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Rising interest rates impact grain handling decisions

Rising interest rates are influencing grain storage and handling decisions.

Kent Craighton with Sukup Manufacturing says farmers have been asking for project bids more than individual bids.

“Guys wanting to add a couple legs and a tower with a bin, with a dryer, it’s been more project decisions. And as they get those budget numbers and start looking that over, I’ve seen some scaling back in maybe sizes and capacities.”

He says an example is going from a 10,000 bushel-an-hour grain leg to 8,000.

“Which stays with just a little smaller head pulley size, and that keeps the tower just a little bit smaller. So there’s decisions like that being made. It hasn’t stopped the progress of those projects being sold, it’s just a matter of maybe the scale isn’t quite as big as what they started out with.”

He says there’s been strong interest in material handling products as farmers look to gain efficiencies in truck receiving. 

Brownfield interviewed Craighton during the 2023 Iowa Ag Expo in Des Moines earlier this week.