Corn Piles a Sign of Good Harvest

This is a shuttle loading grain complex that was built a couple of years ago by Crystal Valley Co-op located just south of Hope. The bins must be full because they began piling corn on the ground. The facility was designed to easily pile grain on the ground. Notice the overhead conveyors to move the corn from the elevator to the temporary ground storage.

Last year when they were finished with the corn pile, a company came in and put a big tarp over the pile. This protected the corn from the rain and kept it in good condition until they picked up the pile in December and January. Many elevators just pile corn on the ground without covering it. Some years that works fine others, other years not so much.

Last year we received multiple inches of rain in November and December. One elevator manager told me they put dry corn in the pile and when they picked it up they had to dry it again because it picked up 4 percent of moisture. Piles of corn is a sign of good yields. Some farmers had the best corn crop they ever harvested. Many others got hit by severe weather and other issues. For them it was a good crop, just not the best ever.