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O'Neill nursery heated by corn stovesImagine having 50,000 square feet of nursery stock to keep warm through an unpredictable Nebraska winter. That's the dilemma Delray Kumm, owner of Shamrock Nursery in O'Neill, faces each year. As natural gas prices climb higher each year, he's joined a growing number of Nebraskans who have turned to corn-burning stoves and furnaces as an alternative to conventional heating sources. Several years ago, Kumm added a corn-burning stove to the retail store section of his business. "The warm fire blazing in the corner of the store is very inviting and comforting to our employees and customers on chilly winter days," Kumm said. A year or two later, the dealer who sold him that stove convinced Kumm to try a high-output corn burning heater in one of his greenhouses. "It worked so well for us that we soon purchased several more," Kumm said. Today, Kumm uses corn-burning heaters to provide nearly a third of his total heating needs, and plans are in the works to add even more. He burns around 25 bushels of corn per day, depending on the outside temperature. The corn is purchased from a local elevator that is located directly behind his nursery. "With current natural gas prices and $2 per bushel corn, we can heat with corn for about one-third the cost of gas," Kumm said. "It's also a good feeling knowing we are purchasing a product that our customers and neighbors raise." Corn-burning stoves do require a little extra labor compared to natural gas heaters. Kumm estimates it takes about 20 minutes a day to fill a stove with corn, start the fire and empty out the residue ashes. The residue, about the size of a brick from a day's burning, is added to his compost pile. "No one really knows the life expectancy of these corn heaters because they haven't been in use long enough to establish that," Kumm said. "So far we haven't seen any signs of wear, so we know they are going to last quite a while." Kumm said the initial purchase price of the units might scare some people away, but he estimates his corn-burning heaters will pay for themselves in about two years because of their lower operating costs. He has also applied for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that's available to farmers and small-business owners to help offset the expense of switching to renewable energy and energy-efficient heating systems. "I believe there's a bright future for corn-burners in commercial and industrial buildings," Kumm said. Date: 4/18/06
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