NEWS

Elevator shortage puts farmers in a pinch

Patrick O’Neill

ZANESVILLE – More than 550 million pounds of corn and soybeans are being rerouted to grain elevators across southeastern Ohio after the August explosion at Coshocton Grain Co.

Now, 900 Ohio farmers must find new buyers, some as far as 80 miles from their farms.

Coshocton Grain Co., one of the 15 largest elevators in the state, normally collects about 10 million bushels of corn and soybeans annually from farmers in 22 counties, said Scott Jones, merchandiser at the company. But after a grain dust explosion destroyed three silos, smaller elevators have been forced to shoulder the load.

Amy Porteus, co-owner of Porteus Farms in Coshocton, typically sends her crops 5 miles up the road to Coshocton Grain, but the elevator’s closure has forced her to deliver — both personally and through contracts — to Coshocton Grain’s Hebron facility, about 45 miles away. Just halfway through the soybean harvest, transportation costs have already begun to dig into the farm’s profits.

“It’s added time and more money on gas,” Porteus said of the prolonged trip to Hebron. “(Corn and soybean) prices are down from last year. We’re feeling it ... and we have our own dryer. The guys it’s going to hurt the most is the ones who don’t have a dryer.”

Most corn harvested this time of year has roughly a 25 percent moisture content. To be sold, corn needs to be dried to about 15 percent moisture, requiring either a commercial dryer or a time-consuming field drying period.

Coshocton Grain, one of the region’s largest dryers, is out of commission until fall 2015, James said. On Thursday, a fire at a grain drying machine at the Farm Supply Center in Zanesville severely slowed drying operations there just as the corn harvest begins.

Paul Michel, Farm Supply Center president, said the affected dryer, one of two at the business, will be decommissioned for the next week as he assesses the damage.

Dave Hanby, owner of Hanby Farms in Nashport, said he’s swamped trying to keep up with all the displaced Coshocton Grain customers.

“It’s crazy this week,” Hanby said. “We’ve had a lot of business, and we’re expecting a lot more. I’m just trying to do the best I can to help people out, but we’re maxed out.”

Hanby Farms can hold 1 million bushels of grain, not nearly enough to compensate for the 2.7 million bushels of storage space lost when Coshocton Grain closed its doors. Grain storage has presented a huge problem for smaller elevators such as Farm Supply Center, which is already maxed out dealing with usual customers.

In most years, Farm Supply handles about 300 farmers, but that number is expected to rise to supplement the loss of Coshocton’s main elevator. Already this week, several farmers who normally sell to Coshocton Grain have brought their soybean harvest to the smaller facility, located just a stone’s throw from the Y Bridge.

Earlier this week, Michel leaned against a silo in a cloud of white dust as a farmer emptied a dump truck-load of corn.

“Oh, there’s going to be a problem,” Michel said. “We were close to maxed out just dealing with our own customers last year. We can take on some new business, but not much.”

Just 5 percent of seasonal corn has been harvested, and less than a quarter of soybeans have been gathered. Most crops are running two or more weeks behind schedule, Michel said. Corn left in fields is becoming increasingly susceptible to wind damage the longer farmers have to wait to harvest their crops.

The harvest season, which normally concludes sometime around Thanksgiving, could extend into mid-January because farmers are being forced to field-dry their crops to save money while they wait in line for storage space, Michel said. Dry conditions and high winds produce brittle stalks that can snap off and ruin corn.

poneill@coshoctontribune.com

740-450-6753

Twitter: @PatrickZTR

Area elevators

• Hanby Farms, 10790 Newark Road, Nashport, 800-686-2215

• Coshocton Grain Co., 129 O Neill Drive, Hebron, 740-928-0941

• Granville Milling, 400 S. Main St., Granville, 740-587-0221

• Farm Supply Center, 411 Linden Ave., 740-453-0341