Which Alberta farmers are buying dryers????

[bucket]

Program announced for Alberta to buy dryers?

Why don't they just put them at elevators where the process of drying could be sped up exponentially. ????

I am really confused as to how this helps any efficiency in the process....

Blast away ....I am a little confused...

While I understand the importance of this. ....I think it would be more important to look at the whole issue...


Once again governments being reactive instead of proactive? ????

[blackpowder]

$2M even at a 50/50 cost share doesn't buy much.
New terminal here got smart.
Pay the farmer to do the drying. They don't want one.

[furrowtickler]

I thought we have been told that our growing season is much longer now , why does anyone need driers going foreword ?
Seems odd eh ?

[bucket]

$2M even at a 50/50 cost share doesn't buy much.
New terminal here got smart.
Pay the farmer to do the drying. They don't want one.

Elevators have the ability to blend on the go....if they are buying slightly tough grain and receive a few loads of dry , they have the ability to blend faster.

Drying on the farm to me makes no sense...

While elevators don't want the dryers ...graincos have been more than obligatory to take government money for other projects...

P&H was given 10million for their flour mill a few years back...

And graincos have no issue asking for help when dealing with railways in 13/14...

Help the bottom line ...grainco has no problem making the call to government....

Help the farmer ....not a chance and the government delays saying they are waiting on more info....

[bucket]

I guess the problem I have is.... graincos have the money to build fertilizer blending plants and chemicals sheds....but no money or interest in their core business of grain...

Blending fertilizer plants ,when almost every farmer has 4 tank drills and mid row banders, seems like a money loser.....

Chem sheds are doing well with the independents...

Although when my grain grade depends on how much inputs I buy from a grainco....you know this is a phucked industry...

[Daylate]

Wouldnt a $2M credit on carbon tax for guys that used extra propane, NG and electricity make more sense? Whats $2M of handling systems gonna buy across alberta, 2 ft of 10 gauge wire per farm? Im gonna impatiently wait to see what our brains in sask are gonna do.

[bucket]

Wouldnt a $2M credit on carbon tax for guys that used extra propane, NG and electricity make more sense? Whats $2M of handling systems gonna buy across alberta, 2 ft of 10 gauge wire per farm? Im gonna impatiently wait to see what our brains in sask are gonna do.

My guess is nothing....or maybe if they spend money on R&D on a grain dryer there will be a 9 dollar return for every dollar spent....sarcasm....

[makar]

Terminal drying don't stop your your grain heating in the bin or rotting in the field.

[blackpowder]

These last four years have been shit for wet grain alright. I have no fix.
I see the farms here getting larger and 2/3 of the main concerns within 15 miles now have dryers. Cheaper than a combine lol. Costs vary wildly depending on access to 3ph and HP gas.
I can see it being more efficient for a terminal to take in a finished product.

[bucket]

Terminal drying don't stop your your grain heating in the bin or rotting in the field.

True but it can be handled quicker at an elevator than at a farm....the problem with calling for more production in western Canada ...is the infrastructure to move and handle grain is for 1970 production...

Everything from railway , grain company and farm infrastructure is decades behind....

It includes more capacity, additional drying capacity because if the environmentalists are right ...this grain drying issue won't be a one of event...

I still think the smart thing is to offer incentives for grain companies to do the drying at their facilities....going forward...

[LEP]

True but it can be handled quicker at an elevator than at a farm....the problem with calling for more production in western Canada ...is the infrastructure to move and handle grain is for 1970 production...

Everything from railway , grain company and farm infrastructure is decades behind....

It includes more capacity, additional drying capacity because if the environmentalists are right ...this grain drying issue won't be a one of event...

I still think the smart thing is to offer incentives for grain companies to do the drying at their facilities....going forward...

Sorry bucket but from where I sit, it looks like the entire grain handling system has been built in the last 20 years. Concrete elevators, 134 car grain loops. But it only pays to have these facilities turn. To bring in tough grain and dry it, slows it down.

I make sure my grain stays in condition to sell throughout the year. I make decisions at harvest that I have to live with. ie. Take it tough and deal with it or leave it until spring and thrash it then. My responsibility doesn't end when I unload the combine, which I think you keep arguing. Not wanting to buy bins, not wanting to dry tough grain.

