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Hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain piled on the ground
ROSS, N.D. (AP)--Hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain are piled on the ground in parts of North Dakota, and a railroad official says the corn harvest may put even more stress on the system. "A lot of farmers in North Dakota will harvest corn who haven't before," said Kevin Kaufman, the BNSF vice president for agriculture. "So we're encouraging them to get information from their local Extension agent on how to store corn on the ground. They've been doing it in Iowa a long time, but North Dakota doesn't have a lot of experience to prevent crop loss. We will try to put together a weekly communication to assist with that." In late August, Kaufman said, 3,200 rail cars were delivered to North Dakota an average of nine days late--a day later than the week before. Most producers and shippers expect some delays during harvest, he said. "There's a huge demand for our services and we're falling behind," Kaufman said. "Most customers agree we're meeting expectations and overall, they are pleased with our performance." At the Dakota Quality Grain Co-op near Ross, about 600,000 bushels of spring wheat and durum have been on the ground over the past three weeks. With durum trading at $7.80 a bushel, the largest pile would be worth approximately $3 million. Dakota Quality employee Ken Dralle is taking the extra work load and higher-value grain in stride. He said he doesn't see his wife a whole lot these days, but after all, it is harvest. Dralle, who moved to Ross about a year ago from St. Paul, Minn., said he loves grain, and farming and living in northwestern North Dakota. "Dirty," Dralle said. "I like getting dirty. It's something new and I like it." Dakota Quality manager, John Woodbury said the elevator began piling the grain Aug. 13, and he is not sure when it will stop. "Cars are ordered, but we don't have the storage for all this grain," Woodbury said as he pointed to a new concrete complex, next to the main elevator, that will hold 650,000 bushels when completed. "We're getting cars in, but not at the speed we would like to see them come in. Once we get the facility set up, we'll be shuttle status." Kaufman said a rail car will hold 3,200 bushels of wheat, so a 110-car shuttle train hauls away 350,000 bushels in a day or two. The corn yield per acre is more than wheat, he said. "The acreage switch has gone from 40 bushels (wheat) to 120 bushels (corn)," Kaufman said. "There's no doubt we'll have the same equipment, there's just going to be more (volume)." Date: 9/10/07
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