Grainswest - Spring 2019

Spring 2019 Grains West 22 ITH CERTAIN POCKETS OF Western Canada being dealt losing hands at harvest year after year, grain drying is moving from a “nice to have” to a “need to have.” Starting in 2016, wicked fall weather has plagued thousands of farmers. Today, with many opting for straight-cut options, the wait time to get into fields becomes all the more dangerous when unpredictable weather may strong- arm a farmer’s harvest. As a result, grain sits, and sits, and sits some more. Meanwhile, farmers continue to bite their nails, stress mounts and tough financial questions begin to loom. FEATURE BY TREVOR BACQUE • PHOTOS BY ANTHONY HOULE Farmers are bullish on grain dryers, but have they run the numbers? MOISTURE MATH Any farmer will attest to their desire of a safe, uneventful and timely harvest. However, with weather patterns and farming practices changing, many choose to stop waiting and start pushing. In Alberta, it’s most common to see wheat, canola and malting barley as the top crops to be tossed in the dryer. At times pulse crops may be dried, too. FARMER FOCUS Scott Keller never used to dry grain above 19 per cent at his New Norway farm. However, the last three years the weather forced his hand and drying became necessary to salvage the crop. He has handled the job with a 1995 IBEC Vertec 5500 that has a 700 bu/hr capacity. It usually dries 400 to 500 bushels at a time, but can be as low as 150 if the grain is sopping wet. Since 2016, Keller has dried more than 500,000 bushels of his grain, which, on average, is about 80 per cent of his annual crop. Twenty-four years ago, Keller’s father paid $30,000 for the dryer and Keller sees no reason to mess with a good thing. They have two wet bins—4,000 and 2,200 bushels—and four dry hopper bins with a total capacity of Over the past three years, NewNorway farmer Scott Keller has used his 23-year- old dryer to salvage his own cropwhile taking on custom drying for neighbours.