Evening star., 1942-07-19
Kansas Farmers Face
Acute Problem in
Storage Of Wheat
Grain Put in Everything
But Kitchen Sink With
Peak Crop and Corryover

Wide World.
GARDEN CITY. Kans. July l8.-
Like gold, wheat storage space out
here in the Southwest is where you
find it-and you, find it in some
strange places.
It might be an old hotel, spare
bedroom, a filling station aban-
doned because of decreased travel, a
garage, perhaps an old chicken
house or tool shed, some portable
pre- fabricated bins, or even storm
cellar.
There's one report-wholly unver-
ified-of a farmer who rolled up the
windows of his now tire-less sedan
and filled it with wheat.
One Kansan experimental with
underground storage, digging pits,
lining them with concrete and cov-
ering them with waterproof tops.
There's Always the Ground.
And, for the present, there's al
ways the ground on which to pile
wheat where storage space Is lack
ing. But this isn't particularly good
for the wheat.
The storage problem has been
building up for several years, the re-
suit of big crops, decreased exports
and the consequent increasing carry
overs
This years carryover was estl-
mated by AAA officials at 10000, 900
bushels-largest in the country's
history. Which meant that much
normal elevator space was well filled
at the start of the 1912 harvest. And
the 1912 crop, now being harvested,
is yielding upward of 100000, 900
bushels.
So the problem has been to
squeeze in this new wheat-and
elevators don't have rubber walls.
Take a look at the matter in
Kansas, the country's biggest wheat
State.
Record Kansas Crop.
Here the new crop is tremendous,
In excess of 10000, 900 bushels and
third largest in the States history
It follows a big 1941 crop. When
harvest began, agriculture experts
figured there was room in elevators
only for some 40,O00,O 900 bushels OF
this crop.
The AAA In two different pro-
grams brought in portable steel and
pre- fabricated bins which added
perhaps 10000 900 bushels OF space.
And farmers, too, seeing what was
coming, expanded their bin space
although handicapped somewhat by
trouble in obtaining lumber and
nails.
But the total space now available
In Kansas probably doesn't exceed
so,ooo,ooo bushels, leaving half the
crop on its own.
Normally it wouldn't be much OF
a trick for farmers to bin a big
share of their crop, but for two years
now most of them have been storing
wheat on their farms under the
Government loan program so that
space, too, Is full.
Some elevators still have a little
space but they aren't accepting
wheat for storage-only wheat SOLD
to them.
Dollars and Cents.
Since it is matter Of dollars and
cents. the farmers naturally prefer
storing wheat to selling it outright.
Under the Government loan pro-
gram farmer probably can borrow
up to $1.15 or s12o bushel on his
wheat, while if he sells it on the
open market he can't hope for much
more than 80 to 95 cents bushel.
Another complicating factor is
transportation. In past years rail-
roads didn't kick greatly if hun
dreds of cars stood on sidings full
of wheat waiting to be unloaded.
But these days when the lines need
every car for war transportation
they have refused to permit cars to
be loaded unless those cars can be
unloaded promptly at some other
point.
All of which goes to explain why
most farmers in the area are
scrambling for storage space and
utilizing anything they can find.
They are, to coin phrase, using
everything but the kitchen sink.