But I believe those grain elevators could have helped us understand our area was an important part of the whole. I believe that a study of grain elevators for students living in the Texas Panhandle could have been like learning about the Alamo is for students in San Antonio. Or like learning about Pikes Peak is for students in Colorado Springs. We might have begun with a lesson about how there are country elevators and terminal elevators. The terminal elevators are those giants located in marketing centers.
Grain goes there from the country elevators and is stored until needed by industry.
Sales are measured out by carload or shipload about the way you or I use a measuring cup for flour or rice. After the introductory lessons we might have taken a field trip of a few blocks to actually visit one of our local grain facilities. We likely would not have been allowed to go atop it because of safety considerations. But we could have gotten a close-up look at some of the equipment. And perhaps a live demonstration of a farmer's truckload of wheat being weighed and unloaded.