Grainswest - Spring 2019

Spring 2019 grainswest.com 25 carbon tax. His natural gas bill ended up being about $4,500 for six weeks of use this past fall to dry 70,000 bushels of grain. Of that total, the carbon tax and gas each accounted for $1,350 while the remaining fees went to distribution and administrative costs. “For the last eight years we ran a dryer, we never had that massive tax on there. The gas price is almost the same as the carbon tax … it’s almost one-to-one,” he said. “We didn’t know how much we were going to dry … and that’s right off our bottom dollar. That’s right out of the profit that we’re making. Drying the grain is already costing so much cents a bushel, and then you add this carbon tax onto it, which means absolutely nothing. It’s frustrating. I’m not going to change it.” The McAllisters spend anywhere from six to 10 cents per bushel to dry grains, plus man hours as well as general wear and tear, depending on the crop and its relative moisture content when they begin drying grain. “At the end of the day, it’s pretty cheap considering you may be gaining grades and up to $1 per bushel on malt quality,” he said. This past year all their barley made malt. It was combined Aug. 17 and was dried shortly thereafter from 16.5 per cent moisture down to the desired 13.5 per cent spec. “Even in a dry year, we’ll still fire it up and pull malt off at 16 to 18 per cent,” he said. “The cost of fuel is a fraction of the fuel you’ll use when it’s cold out. The sooner you can get harvest done, as long as the crop is naturally mature, the earlier you can get field work done and get fields prepared for next spring. Malt is such an unforgiving thing that you need to make sure you do everything you can to get it off.” With the difficult year that it ended up being in central Alberta, McAllister confidently estimated he and brother Scott saved malt grade on every last kernel, all thanks to the grain dryer. “If I was thinking about a third combine, I’d buy a dryer instead,” he said. “If I was a banker, I’d give you money for a dryer way before I’d give you money for a combine.” In addition to drying their own grain, they custom dry for anyone willing to haul to them. They charge $100 per hour plus fuel, just to keep the math simple. They even custom dried for two nearby elevators back in 2016. A third came knocking, too, but the brothers were booked up. “Every year we do a little bit of custom drying, but with this new dryer, I think a lot more neighbours are going to be a lot more interested because they can pretty much haul a load in and by the time they get back with another load, it’ll probably be done and they can do round trips,” he said. He also recommends natural gas over propane because it’s often easy to access, costs less and burns more cleanly. RETAIL PERSPECTIVE The trend that sees farmers setting up on-farm drying systems will not reverse itself anytime soon if you ask Dave Wall. The CEO of Wall Grain said Western Canada is in a great flux when it comes to post-harvest practices. PROVINCIAL KICKBACK FOR DRYER IMPROVEMENTS Farmers who have so far held off upgrading or retrofitting their grain dryers may have the last laugh after the provincial government recently announced funds for farmers to bring their units up to 2019 standards. Under the Farm Energy and Agri-Processors (FEAP) program, farmers and the government will split costs on upgrading various components of their dryers to high-efficiency standards. The government’s overall goal is “to encourage energy management which will result in cost savings, energy conservation, and ultimately, reduced greenhouse gas emissions.” Within that, another aim is to reduce carbon emissions while keeping farmers profitable after many difficult harvests have cost them thousands of dollars in lost profit. “For many producers this year, grain had to be dried once it was in the bins,” said Oneil Carlier, the province’s agriculture minister. “Drying grain can be an unexpected expense and some producers were concerned about the cost of the carbon levy as it relates to natural gas and propane.” Many brand-new components available to farmers at half price include heat exchangers, pre- heat systems utilizing exhaust air, variable-speed drives on electric motors and gravity-fill roofs instead of power-levelling augers. A number of retrofit parts will also be eligible for the government discount. These include hopper covers, automatic moisture controllers, PTO to electric motor conversions and new high-efficiency burners. Items such as conveyors, legs, aeration fans and bins are not eligible for the kickback. The maximum money an applicant can receive per year is $250,000. Other areas of the program are all designed to make farm operations more energy efficient, from wall insulation and new lighting to natural gas boilers and furnaces. A full list of available funding is valid from Dec. 1, 2018, until March 31, 2019. Farmers are encouraged to check online at agriculture.alberta. ca or call 403-310-3276 for updated information on the program’s status.