For this reason some farmers may build additional on-farm grain bins. There are many different sizes and options available in grain drying and storage systems. Each has its advantages, disadvantages, and associated costs. Costs are a major consideration, and may be categorized as either fixed or variable. Fixed costs occur regardless of the extent of utilization of a grain drying and storage system.
Examples are taxes, depreciation, interest on investment, etc.
Variable costs on the other hand are a function of level of use. Examples include labor, repairs, drying and handling fuel, etc. Fuel costs can account for a significant portion of the drying and storage costs for grain and careful planning should go into a system to reduce this cost as much as possible. Grain depth is an important factor in grain drying and therefore in the resulting fuel costs. Extra depth increases airflow resistance, decreasing the drying rate.