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Strained grain storage capacity expected

A senior grain analyst with Terrain says grain storage capacity will be strained if the U.S. produces the large corn and soybean crops USDA is forecasting.

Marc Rosenbohm tells Brownfield there’s not enough permanent on-farm and commercial storage across the Midwest and Delta.

“Across a lot of the Plains states like Kansas and even in Missouri, we’re looking at production across seven major crops exceeding or being close to 130 percent of capacity.”

Rosenbohm says temporary grain storage will be needed. He says grain can be stored in piles on the ground, in bags or other creative ways as farmers wait for better prices or demand to pick up.

“As we look in the Northern Plains though, we could see some places where actually delivering soybeans to the elevator could be challenging due to (a lack of) export sales to China. There are other logistical challenges that could be stacked on top of the otherwise large production this year.”

He says it’s important farmers keep grain in good condition as its stored.

“Given low prices, we don’t want to see grain coming out of temporary storage at a high discount.”

Rosenbohm says adjusted production estimates from the USDA could change the story for some areas, but storage challenges are expected to remain an issue for plains states.