Workers use concrete to fill the base of a new corn storage bin at Jerry Werner’s farm in Wanatah. The ethanol production industry is helping to drive up demand for corn. Even at a cost of between $20,000 to $50,000 or more for a Indiana Farm Systems storage bin, farmers are willing to pay the price. JON L. HENDRICKS | THE TIMES
Jerry Werner just added a sixth grain bin to his 2,600-acre Wanatah farm in the hope it will get him through a potential storage crunch facing farmers.
Farmers this year shifted more acreage to corn production, away from soybeans and other crops, mostly to meet demand from ethanol producers.
An acre of land produces an average 45 to 50 bushels of soybeans but up to 150 or more bushels of corn, and grain elevators could be pinched for space.
"With the increased acres in corn, elevators just physically aren't going to be able to take more corn," Werner said.
Rather than face leaving corn in the field at harvest time Werner opted for the new bin, bringing his in-house storage capacity to about 115,000 bushels.
"The corn's not worth anything in the field," Werner said.
Indiana farmers planted 6.6 million acres of corn this year, up 20 percent from 5.5 million acres last year, according to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
That includes 1.1 million acres of corn planted in Northwest Indiana, compared to 920,000 acres in 2006.
Corn planted nationally is estimated at nearly 93 million acres, up 19 percent from a year ago and the highest planted area since 1944, according to the agriculture department.
"That's a lot of acres," said Jim Keller, who manages the nearly 2 million-bushel Co-Alliance LLC grain elevator at Union Mills. "We could see storage issues."
Farms in Lake and Porter counties got enough rain in the growing season to spare them the drought that plagued eastern Indiana and other parts of the Midwest.
The rainfall was enough to put Northwest Indiana's estimated corn yield of 171 bushels per acre ahead of most other regions in the state.
"Storage space is going to be at a premium," said Ron Titak, branch manager of the Co-Alliance storage facility in Malden.
Higher storage rates could be the result.
"We'll take a look at how much space we have," Titak said. "Then we'll sit down together and decide where we need to be on storage rates."
Concerns about a storage crunch have heated up sales at Indiana Farm Systems, Inc., which constructs grain bins on farms.
"We're totally swamped," salesman Chris Schultz said.
The company, with locations in Rensselaer and near Kokomo, saw demand for storage bins begin to grow last year, driving up business by this year to 50 percent over 2005, Schultz said.
The ethanol production industry, set to add new plants in Indiana this year and double in size nationally, is helping to drive up demand for corn, along with a couple of large dairy farms in the area, Schultz said.
Even at a cost of between $20,000 to $50,000 or more for a Indiana Farm Systems storage bin, farmers are willing to pay the price.
The company's two locations have constructed about 50 new bins this year, Schultz said.
And there's no time to waste.
"We've got six or seven bins to get up yet before harvest," he said.
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