Low Grain Prices Encourage Farmers to Add Storage

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota farmers have been adding grain storage in an effort to save more money by selling when grain prices rebound.

Greg Trame of Illinois-based Grain Systems tells the Tri-State Neighbor that farmers can easily make an extra 50 cents a bushel by holding grain through harvest and selling it later. He says a new grain bin can pay for itself in two or three years at that rate.

For example, a 500-acre corn crop that yields 200 bushels per acre could sell for $3.40 at harvest or for $3.85 in the future, a difference of $45,000.

Farmers have been building bigger grain bins as a result of the massive yields hauled in at harvest. They've also been upgrading their grain handling equipment to keep up with faster combines.

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