unloading corn at elevator

Rain helps alleviate grain storage space crunch

Perceived storage crisis less severe than initially expected

Elevators and grain buyers have wet weather to thank for some relief when it comes to grain storage availability. Despite a variety of storage and transportation challenges, elevator operators say they have not had to turn farmers away as wasfeared in late summer. Why it matters: Though space is still tight, elevator operators say the […] Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a disaster recovery briefing following last week’s severe windstorm, at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids on Aug. 18, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Tom Brenner)

Trump visits Iowa as officials warn storm destroyed corn crops

Cedar Rapids | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers and state officials from Iowa said on Tuesday that much of the state’s corn crop will not be harvested following a fierce windstorm last week, as President Donald Trump visited to review the damage. The destruction from the Aug. 10 derecho storm compounded troubles for a U.S. agricultural […] Read more

Use a phone camera to check in hard to see places for areas that need to be cleaned.

Prepare your grain bins before setting out for harvest

Tips and tricks for making sure bins are clean and ready for a new crop

Before filling grain bins or using temporary storage, thoroughly clean the bins or storage site. Follow these steps each time you empty a bin and before filling it with new grain: Eliminate dust and dockage from any cracks in the bin. Repair holes, cracks and leaks in the bin and cracks in the floor if […] Read more

Severe flooding in the U.S. Midwest may weigh on plantable acreage this spring for producers such as Justin Mensik, a corn and soybean grower shown here March 22, 2019 at his farm at Morse Bluff, Neb., about 70 km west of Omaha. (Photo: Reuters/Humeyra Pamuk)

USDA won’t survey for volume of grain lost to March floods

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statistical arm will not collect data on the volume of harvested grain lost when farms from the Dakotas to Missouri were hit by flooding in March that burst grain storage bins, a government official said on Tuesday. However, figures in USDA’s regular quarterly stocks report for […] Read more


Scout your winter wheat

Scout your winter wheat

Wheat often doesn’t get the focus of other crops on the farm, but it might pay to get back to basics

Do you devote enough time to your winter wheat crop? Experts from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs are wondering. They’re curious enough to make the basics of winter wheat disease management a key part of the University of Guelph’s recent Diagnostic Days event in Ridgetown. Why it matters: OMAFRA staff remind […] Read more

(Commercial Port of Vladivostok, vmtp.ru)

Russia to boost grain transport subsidies in 2018

Moscow | Reuters — Russia will spend two billion roubles (C$43 million) in grain transportation subsidies to help to speed exports in 2018, the deputy agriculture minister said on Thursday. Already among the world’s largest wheat exporters, Russia is trying to step up a gear after this year’s record crop, which is keeping its grain […] Read more

A truck bears the logo of the Fortune brand, used by Cofco’s China Agri subsidiary to market rice and flour. (Cofco.com)

China to subsidize grain transportation, storage

Beijing | Reuters — China plans to subsidize grain transportation and storage facilities in the latest push by Beijing to modernize the world’s largest agriculture sector. Beijing will subsidize projects upgrading or building facilities to load and receive grains along main railways and ports for major waterways including the Yangtze and Pearl rivers, a document […] Read more


Photo: iStock

Wheat storage a winner, says analyst

Winnipeg | CNS – As yields grow throughout North America and the physical size of the crop becomes larger, farmers who invest in storage bins now, stand to reap the rewards later. “Guys with space are winning,” said Kurt Ahrens, founder of Grainbot in Omaha, Nebraska. Speaking at the Grain World Conference in Winnipeg, he […] Read more

Bridgeland, a UFA/CHS joint venture, operates this fertilizer plant at the RedTail Business Park south of Sexsmith, Alta. (Video screengrab from Bridgeland.ag)

CHS sells stake in Bridgeland input venture to UFA

On the heels of its move to sell its wholly-owned crop input stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan, U.S. ag co-operative CHS is selling its remaining Alberta ag retail asset. Alberta farmer co-op UFA (United Farmers of Alberta) announced Tuesday it’s buying CHS’s interest in the two firms’ joint ag retail venture, Bridgeland Limited Partnership, for […] Read more