Staff writer
Last week, some grain elevator managers said farmers in their areas needed rain to help soybean pods to fill.
Mike Thomas, manager of Cooperative Grain and Supply in Marion, was hoping for a nice, one-inch rain followed by a quick return to sunshine.
Well, farmers did get the rain Monday evening, but in some areas, it did not come in the way they would have liked.
“The rain would have been nice without all the wind,” Thomas said Tuesday. “It was like a hurricane around here.”
He said corn was broken down but still harvestable.
“We ought to have some beans now,” he added. “They might be kind of tangled up, but we’ll have some.”
Corn harvest was in full swing throughout most of the county Monday before the storm brought combines to a standstill.
Thomas said the Marion elevator has quite a bit of room and can take in most of the corn. He said the corn would be moved out to make way for beans.
At Peabody, manager Phil Timken said his Mid-Kansas Cooperative elevator had taken in more than 125,000 bushels by Friday. He said semitrucks were hauling corn to a bunker at Walton every day.
Timken said both Peabody elevators were emptied last month, so the co-op was ready. Beans and milo harvest will follow the corn harvest.
Chuck Knight at Mid-Kansas Cooperative in Florence said Friday the elevator had been taking corn for 10 days. It will be shipped out to make room for beans and milo.
Roger Will at Agri Producers in Tampa said the Tampa elevator is still shipping wheat to grain terminals.
“We are trying to get the elevator as empty as possible,” he said. “After corn harvest, there will be a mad rush to make room for beans and milo.”
The Tampa co-op has put up a new bunker for corn. Milo will be piled on the ground temporarily.
The Agri Producers elevator in Lincolnville also is prepared to pile milo on the ground. A new auger with a motor-driven conveyor belt is in place.
“We have some room for corn,” manager Perry Gutsch said. “We are shipping wheat out as best we can.”
Agri Producers still has a bunker full of corn at Lincolnville from last year’s harvest.
Dick Tippin, grain coordinator at Hillsboro, said the elevator is as ready as it can be for harvest. As harvest progresses, corn is being stored in the elevator and in a bunker.
“Our goal is to take in as much grain as we can,” he said. “It can be a challenge when you have a good harvest, but it’s good for the elevator and good for the farmers.”