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Where to put a large crop?

A farmer in eastern South Dakota says he’s preparing to harvest what could be a very good corn crop and “I think we’re going to see a lot of good yields coming out of South Dakota.”

Keith Alverson says if that happens, his on-farm storage is expected to overflow.

“I’ll be close, maybe five percent of the production I won’t be able to store penciling in record yields. But fortunately, this is a type of year we’ve historically tried to gear up for.”

He tells Brownfield farmers are investing in grain bins.

“I happened to talk to my grain bin dealer this week. He said we went through half the summer scratching up work to do and then, all of a sudden the calls started coming in when people realized what kind of a crop we had. And now, I don’t know how we’ll get it all done.”

Alverson says he made a harvest sale to the local ethanol plant to alleviate the tight storage situation on his farm.

“Albeit not the cash price I was looking for, but I tried to take advantage of the little market pop we saw the last few weeks to secure that spot in line,” he says. “I’m concerned when the combines start to roll, trucks will be waiting in line at ethanol plants or elevators and being forced to sell cash, a higher discount or paying dumping fees.”

Alverson, who farms in Lake County, says he’s also expecting South Dakota farmers to store more soybeans, because of a lack of elevator space and widening basis due to the lack of export business from China.

And he says bin space normally dedicated to corn will hold beans instead; soybeans are more susceptible to moisture damage than corn.

“There will probably be more corn piling.”

Alverson says he anticipates corn harvest to begin in mid-October.