Kansas Grain Storage Problem
Not As Severe As Anticipated

HAYS, Kan. —(AP)— While huge piles of milo are a familiar sight throughout western Kansas, the grain storage shortage has been far less severe than feared, says the state's Agriculture Department.

"The weather slowed the harvest down, and (elevators) got it moved out," said department spokeswoman Carole Jordan.

As of late last week, the department had reports of 39.8 million bushels of corn, milo and sunflowers piled on the ground at state-licensed facilities.

Most of the grain ending up outside has been milo, with 26.2 million bushels reported on the ground statewide. Corn is next with 13.5 million bushels outdoors. Only the elevator in Goodland had reported piling sunflowers, with 160,000 bushels on the ground there.

"Actually, it is not turning out to be as bad as some had thought," Ms. Jordan said.

But the huge multicolored piles of milo still draw spectators who often stop to photograph them.

"If anyone calls those piles gorgeous, I'll kick them in the shins," joked Curtis Meier, branch manager of the Morland location of Midwest Co-op.

Meier said he expected to end up with about 100,000 bushels on the ground. All of Morland's grain is shipped by truck.

The Kansas milo harvest has averaged about 77 bushels per acre, about average for the state, according to Kansas Agriculture Statistics. The price of milo remains around $2.75 per hundredweight.

"We're not piling on as much as we thought we were going to have to do," said Greg Whitehair, branch manager for Collingwood Grain in McCracken.

Whitehair said Collingwood has been able to move quite a bit by truck to Hutchinson and Dodge City, and the grain has been coming in slower than anticipated. The company has a unit train facility in Dodge City that makes shipping easier.

"I don't anticipate the pile staying long," Whitehair said.

Harvest should be finished by next week.

In Grainfield, nearly 200,000 bushels of milo are on the ground in two piles, said Ron Zimmerman, branch manager for Midwest Co-op.

He estimated he had put 30,000 bushels per day on the ground and thought about 300,000 bushels would end up on the ground by the end of the harvest.

"We started piling milo before all the wheat was gone," he said.

In Ellis, the Golden Belt Co-op has managed to keep up with the steady flow so the co-op's managed to keep moving grain out as it comes in, Bob Redger said. "We should be able to keep it all inside."

The Hill City elevator reported 203,000 bushels of corn on the ground, in addition to 30,000 bushels of milo.

Greg Bamber, assistant manager for Midwest Co-op in Hill City, said the corn harvest has grown each year. Four years ago, the elevator did not take in any corn.