GEAPS Exchange: Back in Omaha and Better Than Ever
The leaders of the current and future grain handling industry rubbed elbows, learned what to expect in the coming year and checked out the newest products and technology the industry has to offer.
Exchange to Energize and Enlighten
Thinking Outside the Bin
As farming operations grow larger and yields continue their climb higher, many commercial grain facilities are faced with the challenge of handling higher volumes.
D4 RINs in 2014 Have Fallen Dramatically
The potential impact of EPA's proposed rulemaking for the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard mandate levels and an update on RIN stocks and takes a look at the pace of RIN generation so far in 2014.
Reduce Costs and Improve Productivity with Portable Feed Analysis
The feed manufacturing business has become increasingly challenging as manufacturers are squeezed between the volatility of the grain commodities market and the relative inflexibility of international food pricing. Feed manufacturers are under increased pressure to produce consistently high-quality feed at a cost that allows them to remain solvent in the face of increased ingredient prices.
Winter Checkup — Affordable Care Act Readiness
Employers have an opportunity to use the additional time created by the one-year delay in the employer shared responsibility (also referred to as the play or pay) mandate to gauge ACA compliance readiness.
The Costs of the 2014 Renewable Fuel Mandate
On Nov. 15 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency shocked many when it acknowledged the “blend wall” that petroleum groups had been claiming for years, was, in fact, a reality that needed to be addressed immediately.
Become a Better Manager with Creativity, Innovation
Edison had numerous techniques which he employed to enhance, improve and boost his productivity. We have selected and paraphrased several on the following pages. (Thoughts on Edison’s creative techniques were gathered from Wily Walnut, a website whose motto is “Meet the Genius in Your Brain”; see http://wilywalnut.com.
Raising the Bar: A New Standard for Steel Bin Safety
It is estimated that more than 750,000 steel grain bins have been built in the United States in the past 75 years. It is anyone’s guess how many of these are still in use. In recent years, the industry has erected between 10,000 to 16,000 steel bins a year.
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How to Decontaminate a Dry Grain Processing Facility
A 280,000-cubic-foot protein powder grinding, drying and packaging facility had a Salmonella spp. contamination of some of the equipment. The facility was nearly impossible to decontaminate using conventional methods, not only because it was a large facility, but also because of its height. It was 90 feet tall with three floors in need of decontamination (the second through fourth floors).
USDA Estimates Reasonably Close to Expectations
March 1 stocks of corn were estimated at 7.006 billion bushels, about 100 million less than the average trade guess. The stocks estimate implies that feed and residual use of corn in the domestic market during the first half of the current marketing year totaled 3.851 billion bushels.
Attention to Grain Quality Keeps People Safe
Since 1978, Purdue has documented grain entrapment cases — both on-farm and commercial. In 2010, the number of entrapment incidents spiked at 57.
Trash to Treasure: Grain Elevator Makeover Reinvigorates Community
Two new 100-foot-tall steel bins, a state-of-the-art grain dryer and a shiny new 15,000-bushel/hour grain elevator leg stand high above where Five Star Co-op’s old wooden elevator once stood.
Dreaming for Innovation
We’ve all been there, unintentionally, in the wee hours of the morning — some call it lucid dreaming — when suddenly a new idea pops into your mind.
UIUC Evaluates U.S. Corn Yields by Region
In 2013, counties in the eastern U.S. had corn yields above trend yields while the western corn-belt had below trend yields, resulting in a U.S. corn yield near trend. An evaluation of county yields for years between 2004 through 2013 suggests that corn yields have to be above average across the vast majority of the corn-belt counties for the U.S. to have a corn yield significantly above trend. Similarly, county yields in the majority of corn-belt counties have to be below average for...
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Trash to Treasure: Grain Elevator Makeover Reinvigorates Community