(The following story by Marvin Baker appeared on the Minot Daily News website on August 31.)
ROSS, N.D. — A lot of elevators have been piling grain this harvest, but Dakota Quality Grain Co-op here has augered more than 600,000 bushels of spring wheat and durum on the ground in the past 17 days.
And the grain just keeps rolling in, keeping two people gainfully employed just dumping spring wheat and durum. Meanwhile, flax harvest just got under way in Mountrail County.
There’s actually three piles of grain in a field just northeast of the elevator. The largest, which is nearest a county road, contains 400,000 bushels of durum, while a smaller, parallel pile contains 200,000 bushels of spring wheat. A third pile containing durum was started Thursday and is estimated at approximately 20,000 bushels.
That translates into a lot of money at today’s cash grain prices. With durum trading at $7.80 a bushel, the large pile is worth approximately $3.12 million, while the pile of spring wheat is estimated at $1.15 million, given a $5.79 cash price. The third and much smaller pile of durum is worth an estimated $156,000.
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 of what he thinks of the 2007 harvest thus far. “I like getting dirty. It’s something new and I like it.”
Despite some allergies that kick in at harvest time, the transplanted Minnesotan drives on. He spends his work days on site, primarily unloading spring wheat, but will assist another employee who is dedicated to the durum pile. Other Dakota Quality Grain staff members are in the elevator probing loads, taking dockage and protein readings.
Dralle said he can empty a truck with his 13-inch auger about as fast as it can be unloaded in the elevator.
“I like to get them in and get them out,” Dralle said. “A combine can only hold so much grain.”
Dakota Quality facility manager John Woodbury said they began piling the grain Aug. 13 and he isn’t sure when it’s going to stop. He said there have been some issues with Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which is the line running past Ross, as well as Canadian Pacific Railway, located at Dakota Quality Grain in Parshall.
“Cars are ordered, but we don’t have the storage for all this grain,” Woodbury said as he pointed to a new, concrete complex adjacent to the main elevator that will hold 650,000 bushels when completed. “We can’t expect all the cars right away.”
Woodbury said there is a freight advantage with CP Rail and the load-out at Parshall is capable of a 110-car shuttle train. Thus, most of the grain piled immediately north of Ross will be trucked to Parshall as rail cars become available.
Kevin Kaufman expects more grain to be stored outside as producers head toward corn, soybean and sunflower harvest. Sharply increased corn acres will be responsible for further stress on the system, he said. Kaufman, the vice president of agriculture operations at BNSF in Fort Worth, Texas, said the railroad continues to deliver cars to North Dakota, but with harvest in full swing, his agency has slipped a day in its delivery of cars.
Kaufman said last week 2,500 cars were delivered to the state at an average of eight days late, while this week 3,200 cars have been delivered, but the average arrival is now nine days late. He said most producers and shippers expect some delays during harvest.
“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.”
Kaufman spent the first part of the week at an ag summit in Brainard, Minn. He said one of the things that came out of that meeting is facility managers need to know more accurate arrival times of shuttle trains. Another is that customers appreciate a BNSF official like himself presenting updates to the media.
“It allows us to address the issues quicker and it creates a better atmosphere,” Kaufman said.
But the big issue is going to come when the corn harvest begins, according to Kaufman.
“A lot of farmers in North Dakota will harvest corn who haven’t before,” Kaufman said. “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.”
Kaufman acknowledged there’s lot of wheat on the ground at Ross and suggested it will be gone as quickly as it was piled. A rail car will hold 3,200 bushels of wheat, so a 110-car train can whisk away 350,000 bushels in 12 to 24 hours.
But Kaufman said wheat yields are much less than corn yields per acre and that is why he is cautioning corn producers to prepare for a robust harvest.
“You have to remember, 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).”