Grain elevators report slow harvest
Brendan Hoover
According to managers at two area grain elevators, the 2007 central Oklahoma hard red winter wheat harvest is underway but slow going.
Near record rainfall, combined with insect infestation and disease, has taken its toll on what was once thought to be a potential bumper crop, reported executives at elevators in both Canadian and Grady County.
Banner Co-op Elevator Association Manager Jerry Harter said business has been slow at his farmer-owned elevator near El Reno.
“The wheat’s not out there. The rain, bugs and disease have diminished our chances. It affects everybody. It affects our operation, it affects the farmers and it affects the communities where farming is a big part of the economy,” he said last week.
The stakes are particularly high this year because farmers have invested so much on this wheat crop, Harter said, who has been the manager at Banner Co-op since 2000 and lives in Canadian County. Input costs, from planting to nitrogen topdressing to crop duster treatments for strawbreaker, a fungal disease, and armyworms, have been very high this year, he said. Rising fuel costs have also cut into the bottom line for many farmers, he said.
As for Banner Co-op, which buys only wheat, Harter said business would continue as normal. Although yields will be lower than expected, the best thing farmers can do is get out in the fields and bring in what they can, he said.
“We’ll just have to tighten out belts,” he said.
Because the Co-op is owned by farmer who have memberships, any profits, or losses, are shared by all, Harter said. Losses are usually paid out of a reserve fund that the business has established, to curtail the abbreviated cash flow, he said.
Minco Elevator and Supply Manager Alan Hinkle said activity at his privately-owned business has been extremely slow.
“It’s not looking good. (The farmers) are in the fields, but the yields aren’t that good and the quality is down,” Hinkle said, who has managed the business since 1999 and been with the company for 21 years.
Minco Elevator and Supply is owned by Braum’s, servicing locals, along with Tuttle, Pocasset, Amber and other locations.
“We’re just here to serve the customers as best we can. It’s what God gave us to work with, so we just go with it,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle said that historically high wheat prices at the Kansas City Board of Trade, the benchmark local elevators use to set their prices, could be in the farmers’ favor.
“We’ll just hope and pray that the market keeps going up to offset it. The best thing the farmers can do is hurry up and get it in,” he said.
Hinkle said the rainy weather this spring is also affecting the planting of fall crops, such as soybeans and corn. Muddy fields make driving combines and tractors difficult, he said.
Harter summed up the season with a hint of optimism.
“It won’t be a great year, but we don’t plan on losing money. If you go into a harvest expecting a loss, then you’ve got problems,” he said.
Brendan Hoover
According to managers at two area grain elevators, the 2007 central Oklahoma hard red winter wheat harvest is underway but slow going.
Near record rainfall, combined with insect infestation and disease, has taken its toll on what was once thought to be a potential bumper crop, reported executives at elevators in both Canadian and Grady County.
Banner Co-op Elevator Association Manager Jerry Harter said business has been slow at his farmer-owned elevator near El Reno.
“The wheat’s not out there. The rain, bugs and disease have diminished our chances. It affects everybody. It affects our operation, it affects the farmers and it affects the communities where farming is a big part of the economy,” he said last week.
The stakes are particularly high this year because farmers have invested so much on this wheat crop, Harter said, who has been the manager at Banner Co-op since 2000 and lives in Canadian County. Input costs, from planting to nitrogen topdressing to crop duster treatments for strawbreaker, a fungal disease, and armyworms, have been very high this year, he said. Rising fuel costs have also cut into the bottom line for many farmers, he said.
As for Banner Co-op, which buys only wheat, Harter said business would continue as normal. Although yields will be lower than expected, the best thing farmers can do is get out in the fields and bring in what they can, he said.
“We’ll just have to tighten out belts,” he said.
Because the Co-op is owned by farmer who have memberships, any profits, or losses, are shared by all, Harter said. Losses are usually paid out of a reserve fund that the business has established, to curtail the abbreviated cash flow, he said.
Minco Elevator and Supply Manager Alan Hinkle said activity at his privately-owned business has been extremely slow.
“It’s not looking good. (The farmers) are in the fields, but the yields aren’t that good and the quality is down,” Hinkle said, who has managed the business since 1999 and been with the company for 21 years.
Minco Elevator and Supply is owned by Braum’s, servicing locals, along with Tuttle, Pocasset, Amber and other locations.
“We’re just here to serve the customers as best we can. It’s what God gave us to work with, so we just go with it,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle said that historically high wheat prices at the Kansas City Board of Trade, the benchmark local elevators use to set their prices, could be in the farmers’ favor.
“We’ll just hope and pray that the market keeps going up to offset it. The best thing the farmers can do is hurry up and get it in,” he said.
Hinkle said the rainy weather this spring is also affecting the planting of fall crops, such as soybeans and corn. Muddy fields make driving combines and tractors difficult, he said.
Harter summed up the season with a hint of optimism.
“It won’t be a great year, but we don’t plan on losing money. If you go into a harvest expecting a loss, then you’ve got problems,” he said.
0 comments
post a comment