OT - Farmer question

Spoilage

Not a clue. Varment value? Rattage? Rodent roundoff? Shrill shrinkage?

Ken.

TAXES?

Spoilage.

Thanks.

Is there nothing more specific to loss of crops(corn) during storage -- to rats.(rodents)??

I drove by a farm and noticed a building filled with corn.

It was a simple pole building with a sliding door containing a pile of corn.

I thought to myself that it must be a huge rat magnet.

Okay it's a cheap way to store grain, but who wants to invite rats into their realm. It seemed incredibly stupid.

I guess I don't really know the consequences of this type of storage. But it instigated a memory of a term for this loss, a term real or imagined.

Good day everyone.

They might not have had a choice. Around here (mid-Michigan) they were dumping it on the ground a few weeks ago. Everything was full. People were trying to leave it in the field, but at some point, you've got to get it before the snow comes. Then a 60 car train finally showed up, and they began to shift the excess.

That's it exactly, Pete - emergency storage. Same problem here in Ohio; my brother had to 'reactivate' a decommissioned silo to avoid just making a big pile. No farmer would prefer to do it that way; the vagaries of crop yield and market speculation activity force odd solutions sometimes.

Emergency -- that's a good point that I hadn't considered, my bad.

Corn is cheap, under 2 bucks. But I guess the government programs continue to keep the farmers planting corn, no matter what.

I excuse myself for not considering the 'emergency'.

"Shrinkage" applies to losses of all kinds.

Incidentally, some years back (maybe they still do) in Grand Meadow, MN, they would close a block of a little-used street and pile it with corn. During the harvest, the farmers would deliver it MUCH faster than the truckers could haul it away (to the ships in Duluth, the mills in Minneapolis or the barges in Winona...).

I'm sure the rats had a picnic. And so did the cats...

Jerry

Shrinkage - same as the inventory lost to rats that shoplift or take it out the back door in their lunchpail.

What you saw is known as a "corn crib" and yes, they CAN attract rats

- but not much worse than many other granery designs.

LOL !!!!! :)

This practice has fallen from favour, but apparently this year it's back in fashion. Huge surpluses and simply nowhere to store it.

Your ignorance seems to extend beyond just storage issues. The government is also paying owners of farmland _not_ to grow crops, which would lead to overproduction, plummeting prices, and worn-out land.

What's your goal here, stone?

Agreed. I'll accept stone's statements are based on raw ignorance on not assume any intentional malice.

FWIW - Corn prices this spring(when farmers were planting corn) were around $2.50 CBOT. Now due to various circumstances, they are less than $2.00 CBOT. Also FWIW, input costs have not declined accordingly. Fuel costs are up, fertilzer costs are up SIGNIFICANTLY(~$300/tn for

JW

Or as the bumper sticker said, "If you're going to complain about farmers, don't talk with your mouth full!"

Pete Keillor

I like that one. I will have to remember.

JW

Didja hear about the farmer who won the lottery?

Said he was just gonna keep on farming 'till it was all gone.

How do you make a small fortune in Aviation? Start with a large one.