The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1941-08-14
OFFICIALS ADVISE


With a critical wheat storage
situation alerady at hand and
with a near-bumper crop being
harvested in Montana, farmers
who may be caught without adj
euuate permanent storage facil-
tiles in elevators or on their
farms are urged to provide
temporary storage that will pro-
tect their grain until it can be
moved later to permanent stor-
age.
This was the recommendation
of officials of the Montana Ag-
ricultural Experiment station
and Montana Extension service
at a meeting held this week at
Montana State college, Bozeman,
to survey the present storage
situation.
It was pointed out that many
farmers who do not have perm
anent storage available are
planning to pile their wheat on
the ground on the assumption
that it can be moved within 80
DAYS or so to permanent storage.
However, the officials say, there
is no assurance that such piled
wheat can be moved in 80 days,
and leaving it unprotected in
the open offers too great a risk.
A number of suggestions are
made for temporary storage
space and, of course, the ingen-
uity of farmers will result in
other methods.
One of the most practical of
these is the fashioning of clrcu-
lar cribs or bins out of woven
wire field fence. A double layer
of fencing arranged on a wood
en- platform in circular shape
with heavy building paper or
tar paper between the thick
neSses of wire will make a fair
ly grain-tigh bin. A heavy
gauge wire, preferably 9 OF 10
gauge, should be used and the
ends security wired together. AT
ter it is filled the bin should be
covered with heavy paper and
straw.
Such bins can be made in var
ious sizes and following are the
approximate capacities: 10 feet
in diameter, $50 bushels; IL feet
in diameter, 800 bushels; IA feet
in diameter, 600 bushels; 16 feet
in diameter, $50 bushels; 18 feet
in diameter, 812 bushels. Farm
ers are cautioned not to make
such bins higher than four feet,
or one tier of fence wire.
Other suggested temporary
storage methods include: Old
buildings that can be made wea-
ther-tight and grain-tight at
little expense, Slated snow fence
lined with paper and well
braced, board panels shaped in
to bins and covered, fence corn
ers having strong posts that
can be sided up and two addi-
tional sides constructed at low
cost.
Experiment station workers
emphasize that these are only
temporary expedients to tide
the producer over until perm
anent and approved types of
storage can be had. The i'm
portant thing now, they say, is
to protect the grain against loss
by weather damage.
A number of factors combine
to make the storage situation
critical this year. First, there
is the large carryover of wheat
from last year; second, weather
conditions fastened Montana's
harvesting season and caught
some farmers unprepared for
storage; third, terminal storage
space is at such a premium that
the railroads have issued a linn
tied embargo on shipments of
grain to terminals: fourth,
Montana is not only harvesting
a large crop but harvest time
here comes at the end of the
season for the remainder of
the country and consequently
Montana grain gets in last on
terminal storage facilities.
ADDING MACHINE paper for
sale at the Tribune Herald Of
free