It sucks, but it is a risk of farming that you have to deal with grain that won't store. If you want to sell your grain through the year, I guess you have to be able to store it. We aren't like the US where corn is a pretty uniform commodity and they don't need many separations for Soybeans. Farmers can sell the grain and hold the paper.

Flame away.

[bucket]

Sorry bucket but from where I sit, it looks like the entire grain handling system has been built in the last 20 years. Concrete elevators, 134 car grain loops. But it only pays to have these facilities turn. To bring in tough grain and dry it, slows it down.

I make sure my grain stays in condition to sell throughout the year. I make decisions at harvest that I have to live with. ie. Take it tough and deal with it or leave it until spring and thrash it then. My responsibility doesn't end when I unload the combine, which I think you keep arguing. Not wanting to buy bins, not wanting to dry tough grain.

It sucks, but it is a risk of farming that you have to deal with grain that won't store. If you want to sell your grain through the year, I guess you have to be able to store it. We aren't like the US where corn is a pretty uniform commodity and they don't need many separations for Soybeans. Farmers can sell the grain and hold the paper.

Flame away.

I won't argue the points except to say that is seems the canadian system is moving to a one grade as well...While graincos might buy a 1,2,3 amber durum the price spreads between them said they are probably selling a 3cwad regularly...the higher grades are for niche markets or ensuring quality to the lower grades while they can still make grade....which also means they are blending at the elevator as well..

Here is my point about drying ...take a 100,000 tonne elevator with 50000 tonnes of dry grain and 50000 tonnes of tough grain....they blend it numerous different ways and may have to dry 25000 tonnes to make it all work...

On a farm may be the same percentages but the logistics to do so are far more efficient at an elevator...

Sometimes and in this case everyone has to sit down and ask what is best for the industry as a whole as opposed to what good for only part of it.

If an elevator can't make a business case to run a dryer ...how does an individual farmer?

There are dryers at graincos in Swift Current that are not even going to start up...but maybe an incentive to do so would make more sense for them to fire it up???? Than to put farmers on the hook for purchasing and operating dryers.


Other wise the same thing may happen on farms where the dryer sits for years....and lot rots?????

This isn't an argument or not meant to be...but the logistics seem that the drying would be done quicker at an elevator considering blending abilities and logistics???

I have bought bins but have been talking to myself about a dryer for years....like you said maybe saving a grade by going earlier at 17 moisture...

I think about it...and would make sense but the capital outlay and operating is clouding the decision...many factors too consider......and yet had i done it I could have looked like a genius....lol....that wouldn't happen...

Good discussion...thats the point of bringing it up....

Off topic....How does an elevator gain efficiencies after loading a train in 24 hours only to have it sit for a week on the siding?????

[farming101]

LEP, I agree.

Grain has to stay in condition. Producers need to keep control of their product until they want to sell. Producers will stand for the risk and will usually be rewarded.
To be able to market an entire harvest of tough grain and make a profit greater than the on farm cost to condition it is dreaming. In fact this harvest proved that. Tough grain turned away on the driveway.
Now it's out of condition or the producer is forced to take it home and try and keep it in condition till a market is found, if there is one.
Then worry about it all the time. Forget it. I like a good night's rest.

To add to Bucket's last comment: To spend the capital to install a dryer at an elevator and then never use it is really bad business

[redleaf]

I agree wholeheartedly with LEP. I already am uncomfortable with dealing with line companies and terminals so don’t want to rely on them to handle my tough/wet grain issues “at their convenience”.

[blackpowder]

Our nearby loop track leaves the engines on. Dropped off one night, gone the next. RRs won't have engines sitting.
Agree it's shitty for some of the older loading points. And regions.
Walmart gains efficiency by having ready to sell products put on their shelves.
So far... local bids do reflect the efficiencies. As long as that still happens through open competition.
New dryers really only a younger generation benefit. Cheap then.
Unused likely only in a prolonged dry pattern here.
If it makes anyone feel better I looked at application. Dryer upgrades only. Not new install. And only energy efficiency upgrades not capacity. A few parts that's it. Monitor cables for bins covered though.