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East of Broken Bow | Here, we almost have to have bins to get harvest done timely. Being a one man show, I can pick more than 2X as much in a day going to my bins as opposed to going to the elevator.
Out of pocket costs of drying are about half what the elevator charges (this is not counting the cost of the bin, depreciation, etc). When I built my dryer bin I ran numbers figuring half what the elevator charged for out of pocket costs, half for capitol costs, and it was pretty much spot on. Took longer than I thought to pay for the dryer on the cost savings, but the big thing was being able to harvest more timely.
As to using the bins as a marketing tool, what I have found works the best for me, is when prices are to where I think I should sell, I check out the different delivery months. There have been times that on the same day spring/summer delivery was 40 cents better than harvest delivery for corn. If you have to dry it and put it in a bin anyway (like I have to) that gains me an easy 30 cents for having the bins. Now, some years are more like 20 cents, but every now and then a person can get lucky.
I have to say I envy those who live near enough to fast unloading elevators that having a bin won't affect harvest speed, but on the BEST day, we are talking an hour and 15 minutes from the time I leave with the truck to unload, to the time I get back with the truck. On an average harvest day, it is over 2 hours, and there have been times it was 3-4 hours to make the trip. All this in a little straigh truck I can fill with the combine in about 20 minutes. | |
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On farm storage cost and ROI
