Sign Of A Good Crop Around Faribault

This is a common sight around elevators this fall. Piles of grain on the ground, a sign of very good yields. This is an elevator I drive by on the way out to the farm. It is not unusual to see piles of corn on the ground in the fall. However, there are a lot more this year. In addition I saw something I have never seen before with beans piled on the ground. Notice the pile in the back of the picture is soybeans. In the past few years farmers, elevators and ethanol plants have built a lot of big grain bins. Just think how big the piles of grain would be without all that extra storage that was built.

This elevator has already started to pick up the beans in their pile. They must have found a place to take them. It is pretty dicey storing beans outside. If it does rain, the beans soak up the moisture and swell up. Even if it is cool they will begin to rot and smell very quickly. Corn is different. If it does rain it runs right through the pile to the bottom. There might be a little bit of spoilage in the bottom of the pile but normally it is not a lot. This elevator took a gamble putting beans outside uncovered. I was happy for them that it worked out OK. That is if they get the rest of them picked up and under cover before the heavy rains in the forecast for Wednesday!