adding more cost at a time of low commodity prices.
There were reports of grain elevators shutting down early last fall because they were at capacity in the midst of harvest.
“On-farm storage and dryers provide an option where you don’t have to pay someone else for drying. You can save a lot of money by drying it yourself,” Phil Foster, owner of Foster’s Mechanics in Paxton, IL, told AgriNews.
