Grain elevators

[geo in mi]

Just curious. Are there still local grain elevators in your area that buy fall harvested grain? How near to you is your elevator? How do you transport your grain? What do they accept? Wheat? Corn? Soybeans? Other? What is their basis? (Discount from CBOT price.)

Just wondering if there are any left these days?

geo

[MDKatie]

Holy cow, we have many elevators near us still. I know they take wheat, corn, soybeans, and I'm guessing some other small grains too. Not sure about prices. We have about 5-10 elevators just in our county and the next.

[wwubben]

We have cooperative elevators all over the place.Nearly every town has at least one.The basis varies.The majority of grain is marketed thru elevators.We also have ethanol plants,hog operations and chicken operations that buy grain around here.The elevators offer all kinds of custom work to farmers also.They are thriving.

[DaleK]

Got 5 within about 30 miles, closest is 20 miles. One I use most is about 25 miles, 3 million bushels, take corn, soy and wheat. All by trucks. My Azuki beans go about 260 miles. Basis is at maizeingacresinc.com, includes currency conversion too.

[chester5731]

There are getting to be fewer all of the time. The one nearest me is about 6 miles. They take corn and soys only. They sell oats but won't buy local ones. I have to store mine at home instead of putting them in the feed bank like I did for years. Not much for dealing with the little guy. The office gals are real good but the boss and corporate are not too great. The next closest is about 12 miles. I should get a truck but I am still using gravity wagons.

[Ziptie]

We have one 10/20/23 miles from us. The one furthest away will take oats but no one is growing them around here anymore so they ship it in from Canada. The rest only take corn and soy.

Part of the problem is that most people are only buying bagged feed. According to the feed delivery guy we are one of the very few people left that buy whole grains.

[farmerDale]

Several elevators around here. Far fewer than used to be though. And some elevators buy all grains, some work with just a few. There are also pig barns, canola crushing plants, pulse processors, and other independent special crops buyers around the countryside.

[||Downhome||]

Our Elevators in Millington Mi, but there are others you just have to be where Agriculture outweighs population.

They can order in whats not locally grown but the main crops are corn,wheat,oats, and soybeans.

There is a farmer in Lapeer that more or less operates as his own elevator selling grain and mixed feed.

Heres a list of elevators in Mi...

http://www.farmnetservices.com/farm/...RS/60-1-2.html

[haypoint]

Where I grew up there were huge concrete elevators, next to a railroad siding. At harvest time, the gravity box wagons would be lined up to unload the local harvest. The elevator bought and sold grain and mixed feed all year long.

I moved north. Got animals, bought feed at the local feed store. Had them mix my special chemical free chicken feed, etc.

I grew a nice crop of oats, 20 acres. During the season, I called the Feed Mill to see how much they were paying for oats. Finally harvest time arrived. I gave the Feed Mill a call to check the price before I set out with 600 bushel of freshly combined oats, first half of the crop. I was informed that while they had an established price they would pay for oats, they were not buying oats right now, perhaps I could check back in a few months.
I bought feed bags, bagged the 600 bushels of oats and carried them up a flight of stairs in a building I had. Then harvested the rest of the oats and bagged them. I was able to find a local farmer to take the final 600 bushels.

Many farmers operate on narrow margins and large volumes. They create their own strategy, a mix of forward contracts, spot markets and luck. They store their own grain.
There are no elevators anywhere near me (200 miles) but the freighters that carry the wheat harvest of ND, SD, MN and WI go by me every day.
The elevators where I grew up are still there, too costly to tear down, but haven't been used in several decades.
I think if you called those "elevators" you'll find many aren't buying grain (beyond their own current needs), just selling feed.

[rambler]

Closest is 3/4 mile from my driveway, next is 5 miles away.

Most have merged and combined, coop type, but have kept their locations open. The close one built a new unit train elevator 50 miles north of me, 3 million bu storage with room to expand.

Was an elevator every 5 miles here along the rail, most are still in operation, tho several owned by the same outfit now.

Basis used to be pretty bad, the ethanol plants helped that. Often minus 10 to 50 cents here.

The close one buys oats and wheat seasonably. Mostly corn and soybeans here.

Just bought a bigger gravity wagon, have 7 now, plus a small farm truck to go to the farther elevator. Miserable taking gravity wagons 5 miles down the busy state highway.

Paul

[FarmboyBill]

Yes theres some E of Tulsa. Never been to them.
Ive sat in those lines in a 34 White truck till after midnight sometimes as a kid.

[Terri]

One local elevator was in the newspaper. It seems they used to service the professional farmers but then the city moved in. They now do a lot of business with hobby farmers and 4-H, and they say it is enough to keep them in business. Basically they buy grain and turn it into pelleted feeds for peoples livestock. From what I have seen they mostly do business by the 50 pound bag and by the pickup load.

There was another elevator in our area that had the grain elevator burn down. They said it would not pay to build a new one and so they are buying feed from someone else and pelleted feed there is $4 more expensive per bag. I do not understand how they stay in business: good will? The fact that tractor supply is also expensive and possibly folks do not realize that Valley Feed is way cheaper? I do not know.

[arabian knight]

Yes I have a few around me, in fact you can still get your own feed recipe made up.
I have my own horse and steer mixture.
I take the recipe in and they mix it up to my mixture recipe the minimum order is 500 pounds. This is a co-op grain business. I love it.

[AmericanStand]

Yes ,10 mi , trucks, corn ,soybeans, wheat.

[haypoint]

Lots of places around that will sell grain or mix your formula. Some that just sell premixed rations. None that will buy your crop.

[Lazy J]

We have 8 country elevators within 20 miles of our house and 2 terminals.

We hauls as much of our crop on our semi trailer as possible. We do have some smaller fields that we use gravity wagons but we try to limit that as much as possible.

[ksfarmer]

7 or 8 within 25 miles. All owned by larger co-ops. They take milo (grain sorgum), wheat, corn , soybeans, and a couple take sunflower seeds, and oats. Basis is currently 61 cents on wheat, and 42 cents on corn. About 4 of these elevators also grind, mix and deliver feed. Storage averages several million bushels at most of them.

[plowhand]

There are 2 buyers 8 miles away, 3 more under twenty and many more under 40 miles.

[suitcase_sally]

I don't grow crops, but there are quiet a few in Michigan's Thumb area. Beans are a big crop around here - navy beans, soy beans, black beans, ect. I buy navy beans and black beans by the pound there.

Closest one is about 7 miles from me in Lapeer. Then the next would probably be in Millington.

[bryant]

Here there are still as many in operation as there were in the 80's. The processors are gone though. Rice, soybeans, SRW and HRW and Corn are the big players. Most is shipped out by barge on the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. basis is 75- 85% of market value at the signing of the contract. For most growers, the distance traveled is around 25-45 miles.